BRADENTON, Fla. – Connor Scott had a strong finish to the 2021 season.
The former Marlins outfield prospect, acquired by the Pirates in the Jacob Stallings trade, posted a .314/.353/.547 line with six homers and seven steals in 159 at-bats over the final two months. Scott, drafted 13th overall by Miami in 2018, finished the season in High-A with a .779 OPS, 10 homers, and 14 steals. He credited the uptick at the end of the season to getting more experience and learning how to hit.
“I started focusing more on quality of contact,” said Scott. “I got bigger, which helped too. And learning how to hit, playing the counts, the situations. Developing a better approach at the plate with the guy I’m facing that day.”
Scott had food poisoning with the Marlins last year during Spring Training, dropping his weight down into the mid-180s. He’s worked to get that back up to 196-197, and plans to have a playing weight over 200 this year, which hopes to help increase his power production. Scott is a toolsy player who has a chance to be a power/speed center fielder, with the ability to play all three outfield spots.
“I think the speed is going to be there,” said Scott of the strength of his game right now. “I’ve been working on that this offseason. More power will be there. I’m getting stronger, worked out all offseason. I’m just excited for what’s coming up this season.”
The Pirates added Scott, along with right-handed pitchers Zach Thompson and Kyle Nicolas in the Jacob Stallings trade at the end of November. Thompson will give the Pirates a starting candidate for the big league rotation in 2022, while Nicolas could factor into the 2022 big league mix as either a starter or a reliever. Scott, meanwhile, will likely head to Altoona, where he’ll be just behind a strong group of outfield prospects taking up a lot of space at the top two levels of the system.
The Pirates have been restocking their farm system with outfield depth, and Scott is one of those additions coming back from a wave of trades over the last year. There are two long-term outfield spots open in Pittsburgh, and possibly a third if Bryan Reynolds is traded. That gives Scott something to shoot for, as he enters 2022 hoping to pick up where he left off at the end of 2021.
