8-24-21 – By Justin Verno – @JV_PITT on Twitter
In the coming weeks I will give a weekly update to how the top 30 prospects progressed. I will be using Fangaphs rankings, these guys are a lot smarter than I am. The Bucs MiLB system is off on Mondays, so Tuesday seems the natural day to this.
I will give the weekly stats and the season stats and indicate if the numbers moved up or down. If FG gives a prospect a bump or even lowers the FV number I will make note of that. I will also not give the stats to the players currently in the MLB.
I will also highlight a player at the end.
1-Henry Davis – 50 FV
| BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K | |
| Week | 286/353/714 | 1.067 | .426 | .422 | 161 | 11.8% | 35.3% |
| Season | 263/375/684 | 1.059 | .421 | .424 | 162 | 16.7% | 33.3% |
2-Quinn Priester – 50 FV
| | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | K% | BB |
| Week | 5 | 7.20 | 4.38 | 1.40 | 438 | 27.3% | 0% | |
| Season | 79 | 3.08 | 4.38 | 4.39 | 1.23 | 274 | 22.6% | 9.1% |
3 – Roansy Contreras – 50 FV
| | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | K% | BB |
| Week – (IL) | | | | | | | | |
| Season | 46 | 2.35 | 2.36 | 2.79 | .91 | 275 | 35.5% | 6% |
4- Liver Peguero – 50 FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week | 238/261/286 | .547 | .048 | .243 | 47 | 4.3% | 17.4% |
| Season | 259/317/433 | .750 | .174 | .327 | 101 | 7.1% | 25.5% |
5-Miguel Yajure – 50 FV
| | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | K% | BB |
| Week – (IL) | | | | | | | | |
| Season | 21 | 3.43 | 4.05 | 2.97 | .95 | .234 | 28.7% | 7.5% |
| MLB | 9.1 | 3.86 | 5.21 | 4.51 | .86 | .143 | 23.5% | 8.8% |
6- Oneil Cruz – 50 FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week | 333/400/556 | .956 | .222 | .412 | 158 | 10% | 40% |
| Season | 291/352/538 | .890 | .247 | .381 | 138 | 8.8% | 23.5% |
7-Tahnaj Thom – 50 FV
| | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | K% | BB |
| Week | 4 | 0.00 | 4.76 | 1.50 | .200 | 22.2% | 22.2% | |
| Season | 51.2 | 4.18 | 5.85 | 5.79 | 1.53 | .225 | 23.1% | 14.3% |
8-Nick Gonzales – 50 FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week | 444/464/704 | 1.168 | .259 | .500 | 210 | 3.6% | 28.6% |
| Season | 298/368/514 | .882 | .216 | .381 | 135 | 8.5% | 29% |
9-Travis Swaggerty – 50 FV – Out for the year
10-Bubba Chandler – 45 FV – 8 plate appearances, lets save this
11-Ji-hwan Bae – 45 FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week | .316/.462/.317 | .777 | .000 | .371 | 131 | 40% | 40% |
| Season | .2643/.35/.410 | .745 | .146 | .328 | 103 | 9.3% | 24.2% |
12-Brennan Malone – 45 FV
| | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | K% | BB |
| Week – CPX | 4.1 | 10.38 | 7.54 | 5.04 | 1.85 | .300 | 25% | 20% |
| Week – A | 3.2 | 0.00 | 7.61 | 9.12 | 2.45 | .333 | 10% | 25% |
13-Hudson Head – 45 FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week- | .067/.300/.067 | .367 | .000 | .240 | 37 | 20% | 45% |
| Season- | .200/.362/.375 | .737 | .175 | .375 | 110 | 17% | 32.2% |
14-Cody Bolton – 45 FV -out for the season
15-Maikol Escotto – 40+ FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week- | .214/.353/.214 | .567 | .000 | .304 | 76 | 17.6% | 41.2% |
| Season- | .244/.377/.376 | .752 | .238 | .465 | 114 | 16.4% | 30.8% |
16-Anthony Solometo – Nothing Yet
17-Jarred Jones – 40+ FV
| | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | K% | BB |
| Week | 3.2 | 9.82 | 4.61 | | 4.61 | .286 | 33.3% | 22.2% |
| Season | 52.1 | 3.59 | 3.54 | 3.48 | 1.37 | .384 | 35.5% | 10.8% |
18-Carmen Mlodzinski – 40+ FV
| | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | K% | BB |
| Week | 2 | 18.00 | 17.76 | | 3.00 | .333 | 16.7% | 16.7% |
| Season | 45 | 3.20 | 4.48 | 3.78 | 1.09 | .258 | 32% | 9.4% |
19-Canaan Smith-Njigba – 40+ FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week – (IL) | | | | | | | |
| Season | .286/.403/.427 | .830 | .141 | 372 | 132 | 16.1% | 25.8% |
20-Lonnie White – 40+ FV – Only 2 plate appearances, let’s save this
21-Rodolfo Castro – 40+ FV – MLB and is headed back to the MiLB, let’s take a look once he is back in Altoona
22-Diego Castillo – 40+ FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week | .240/.269/.400 | .669 | .160 | .290 | 78 | 3.8% | 7.7% |
