Five Prospects Worth Following in Pirates’ System This Year

The Pittsburgh Pirates are already seven games into the season. Triple-A Indianapolis is in action, too, though they’ve already had several games postponed due to inclement weather.

Double-A Altoona, High-A Greensboro and Single-A Bradenton — the Pirates’ other top affiliates — all start play on Friday.

Minor league baseball is back. For the Pirates, there are several prospects worth keeping an eye on this season. A couple of the organization’s top prospects are obviously in that mix, but there are some others further down the rankings worth following too.

Here are five Pirates’ prospects you should follow this summer.

RHP Bubba Chandler

• 2024 stats (AA, AAA): 10-7, 3.08 ERA, 119.2 innings, 81 hits, 46 runs/41 earned runs, 41 walks, 148 strikeouts, 26 appearances/23 starts

If things go according to plan for Chandler this season, you’ll be watching him on the mound at PNC Park in relatively short order.

The expectation is that Chandler, the organization’s top prospect, will make his Major-League debut at some point in 2025.

In addition to being the Pirates’ top prospect, the 22-year-old is considered one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. He was ranked as the seventh-best prospect by Baseball America and the 15th-best by MLB Pipeline entering the start of the season.

He’s looking to become the next Pirates’ pitching prospect to have a major impact on the big-league club, like Paul Skenes and Jared Jones.

INF/OF Konnor Griffin

• 2024 stats: Did Not Play

Griffin was the Pirates’ top choice in the 2024 draft, and after watching him play in spring training, it’s easy to see the appeal.

The 18-year-old is a serious athlete and has the potential to be a five-tool player. He’s an elite runner, a good defender with a strong arm and has big-time power.

Griffin’s first season in the Pirates’ organization will begin with the Bradenton Marauders. The expectation is he will spend time in center field and at shortstop, two premium positions. If he can put it all together, the sky is the limit for the Pirates’ No. 2 prospect.

2B Termarr Johnson

The only other time Ben Cherington has dipped into the high school ranks in the first round other than Griffin was to take Johnson with the fourth pick in 2022.

At the time, Johnson was considered the best prep hitter available in years. Three years later, it hasn’t quite translated just yet, but Johnson has done some good things.

Though Johnson has hit just .239 in his minor-league career, his ability to get on base is impressive. Despite being young for his level everywhere he’s been, the 20-year-old has a .390 on-base percentage and an 18.6% walk rate.

This will be a big year for Johnson, who the Pirates are surely hoping will do more with the bat other than just get on base. He’ll begin the season in Double-A Altoona.

INF Tsung-Che Cheng

It’s been an interesting past few years for Cheng. Following the conclusion of the 2023 season, Cheng was added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.

But Cheng had a disappointing season in 2024, most of which came with the Altoona Curve. In 126 games with Double-A, Cheng hit just .218 with a .662 OPS.

However, the 23-year-old looked like a different player this spring. In 14 games, Cheng hit .353/.400/.647 with a pair of doubles, a home run, two RBIs and six runs.

If he’s able to continue that momentum to the start of the season with Indianapolis, we might see him in Pittsburgh at some point this season.

RHP David Matoma

It’s not too often you see a Major-League player from Africa. In fact, the Pirates had the first ever-player from the continent reach the big leagues when Gift Ngoepe did so in 2017.

Matoma is looking to become the next. The Pirates signed the right-hander out of Uganda in 2023 and he’s been virtually untouchable ever since.

In 24 career appearances, the 19-year-old has been charged with just two earned runs in 38.2 innings. Thanks to a triple-digit fastball and a good slider, he’s recorded 42 strikeouts.

Though Matoma isn’t yet as advanced as the others mentioned, he is perhaps the most intriguing of all.