Pirates Farm System
Pirates Top 30 Prospects No. 30: Connor Wietgrefe Off to Good Start

This is one in a series of stories breaking down PBN’s Top 30 Pittsburgh Pirates prospects.
The Pittsburgh Pirates used their seventh-round draft pick in the 2024 draft to take left-handed pitcher Connor Wietgrefe from the University of Minnesota. Though he wasn’t considered one of MLB Pipeline’s top 250 draft prospects at the time, there was plenty of intrigue around the selection.
Wietgrefe just wrapped up a strong junior season with the Golden Gophers in which he went 8-4 with 2.77 ERA across 15 appearances and struck out 74 batters against 26 walks in 78 innings. The 6-foot-2 lefty was second in the Big Ten in ERA and was named to the All-Big Ten first team.
He started his collegiate career at North Iowa Area Community College before transferring to Minnesota for his sophomore season in 2023.
It took the Pirates $247,500 to get Wietgrefe to put pen to paper and begin his professional career. The total came about $25,000 under the slot value for the 204th pick, savings that were used to help sign a pair of top prep selections to overlslot deals in Konnor Griffin (first round) and Wyatt Sanford (second round).
The 22-year-old began his tenure in the Pirates’ organization with the Low-A Bradenton Marauders and couldn’t have gotten off to much better of a start.
Wietgrefe made five appearances/four starts with Bradenton and allowed just one run on six hits in 10 innings pitched. He displayed promising control by only walking two batters and struck out 13.
Wietgrefe has a four-pitch mix consisting of a fastball, slider, cutter and changeup and operates out of a lower arm slot delivery. His slider and changeup are considered his two best pitches.
With four pitches in his arsenal and the ability he showed in the Big 10, the Pirates view Wietgrefe as a starting pitcher moving forward.
‘He’s a pretty talented lefty, a strike thrower, deceptive, pounds the zone, can sink it, got a good little breaking ball,” said Pirates amateur scouting director Justin Horowitz after the draft. “We want to help him develop his changeup a little bit. Someone our athlete team specifically is really excited about the potential runway to develop and grow and hope to land an impact starter with Connor.”