| Season – PIT | .263/.320/.453 | .773 | .189 | .367 | 108 | 7.7% | 7.7% |
| Season – NYY | .277/.345/.504 | .850 | .228 | .367 | 128 | 8.4% | 13.7% |
23-Rodolfo Nolasco – 40+ FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week | .286/.412/.500 | .912 | .214 | .428 | 146 | 11.8% | 17.6% |
| Season | .250/.368/.385 | .754 | .135 | .367 | 110 | 14% | 31.6% |
24-Jared Oliva – 40+ FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week | .364/.417/.500 | .917 | .136 | .405 | 148 | 4.2% | 20.8% |
| Season | .243/.315/.348 | .663 | .104 | .301 | 79 | 7.9% | 27.6% |
| MLB | .175/.233/.225 | .458 | .050 | .215 | 20 | 7% | 23.3% |
25-Endy Rodriguez – 40+ FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week | .333/.429/.667 | 1.095 | .333 | .489 | 188 | 14.3% | 42.9% |
| Season | .273/.362/.464 | .826 | .190 | .384 | 124 | 11.7% | 19.2% |
26-Mason Martin – 40+ FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week | .208/,208/.414 | .625 | .208 | .262 | 59 | 0% | 50% |
| Season | .256/.332/.536 | .868 | .280 | .366 | 128 | 8.5% | 34.7% |
27-Jose Soriano – 40+ FV – Out for the season
28-Luis Oviedo -40+ FV – MLB
29-Cal Mitchel – 40+ FV
| | BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| Week | .273/.333/.455 | .788 | .182 | .345 | 114 | 4.2% | 16.7% |
| Season | .272/.326/.446 | .722 | .174 | .335 | 107 | 5.7% | 17.5% |
30-Eddy Yean – 40+ FV
| | IP | ERA | FIP | xFIP | WHIP | BABIP | K% | BB |
| Week | 3.2 | 2.45 | 6.79 | | 2.45 | .375 | 25% | 30% |
| Season | 53 | 5.77 | 5.64 | 4.79 | 1.43 | .259 | 23.3% | 14.4% |
So there’s the weekly update. A few quick notes, there are more 40+ FV prospects that aren;t in the top 30 prospects, that’s how deep it is right now. A lot of depth here! A few guys I can see getting a bump soon? Canaan Smith-Njigba. Endy Rodrihuez. Diego Castillo. Carmen Mlodzinski. And Jared Jones. They might not be the only ones but they are the ones that jumped out to me. One more that jumps out as being in line for an FV jump? Well, that leads me to the highlighted player, hey Fangraphs, can Matt Fraizer please get some respect? Seriously, he’s not even a 35+ FV prospect, and that simply has to change.
When the Bucs drafted him in the 3rd round in the 2019 draft he was coming off a broken hamate so there was not a lot for teams to go on in his last year at school. And while he looked good at Arizona before that injury, slashing 412/452/565 a big jump from his sophomore slash line of 266/352/359, there was nothing to suggest the power breakthrough we’ve seen this year. It’s not entirely unusual for a Jr in the NCAA ranks to make that kind of jump, particularly after not playing his freshman season at Arizona, but it appears the Buccos really got one here and Cherington should consider giving a shout out to Neal Huntington, this was one of his draft picks.
And the best part? The peripherals suggest he’s the real deal. At 23 he is age appropriate for AA despite missing a season due to the COVID situation, so no worries there. Let’s delve in a little…
Matt started the year in A+ and in 75 games terrorized it. Hittin 20 HR in 350 trips to the plate, but Fraizer is no one trick pony, he also hit 17 more extra base hits. 14 doubles and 3 triples. He isn’t limited to the long ball. Here’s what he did in A+
| BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| .314/401/.578 | .979 | .264 | .418 | 158 | 12.3% | 21.1% |
Since getting the call to AA, well he hasn’t slowed much…in fact he’s been better in the short amount of time in Altoona.
| BA/OBP/SL | OPS | ISO | wOBA | wRC | walk | K |
| .379/.422/.690 | 1.112 | .310 | .464 | 193 | 4.7% | 20.3% |
Now don’t get me wrong the AA sample size is small and at some point they will adjust to what he is doing. How quickly Fraizer makes adjustments could be a key to how quickly we see him in Pittsburgh and how high he shoots up boards.
Something that jumps out here, Matt has never had a K rate higher than 22.2% so he has a great feel for the strike zone. The ground ball is down from 47.4% in A- ball. 36.8% in A+ and 43.5% in AA. He’s also pulling the ball more, 45.7% in AA and 41.6% in A+ a decent jump from 32.8% in A- in his 2019 season. But with a healthy hand, literally, these numbers aren’t all that alarming. Get used to the name Pirate fans, you’re going to be hearing it a lot!
