Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects to Know

Prospects to Know from the Pittsburgh Pirates system for 2025.

You are reading the free version of the Pittsburgh Pirates Top Prospects. In this version, you will get the full writeups on the top prospect in the system, the biggest sleeper, and a player I could see breaking out in 2025.

In this edition, you will see what I offer in the full team reports. For every farm system, you will get my top 50 ranked players and detailed reports on the top 30. Each report includes advanced player data, traditional scouting thoughts from live and video looks, plus thoughts from scouts around the league.

Let’s dive in on what you get in the full report!

Glossary:

FFG = Future Fantasy Grade - essentially, what is the likely long-term outcome for the prospect? This is always going to be more conservative. Handing out ace tags is not something I like to do. So, this is a realistic outcome.

90th Peak = If the player hits their best-case outcome, what does it look like?

Variance = How risky is this player’s profile, and how likely are they to hit their likely outcome? Low variance is good; high means more risky.

Format for report: Name/Position/Age on 2025 Opening Day/Height/Weight/Highest Level

Pittsburgh Pirates Top Prospects To Know

Top Overall Prospect

1. Bubba Chandler, RHP, 22, 6’2”/200, AAA

Chandler has long been known as an athlete, dating back to his days in high school when he was committed to Clemson to play quarterback but also to be a two-way player on the baseball field. After being drafted, he gave up football but continued to be a two-way player on the diamond, pitching and playing shortstop for his first two pro seasons.

After settling in as a pitcher in 2023, Chandler had plenty of bumps in the road and made significant strides throughout the season. He built on that in 2024, tossing a dominant 119.2 innings with a 3.08 ERA, backed by a 3.10 FIP. Chandler struck out over 30 percent of the batters he faced and walked just 8.6 percent.

The most notable improvement Chandler has made over the last year has been with his command and strike-throwing ability. Landing 65 percent of his pitches for strikes, Chandler misses plenty of bats and also showed the ability to land pitches for called strikes as the season wore on.

From an arsenal standpoint, Chandler is highly impressive, featuring a fastball that routinely sits 97-98 mph with 18 inches of IVB and ten or more inches of run. Considering the 5’8” release height, Chandler’s fastball is a borderline 70-grade offering.

He pairs it with a changeup that tunnels well off the fastball and has excellent fading action, sitting in the upper 80s. It averages 17 inches of arm-side fade with a late tumbling action.

The slider could end up being a 70-grade pitch if he harnesses the command of it some, as it sits anywhere from 87-90 with a strong gyro shape. Few pitchers have three pitches as strong as Chandler’s arsenal.

Chandler looks like one of the best pitching prospects in baseball. Since the start of June, Chandler posted a 2.27 ERA across 91 innings with 115 strikeouts and just 22 walks. He has thrown strikes at a 66 percent clip, easily the best mark of his career. We are looking at a potential front-line arm.

FFG: SP2

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: 170 IP/3.30 ERA/200 K

Variance: High

Buy/Sell: Buy

Pirates Sleeper Prospect

14. Carlson Reed, RHP, 22, 6’4”/200, A+

Reed flew under the radar most of the season as a 2023 college draftee in Single-A. But at some point, the stuff and results became undeniable. In 31 High-A innings to end the season, Reed allowed three earned runs and lowered his overall ERA to 1.99 on the year in 108.2 innings.

After pitching as a reliever exclusively at West Virginia in 2023, Reed showed excellent durability in his first full pro season. He may not overpower you with his fastball, but he has sat between 92 and 94 this year. He has thrown a sinker and a four-seam fastball with different movement profiles.

The slider is the primary whiff weapon, showing plenty of sweeping action and excellent carry, sitting in the 82-85 range. Reed throws a changeup in a similar velocity band to the slider, getting 12+ inches of fade regularly, and mimics the sinker profile before falling off late.

The slider and changeup have missed bats at a high clip, and the sinker has done a great job keeping the ball on the ground. Having a 6’4”/200 lb starter frame, he could certainly add more weight, and if he does and the fastball ticks up even a little, this could be a very solid profile.

Reed’s underlying data improved throughout the season as well. Over the final two months of the season, Reed posted an 18 percent swinging strike rate with a 32 percent CSW, both high-end marks. The strike rate also improved to 62 percent, closer to the league average.

FFG: SP5/Spot Starter

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: 140 IP/3.80 ERA/145 K

Variance: Very High

Buy/Sell: Buy

Pittsburgh Pirates 2025 Breakout Prospect

19. Edward Florentino, 1B/OF, 18, 6’4”/200, DSL

Florentino signed as part of the Pirates 2024 international class, receiving a $395k bonus. Having an advanced frame at 6’4”/200, Florentino mashed and was one of the Pirates’ best DSL hitters. His slash of .260/.432/.459 with five home runs and 17 extra-base hits in 49 games.

Considering the frame and long levers, Florentino does not swing and miss often. He posted above-average contact rates and had an impressive 86 percent in-zone mark. He does not expand the zone often and walked at a high clip in 2024, backed by a sub-20 percent chase rate.

Florentino hit the ball pretty hard for a 17 year-old, having a 90th percentile exit velocity already near the MLB average at 103.5 mph. Given the amount of line drives and fly balls Florentino hits and a swing that is geared for loft, he should get plenty of game power. Florentino feels like a significant potential breakout when he comes stateside in 2025.

FFG: Power Hitting OF

90th Percentile Peak Outcome: .275/.370/25 HR/10 SB

Variance: Extreme

Buy/Sell: Buy