Four under the radar prospects to watch in Greensboro in 2022

This offseason, I have been able to make two trips to the Pirates’ Florida complexes in Bradenton to talk to a variety of prospects. That, paired with conversations with team and industry sources who evaluate prospects, has offered insight into the team’s minor leagues.

This is the third entry in a five part series where we will take a look at 20 under-the-radar players in the Pirates’ farm system that are not ranked on Baseball America or MLB Pipeline’s top 30 prospect list, but could still make an impact in the future. They will be organized based on projecting what level they will likely play in during the 2022 season.

Unlike other levels in the system, Class High-A Greensboro doesn’t have a clear-cut roster to project. Most of last year’s roster will make the jump to Altoona, and many of the players who will clearly get promoted from Bradenton rank in the Pirates’ top prospects. There may be some level jumping as the year progresses, but these players are forecasted to spend most of the year with the Grasshoppers. And while this class may not have as many top 100 prospects as last year’s Greensboro team, they won their Class Low-A championship and have more than a handful of players with big-league potential.

RHP Ricky DeVito

Last offseason, the Pirates picked up a reliever with a fastball that sat in the mid-90s, workable curveball and a splitter with bite. That was David Bednar, who turned out to be a solid addition.

DeVito isn’t major-league ready like Bednar was, and he’s yet to rev up his heater to 98 or 99 mph, but there are some similarities there, featuring similar spin on the breaking pitch and drop on the splitter:

He doesn’t have a super high-spin fastball (looking at about 2,200 RPM), but he made the adjustment from sinker to four-seamer after college, which should tunnel well with his offspeed and breaking offering. He seems to fit that Pirate pitcher mold of what they look for in prospects.

DeVito was acquired from the Braves in the Richard Rodríguez deadline trade. At the time, he was sidelined with an elbow injury after making just five starts that season. He didn’t pitch for the Pirates down the stretch. 

INF Maikol Escotto

Of the four players the Pirates got from the Yankees in the Jameson Taillon trade, two have already made their debuts with their new team (Roansy Contreras and Miguel Yajure), and outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba shouldn’t be far behind after he was added to the 40 man roster in November.

Escotto isn’t going to be on the major-league radar for at least a few more years. His first stint stateside didn’t do much to expedite that process, struggling at the plate with a 30% strikeout rate and just a .347 slugging percentage. The report I got on him also noted a low average exit velocity (85 mph) and a tendency to chase.

Some of that could be due to his age. Escotto turned 19 in June, so he was one of the youngest players in the Southeast League.

“We also saw some challenges at Low-A Bradenton with 18- and 19-year-olds playing a full season for the first time,” director of coaching and player development John Baker said at the “Get Better at Baseball” camp in Bradenton, Fla. in November. “We had some struggles. But I think it’s OK. If you’re significantly younger in a league and struggle a little bit, we can say, ‘Well, you’re younger than everyone else.’ ”

Seeing Escotto at that camp, you can see why the Pirates were high on this kid. He does a good job moving side to side on infield drills – he probably profiles best at second or third, but shortstop could be a possibility – and he put on a show in batting practice. Occasionally, he’ll tap into that raw power in a game:

The problem was he didn’t do it often enough. That could change as he gets more comfortable in professional ball.

Is it possible Escotto starts in Bradenton next year to see how he looks against more comparable competition first? Sure. The same goes for the next hitter on this list. But a jump to Greensboro is inevitable, and a challenge to see if those tools will finally translate to game situations.

C Abrahan Gutierrez

I referenced the Tyler Anderson trade in part one of this series, referring to right-hander Joaquin Tejada. Gutierrez was the main player in the Phillies package, and the two teams ended up coming up with a revised deal that sent minor-league lefty reliever Braeden Ogle to the Phillies for Gutierrez instead.

I hesitated to put Gutierrez on this list because there’s a logjam of catchers at this level. Of course there is first overall draft pick Henry Davis, but Endy Rodriguez was named the Southeast League MVP last year and is ranked by Baseball America as the Pirates’ No. 7 prospect. Even if the plan is to bounce Rodriguez around the diamond a bit, there really aren’t enough reps for three everyday catchers. Meanwhile, Gutierrez is 22 and could really use the challenge of going up another level.

“We have so many guys that are priorities,” Baker said. “So many guys that are so good, it's going to be a challenge for us to navigate that playing time matrix. We'll probably have to send some kids back to levels that they dominated just because there's no spot.”

Still, it seems a given that Gutierrez will make the jump to Greensboro in 2022 because he has nothing left to prove at Class Low-A. He slashed .290/.428/.441 over 307 plate appearances at that level last year, showing a tremendous feel for the zone as a hitter, which translated to some above-average framing abilities too. 

He doesn’t have a ton of power, so his skill set really only works as a catcher, which is going to be challenging with Davis always one step ahead of him. But he checks the boxes of what you want in a catcher defensively, something the Pirates have found in the past with guys like Arden Pabst and Christian Kelley. Unlike those players, though, he has decent offensive upside, to the point he could potentially be a major-league backup catcher.

RHP Logan Hofmann

The point of this series is to highlight some players who are not on the top 30 prospect list. At the moment, Hofmann is not, but it wouldn’t be surprising to see him crack either Baseball America or MLB Pipeline’s list next month.

The last player taken in the Pirates’ 2020 draft class, Hofmann was a bit undersized – 5’10”, 190 lbs. – and had a low-90s fastball, which kept him off the top of a lot of team’s draft charts. But he also had a high spin curve with drop that gave the Pirates the confidence to pick him. 

When he got to spring training last year, he showed a noticeable uptick in velocity, going from 88-92 to 92-95 mph. That didn’t stick for long, as he gradually fell back to his normal velocity as the year went on, something that he chalked up to the wear and tear of a full season. 

“I haven’t been through a season as long as this one,” he said at the pitcher development camp this month. “So I would say throughout the year, it slowly declined. I’ve just got to learn how to maintain my body better, my arm better. Those are things you learn in your first season in pro ball.”

If Hofmann can find and keep a little extra velocity, then his stuff should play in the upper levels of the system and keep him in the rotation. If he can’t find it as a starter, then a transition to the bullpen may be required.

Other players of note: Davis and Rodriguez were mentioned earlier. Right-hander Jared Jones will join them to give Greensboro a trio of the Pirates’ top 10 prospects. He could potentially join Davis on the top 100 list if he tightens his control. Outfielder Hudson Head was the headliner in the Joe Musgrove trade, and it’s possible he’s held back in Bradenton to start the year after an only ok season. Chalk that up to him still learning his new swing. He’ll make the jump to Greensboro at some point. Sammy Siani is another young, high-bonus outfielder in the same boat as Head. Adrian Florencio was named the Pirates’ minor-league pitcher of the year. Eddy Yean has big stuff but is terribly inconsistent and probably destined to be a reliever, sooner rather than later. Santiago Florez has some of the highest spin rates in the system, which translated to 97 strikeouts over 95.2 innings between Bradenton and Greensboro last year. Nick Garcia is a converted infielder who is still learning to pitch, but has middle of the rotation upside.