The minor-league season is halfway through and we've seen a good amount of promotions throughout the system. That doesn't mean you should ignore anyone who is still at their original assignment.
For this week's In The System, we're going to take a look at four players who haven't been promoted yet this year that are worth watching in the second half of the season.
CLASS AAA INDIANAPOLIS, INF AARON SHACKELFORD
There are some real easy answers here. Of course you should watch Endy Rodríguez and Quinn Priester since they routinely appear on top 100 prospect lists. Jared Triolo and Colin Selby were bit by injuries but are already on the 40-man roster, and we've seen players like Canaan Smith-Njigba and Cal Mitchell in the majors already this season.
So let's go with someone not on the roster: Shackelford. He's cooled since his torrid month of May, but is still slashing a healthy .240/.369/.464 with 10 home runs in 233 trips to the plate. He's a three true outcome hitter, but he's able to generate lift and pull the ball, which greatly improves his slugging percentage.
He's 26 and the Pirate's right-side of the infield is far from set. It's not too late for the late-bloomer to become a part of that mix, if he can continue to generate that pull-side power, which could be a big plus for a lefty at PNC Park.
CLASS AA ALTOONA, LHP TYLER SAMANIEGO
Last year's reliever of the year, Samaniego has been hit hard this season, allowing 18 runs over 25 innings pitched (6.48). Despite that, he still has the second-best FIP of any pitcher with 20 innings logged this season (2.87). Is he just unlucky or has his stuff regressed? Going based on metrics, the former seems more likely.
I had a conversation recently with high-up in player development who still thinks this guy can be a major-leaguer. He's not the hardest tosser (about 94 mph on a good day), but he attacks the zone and can get called and swinging strikes. A second-half bounce back could put him on the radar for a 2024 promotion.
Left-hander Anthony Solometo and infielder Tsung-Che Cheng were both promoted to Altoona earlier this month after tearing up Greensboro. If they keep it up, they could be on the 2024 radar as well.
CLASS HIGH-A GREENSBORO, INF JACKSON GLENN
Glenn was just activated off of the injured list last week after being out nearly a month. He was tearing it up before he went on the injured list, and he is hitting .322 with six home runs and a .925 OPS on the year.
An underslot fifth-rounder in 2021, Glenn is 25 and repeating a level, but there is a chance he could be a late-bloomer and find his way onto the major-league radar in a couple years. There's not one profoundly loud tool, but he's shown he can hit and greatly decreased his strikeout rate this year (26.1% to 14%). If that holds steady, he could be a potential platoon.
This spot almost went to Bubba Chandler to see if he can get his control problems in check. He has walked at least one batter in every outing this year. Greensboro is a tough place to pitch, but his first year as just a starter has been tough.
CLASS LOW-A BRADENTON, RHP DEREK DIAMOND
The sixth-round pick in last year's draft class, the Pirates bought low on a pitcher with definite upside and plenty of question marks. There were times at Ole Miss where he would sit in the mid-90s with sharp breaking stuff, with Baseball America theorizing he could have been a second- or third-round pick. But in his draft year, he recorded a 6.89 ERA, lost his velocity and didn't pitch in Omaha, tanking his draft stock.
With the Pirates, he's shown good control (striking out 4.5 batters for every walk) and better stuff. In 2022, he sat 89-92 mph on the fastball. That's been bumped up to 92-94 mph this season. It's not quite where he was in 2021 still, but he has two breaking balls that can get up to 2,600 RPM of spin to go with the heat. If the fastball can regain another tick or two naturally, he could continue to start. If he needs to transition into the bullpen to find that extra velocity, he could profile as a reliever too.
There's a good chance that some top draft picks will stop in Bradenton before the year is through, which is always worth watching. Jack Brannigan is also showing a good combination of pop and speed with the potential to develop into a plus defender at the hot corner, according to FanGraphs.
WHO IS HOT?
AAA Indianapolis: Priester struck out 11 in his start Saturday, the most strikeouts by an Indianapolis pitcher since Mitch Keller had a dozen in 2019. Since May 4, Priester is tied for the International League lead in wins (six), tied for second in innings pitched (54 2/3) and is fourth in strikeouts (51).
AA Altoona: Solometo has picked up right where he left off after being promoted from Greensboro, allowing just two earned runs over 10 innings pitched with 13 strikeouts in his first two starts with the Curve. He leads all Pirate minor-leaguers in ERA (2.23) and strikeouts (81).
A+ Greensboro: As previously mentioned, Cheng was promoted this past week. At the time of the promotion, he ranked fifth in the South Atlantic League in batting average (.343), fourth in slugging percentage (.597) and fourth in OPS (1.018) in the month of June.
A- Bradenton: Ryan Harbin has allowed just one unearned run over his last 18 1/3 innings pitched while recording a .115 batting average against. The 21-year-old right-hander has allowed just a 0.98 WHIP during that stretch.
SOMETHING TO WATCH
The Pirates have been hit hard by the injury bug this year, especially when it comes to starting pitching. That's what makes the promotions of Kyle Nicolas and Jared Jones to Indianapolis so intriguing. How far away are they from being on the major-league radar? Obviously Priester is a very safe bet for the next starter to come up, but could Nicolas or Jones be this year's Luis Ortiz and make the jump to the majors after just a handful of starts in Class AAA? Or at the very least, is a September promotion on the table? Nicolas would seemingly be more major-league ready, but Jones has the higher ceiling.
CLIP OF THE WEEK
It was an easy pick this week. Indianapolis outfielder Ryan Vilade made SportsCenter's Top 10, so of course he is going to be the pick this week:
Oh my, Vilade. #SCTop10. 🤯
— Indianapolis Indians (@indyindians) June 25, 2023
Name a better catch than this, @ESPNAssignDesk. We'll wait. pic.twitter.com/F8MvRy9P5P
TOP 5 HITTERS, BASEBALL AMERICA
C Endy Rodríguez (AAA): 259 PA, .248/.332/.389, 5 HR, 31 RBI
C Henry Davis (AA-AAA): 232 PA, .284/.433/.541, 11 HR, 30 RBI (in majors)
INF Termarr Johnson (A-): 204 PA, .245/.412/.428, 7 HR, 25 RBI
INF Liover Peguero (AA): 291 PA, .265/.340/.450, HR, 32 RBI
INF Nick Gonzales (AAA): 262 PA, .257/.370/.450, 6 HR, 27 RBI (in majors)
TOP 5 PITCHERS, BASEBALL AMERICA
RHP Jared Jones (AA-AAA): 1-5, 2.78 ERA, 56 K, 55 IP
RHP Quinn Priester (AAA): 7-3, 4.36 ERA, 76 K, 74 1/3 IP
RHP Bubba Chandler (A+): 3-2, 6.33 ERA, 66 K, 54 IP
LHP Anthony Solometo (A+-AA): 2-4, 2.23 ERA, 81 K, 68 2/3 IP
RHP Thomas Harrington (A-/A+): 4-2, 3.32 ERA, 66 K, 59 2/3 IP