In last week’s preview, I mentioned the Pirates minor leaguers were facing a mix of “quality and quantity”, and I think it may have been a little preemptive. Upon initially preparing this week’s list, my instant reaction was a simple, “Wow”.
For those that don’t know, the idea for creating these lists originated when some commenters and myself were curious about the quality of pitching 2020 first round pick Nick Gonzales was facing back in 2021. This week will be a perfect encapsulation of the opposition prospect intrigue that birthed the weekly list.
I also re-added the Fangraphs and ESPN Pre-Season Top 100 rankings, as I felt this week especially they would give a much more well-rounded view in the level of competition.
If you didn’t get enough of the St. Louis Cardinals this past weekend, prepare for a loaded Triple-A affiliate. The Memphis Redbirds have almost a third — 9 of 30 — of the Cardinals top 30 prospects. Leading the charge is Masyn Winn, who was a consensus top 100 prospect across the board. In total, the Redbirds have four top 100 prospects when including all four pre-season lists, with Ivan Herrera cracking the ESPN list. If you’ll also notice, the Redbirds currently carry the #1 team ERA in the International League, headlined by starters Gordon Graceffo and Matthew Liberatore.
The Altoona Curve get to face the Baltimore Orioles Double-A squad, Bowie Baysox, who aren’t short on high-end prospects, even with so many ascending to Triple-A and even the majors. Heston Kjestad — 2020 second overall pick — is embarking on his first full-season of pro baseball, and is showing no signs of rust. If you’re not familiar, he had a tumultuous path after being drafted, that included health and injury setbacks, and didn’t play his first pro game until June 10th of 2022. In addition, the Baysox have another Orioles 2020 selection in Coby Mayo, who is seeking to regain some of the 2022 pre-season hype he was gaining after a huge 2021 season. Cade Povich is a left-handed starter that has been garnering top 100 attention himself.
Greensboro Grasshoppers — who appear to be finally streaming home games — will get to face Boston Red Sox affiliate Greenville Drive, and a very familiar name for us: Marcelo Mayer. As should be expected, Mayer was a consensus top 100 prospect. He has had a rough start to the 2023 season, but as we all know if there’s a park to pump the juice back into a prospects season, it’s Greensboro. The Drive have seven of the Red Sox top 30 prospects, so it’s going to be interesting to see how the Grasshopper’s pitching fares this week.
In the Florida State League, the Bradenton Marauders are taking on the Daytona Tortugas, a Cincinnati Reds affiliate. The Tortugas have a large collection of top 30 prospects themselves, rostering 10 in total. The biggest name of the bunch is 2022 first round pick, and name that was linked at times to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Cam Collier. The Tortugas currently have the highest team OPS in the FSL, so it will be a very strong test for the Marauders squad that has a very solid collection of intriguing college and prep arms.
Triple-A: Indianapolis Indians
Opponent: MEMPHIS (CARDINALS)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .721 OPS
Rank: 17/20
Team ERA: 3.20
ERA Rank: 1/20
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- MASYN WINN | SS | 2
- Pipeline Top 100: #44
- Baseball America Top 100: #46
- ESPN Pre-Season Top 100: #27
- Fangraphs Pre-Season Top 100: #44
- GORDON GRACEFFO | RHP | 4
- Pipeline Top 100: #72
- ESPN Pre-Season Top 100: #81
- Fangraphs Pre-Season Top 100: #68
- MATTHEW LIBERATORE | LHP | 5
- Baseball America Top 100: #76
- Fangraphs Pre-Season Top 100: #87
- IVAN HERRERA | C | 8
- ESPN Pre-Season Top 100: #89
- MOISES GOMEZ | OF | 13
- CONNOR THOMAS | LHP | 16
- JAKE WALSH | RHP | 23
- RYAN LOUTOS | RHP | 25
- GUILLERMO ZUNIGA | RHP | 29
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
Opponent: BOWIE (ORIOLES)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .680 OPS
Rank: 6/12
Team ERA: 2.94
ERA Rank: 4/12
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- HESTON KJERSTAD | OF | 5
- Pipeline Top 100: #73
- COBY MAYO | 3B | 9
- ESPN Pre-Season Top 100: #47
- Fangraphs Pre-Season Top 100: #36
- CADE POVICH | LHP | 12
- ESPN Pre-Season Top 100: #54
- CESAR PRIETO | INF | 17
- CHAYCE MCDERMOTT | RHP | 18
- JOHN RHODES | OF | 20
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
Opponent: GREENVILLE (RED SOX)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .667 OPS
Rank: 9/12
Team ERA: 4.68
ERA Rank: 6/12
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- MARCELO MAYER | SS | 1
- Pipeline Top 100: #7
- Baseball America Top 100: #9
- ESPN Pre-Season Top 100: #7
- Fangraphs Pre-Season Top 100: #18
- EDDINSON PAULINO | INF/OF | 8
- BLAZE JORDAN | 3B/1B | 10
- WIKELMAN GONZALEZ | RHP | 11
- NATHAN HICKEY | C | 15
- BRAINER BONACI (7-Day IL) | INF | 16
- CHASE MEIDROTH | 2B | 20
SINGLE-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
Opponent: DAYTONA (REDS)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .780 OPS
Rank: 1/10
Team ERA: 4.23
ERA Rank: 5/10
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- CAM COLLIER | 3B | 4
- Pipeline Top 100: #63
- Baseball America Top 100: #67
- ESPN Pre-Season Top 100: #50
- Fangraphs Pre-Season Top 100: #70
- SAL STEWART | 3B | 8
- CARLOS JORGE | 2B | 15
- VICTOR ACOSTA | SS | 16
- LOGAN TANNER | C | 18
- BRYCE HUBBART | LHP | 19
- ARIEL ALMONTE | OF | 20
- LEONARDO BALCAZAR | SS | 23
- HECTOR RODRIGUEZ | OF | 26
- LYON RICHARDSON | RHP | 29
PIRATES PROSPECTS DAILY
By Tim Williams
I spent the day mostly working on updates to the site. Most of today was focused on the homepage navigation, which will dictate the publishing schedule going forward. By the end of this week, there will be new resources on the site. Ideally, I will have time to write a few columns.
Pirates Recap: Bucs Smash Rockies Into Little Bits
**Pirates Top Performers: Cheng and Bido Shine in First Full Week in Minors
**Pirates Draft Prospect Watch: Max Clark is Off to a Strong Start
