This story was excerpted from Alex Stumpf’s Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Plenty can change in a year. Esmerlyn Valdez, Antwone Kelly and Wilber Dotel went from relatively unknown A-ballers to members of the 40-man roster with a path to the Majors in one season. Edward Florentino went from the Dominican Summer League to MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 prospect list. And while many may have been excited for Konnor Griffin, there probably weren’t too many who saw him ascending to the game’s top prospect so quickly.
So who are this year’s picks to click? Let’s take a look at the Pirates’ farm system to try to find some young players on the verge of a breakout.
Blanco is listed at 6-foot-7, so he’ll watch videos of Oneil Cruz and Aaron Judge to see how they control a larger strike zone. He can hit as hard as those two sluggers, too, drilling a walk-off home run at Single-A Bradenton last year with a 119.8 mph exit velocity, the hardest hit ball ever tracked in the Minors.
COMPLETE PIRATES PROSPECT COVERAGE
Injuries have been the one thing holding him back, but his strong showing at the Arizona Fall League indicates he is still at a good spot in his development.
“It feels like the sky’s the limit for him,” Marauders manager Jim Horner said in August. “His biggest thing, for me, is he just needs to play games. He needs to stay on the field, stay healthy.”
A bit of an under-the-radar darling (are there cult Double-A pitching heroes?), Curtis is one of the livelier arms in the system. His fastball sits in the mid-90s with carry, he mixes in plenty of spin pitches (slider, curveball, cutter) and he attacks in the zone. He had a rough month of April last year, but once the calendar turned to May, he pitched to a 2.87 ERA with 102 strikeouts, 35 walks and a .193 batting average against over 97 1/3 innings.
Curtis projects as a starter and earned a late callup to Double-A Altoona last season. The Eastern League is a much kinder pitching environment, and he could grow his pitch arsenal.
A ninth-round pick in 2024, Gourson has already turned heads in the organization, which is why he earned an invitation to Major League Spring Training as a non-roster player. It would be a longshot for him to make the Opening Day team, but his showing last year and that invitation indicates he might not be too far from the Majors.
Gourson stole 31 bases on 34 attempts and slashed .275/.370/.439 with 10 home runs in 392 trips to the plate with High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona last season. He can bounce around the infield, elevated the ball more last season and can run the bases. That’s a fine combination for a utility-type player.
Perhaps this isn’t the most inspired pick. Wow, I think the No. 6 pick in the 2025 Draft is going to have a good season? Shocker.
So let’s make this a bigger prediction. I wouldn’t be shocked if Hernandez has a Griffin-like season, one where he just mows through A-ball. I don’t know how young hitters are supposed to compete against that changeup, especially when it’s paired with high-90s heat. Part of development is being challenged on the field, so I would expect a promotion or two for him this year.
Acquired at the Trade Deadline last year for Caleb Ferguson, Martinez is a project who had a 7.06 ERA in 65 innings in A-ball last year. Attribute that to a teenager being challenged by a higher level of competition and trying to sort out his control issues.
With that out of the way, let’s make it clear that he’s getting this spot because of his stuff. He sits in the mid-90s with his two fastballs, gets good spin on his slider and his cutter bites down. He is a north-to-south pitcher whose stuff should get whiffs in the zone. He’s still young (turning 20 next month), his pitches move and he has the frame to be a starter. If he can’t tighten up his control and stick in the rotation, he could be a force out of the bullpen.
