ESPN Ranks Top 10 Pirates Prospects

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have some great prospects in their farm system, with some ranking towards the best in baseball.

Kiley McDaniel of ESPN ranked the top 10 prospects for each MLB team, including the Pirates, making some changes since the beginning of the season. This includes players at the MLB level prior to 130 at-bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on the active roster.

He kept his same top four prospects, with right-handed pitcher Bubba Chandler at number one, shortstop Konnor Griffin at number two, second baseman Termarr Johnson at number three and right-handed pitcher Braxton Ashcraft at number four.

McDaniel made changes down the list, swapping second baseman Nick Yorke and left-handed pitcher Hunter Barco to the number five and number six positions, respectively.

He moved shortstop Wyatt Sanford up two spots from number seven and dropped right-handed pitcher Thomas Harrington down two spots to number nine.

McDaniel also kept right-handed pitcher Mike Burrows at number eight and added a new player to the ranking in catcher Omar Alfonzo at number 10.

Chandler and Griffin both ranked on the top 50 prospects in baseball for McDaniel as well, placing Chandler at number two and Griffin at number 19.

There aren't many or any pitchers in the minor leagues that fans, national media and baseball lovers alike want to see more in the MLB than Chandler.

He's been exceptional this season with a 2-1 record over 11 starts with Triple-A Indianapolis, a 2.03 ERA over 48.2 innings pitched, with just 11 earned runs allowed, 69 strikeouts for 21 walks, a .181 opposing batting average, a 1.07 WHIP and a 12.76 K/9.

Chandler is amongst the best pitchers in the International League, ranked tied for first with a 12.76 K/9, second in ERA, third with 69 strikeouts and opposing batting average and fourth in WHIP.

The Pirates took Griffin with the number nine overall pick and he's excelled in his first season of professional baseball with Single-A Bradenton.

He has a slash line of.310/.371/.511 for an OPS of .882. He has 57 hits in 184 at-bats, nine doubles, two triples, eight home runs, 29 RBIs, 13 walks to 49 strikeouts and 25 stolen bases on 29 attempts.

Griffin one of the best hitters in the Florida State League, ranking first in slugging percentage, tied for first in hits, second in batting average and stolen bases, tied for second in home runs, fifth in OPS, tied for sixth in RBIs, tied for 14th in doubles and triples, 16th in on-base percentage prior to games on June 3.

Termarr Johnson, the Pirates number four overall pick in the 2022 MLB Draft, is playing with Double-A Altoona and still hasn't faced a pitcher younger than him at 20 years old.

He has a slash line of .250/.354/.411 and an OPS of .765, with 42 hits, five doubles, two triples, six home runs, 18 RBIs and 27 walks to 37 strikeouts in 47 games.

Ashcraft spent most of this season with Indianapolis, with a 3-3 record over 10 starts, a 5.03 ERA over 48.1 innings pitched, 56 strikeouts to 17 walks and an opposing batting average of .277.

The Pirates called Ashcraft up on May 26 and he threw three scoreless innings in his MLB Debut vs. the Arizona Dimaondbacks at Chase Field. He also threw a scoreless innings on June 1 vs. the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

Yorke has spent all season with Indianapolis, slashing .274/.345/.376 with an OPS of .721 in 43 games.

Barco dominated in Altoona with a 1-0 record in five starts while allowing no runs, nine hits, three hit batters and four walks, while posting 30 strikeouts and an opposing batting average of .132 in the month of April.

He set a franchise record with the longest scoreless inning streak to start a season at 25.2 innings pitched.

Barco earned promotion to Indianapolis and recently made his first start since a minor injury.

Sanford just earned promotion from the Florida Complex League Pirates to Bradenton on June 2, after slashing .259/.487/.370 for an OPS of .857, with 14 hits in 54 at-bats, one double, one triple, one home run, six RBIs, 17 runs, 15 walks to 15 strikeouts and 13 stolen bases on 14 attempts.

The Pirates second round pick in 2024 also homered in his first at-bat with Bradenton and will likely form a duo with Griffin in the infield.

Burrows spent most of his season down in Triple-A, starting seven of eight games he's pitched in, with a 2-1 record, a 2.51 ERA over 32.1 innings pitched, 41 strikeouts to 11 walks and an opposing batting average of .195.

The Pirates recalled Burrows twice, first on April 24 before sending him back down again on April 26, then recalling him again on May 21.

Burrows is now currently part of the starting rotation for the Pirates, taking the number five place from right-handed pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski.

He struggled in his first two starts, allowing eight earned runs over 8.1 innings for an 8.64 ERA.

Harrington made his first MLB start on March 31 against the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. He struggled in that outing, allowing seven hits, four walks and six earned runs with just two strikeouts over 90 pitches in four innings in the 7-0 loss.

He came in during the sixth inning vs. the St. Louis Cardinals at PNC Park on April 7 and had a solid outing, closing out the final four innings in the 8-4 win.

Harrington became the first Pirates pitcher to earn a four-inning save since Jason Christiansen did so in a 5-1 win over the Montreal Expos on July 17, 1998.

The Pirates sent Harrington back to Triple-A on April 10 where's he pitched since, with a 2-5 record over nine starts and eight appearances, a 6.87 ERA over 38.0 innings pitched and 35 strikeouts to 15 walks.

Alfonzo is in his first full season with High-A Greensboro, where he has a slash line of .244/.389/.394 with an OPS of .783 in 46 games, plus 39 hits, six doubles, six home runs, 23 RBIs and 36 walks to 61 strikeouts.