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Pirates Sign 16-Year-Old Shortstop from the Dominican

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The Pittsburgh Pirates added their 31st international signing since July 2nd on Monday night. They signed 16-year-old shortstop Isaias Dipre, who was born in the Dominican Republic and trained at the Miguel Tejada Academy.

Dipre turned 16 back in early June. He was one of the July 2nd targets of the Pirates, but his contract wasn’t officially signed until last night. We are talking about the talent of a first day player here, despite signing six weeks later. He stands in at 6’1″, 165 pounds and currently plays shortstop, but it sounds like he could possibly end up in center field, where his athleticism really plays up. He’s considered a plus runner (ran a 6.7 in the 60 yard dash), who has good bat speed from the right side and potential for a nice OBP/power combo. He’s a good athlete with a great baseball body that has plenty of room to fill out.

His arm is average, which could necessitate the move to the outfield, but the Pirates also signed five other shortstops with the skills/potential to stick at the position. One will be in the U.S. next year, but that still leaves four others who will split time at the spot with the two DSL affiliates. So I’d expect Dipre to play at least some outfield.

Here’s a photo courtesy of Murray Sports

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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