Four under-the-radar prospects to watch in Altoona 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 fourth 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.

The Greensboro Grasshoppers had the most high-level talent in the organization last season, including top 100 prospects Nick Gonzales, Liover Peguero and Quinn Priester. Most of that team will make the jump to Class AA Altoona in the coming season. Who are some of the guys that aren’t grabbing headlines that are worth keeping an eye on?

RHP Cristofer Melendez

One of the first moves the Pirates made this offseason was signing Melendez to a new minor-league contract rather than letting him hit free agency. Those types of moves are never high profile, but it did give the Pirates more time with a hard-throwing right-hander who could be a future bullpen arm.

Melendez mainly relies on his fastball, and it grades out terrifically, averaging about 97 mph with plenty of spin (about 2,500 RPM). He pairs that with an average slider which ironically gets about the same amount of spin as his heater, but it’s the fastball that’s the bread and butter pitch that works well up in the zone:

After bouncing around organizations for a couple years (in the span of about 16 months from 2017-2018 he could call himself an Astro, White Sox, Padre and Pirate farmhand at some point), Melendez finally got into the upper-levels of the farm system early last season. There, he recorded a 4.41 ERA and 5 BB/9 over 32 ⅔ innings, neither of which are great, but are workable.

Melendez is 24 and not too far away from being on a major-league radar. Some more reps in Altoona first would probably be beneficial.

OF Lolo Sanchez

It wasn’t that long ago where Sanchez was considered one of the Pirates’ top prospects, with Baseball America ranking him as the No. 10 in 2018 and No. 12 in 2019, but after under-performing in pro ball and the farm system getting restocked, he dropped of the radar before 2021.

Going into 2021, Greensboro manager Kieran Mattison noticed that Sanchez had been taking good swings in winter ball and emphasized that’s the approach he should have for the coming season.

“The priority there is my mindset,” Sanchez said over Zoom in October, as translated by Mike Gonzalez. “I really try to prepare my mindset during the game, and even in that situation, to make sure that I have a good load and a good jump off as I'm going towards seconds, or whether it's second to third, whatever the situation may be. I've really just got to relate it to my mindset."

The result was by far Sanchez’s best year as a professional, slashing .264/.372/.453 with 17 home runs and 30 stolen bases, being named the organization’s Omar Moreno Baserunner of the Year. (A fitting award since Sanchez learned a lot from Moreno.) While Greensboro’s home ballpark is a hitter-friendly environment, Sanchez actually posted a much better OPS on the road (.887) than at home (.768), giving these results some more validity. 

Sanchez’s first four years in pro ball didn’t go as planned and he wasn’t invited to the alternate site in 2020. He easily could have flamed out, but last year showed that he still does have major-league upside. The jump to AA is considered the second-largest jump in pro ball (the one exception being going from Class AAA to the majors), so it will be telling if last year was a fluke or not. But at just 22, maybe he is coming into his own.

RHP Aaron Shortridge

Sometimes the best reviews don’t come from scouts or analysts, but from teammates. Shortridge’s name kept coming up at the pitching development camp from the other pitchers who were there or in the Bradenton Complex this season.

“He's just a beast,” Bubba Chandler said. “Great dude. He's taken me under his wing because he was down here rehabbing over the summer, so I'm very thankful for that."

Shortridge was someone who appeared poised to take a big leap under the new regime, spending 2020 at the alternate training site and showing an increase in velocity that sat in the mid-90s. That breakout was put on hold when he underwent Tommy John surgery last January, missing the entire season.

Still just 24, it will be interesting to see if Shortridge will keep that extra velocity as a starter this season, whenever his debut may be. He has a potentially plus changeup and a decent breaking pitch, giving him a chance to be a strike-throwing fifth starter. His stuff would probably translate well to the bullpen too, if the Pirates feel they have enough depth in the upper levels.

3B Jared Triolo

Matt Fraizer was the Pirates’ big breakout candidate among their prospects, but when I asked director of coaching and player development John Baker about him, he made sure to bring up Triolo too as someone who was in the same boat as Fraizer and had a solid year as well.

A third-round pick in 2019, Triolo slashed an impressive .304/.369/.480 with 15 home runs, 25 stolen bases and a minor-league Gold Glove at third. He really focused on his defense during the 2020 shutdown, giving him a bankable skill ahead of a pivotal season.

“It was kind of a relaxing time to take a step back from the game for a little bit and focus on some of the stuff that I had been working on,” Triolo said over Zoom in October.

Triolo did average only a 33% hard-hit rate, going by Baseball Savant’s 95+ mph exit velocity measure, so some of those results may have been a product of Greensboro’s hitter-friendly environment. But he didn’t chase much and his swing path led to some consistent fly balls and line drives, which is a good sign.

Plus, he excels on defense, and Baker hinted at the possibility of him bouncing around the diamond at other positions.

“When I called him to tell him that he had won that award [the Gold Glove], I said, ‘Hey, listen, Tri, you’re the best third baseman in the minor leagues,’ ” Baker said at the "Get Better at Baseball" camp. “ ‘Congratulations. I feel like you've graduated. And I feel like you could also be an excellent center fielder. And I think you could play shortstop in the major leagues as well.”

The Pirates have several good infield prospects, so if he could be more versatile, it would be beneficial to the club and his major-league chances.

Other Players of note: Altoona will be the home of at least three first-round picks next year: Priester, Gonzales, Carmen Mlodzinski. Henry Davis could come up midseason and make it four. Michael Burrows is ranked by Baseball America as the Pirates’ No. 8 prospect, and if he replicates his 2021 season, he could flirt with a top 100 spot. If Tahnaj Thomas passes through the Rule 5 draft, Altoona seems like a likely landing spot for the right-hander with a big arm and plenty of question marks. Carter Bins was acquired in the Tyler Anderson trade with the Mariners at the deadline and should be the first Pirate prospect catcher of the bunch to reach the majors.