P2Daily: Liover Peguero Begins Battle of Top-100 Shortstops

While one of the Pirates shortstop prospects is up in the majors right now obliterating baseballs, another is back in the minors locked into an interesting matchup against a fellow Top-100 prospect of the same position.

Until Liover Peguero makes the major leagues as a regular, he will always be one of the younger players at whatever minor league level he is playing in at the moment. This week he is in a rare position of not being the younger of the two primary shortstops stepping on the field.

He and the Altoona Curve are up north right now taking on the Toronto Blue Jays’ Double-A team, the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, and another Top-100 prospect, Orelvis Martinez.

Heading into the season both ranked close on Baseball America’s Top-100 list, with Martinez sitting 75th, and Peguero a couple spots back at 78.

They have different skillsets, with Martinez more reliant on his plus-power, and Peguero having more speed (not discounting the power he has hit for this year) but both have been above league average despite being two of the younger at the position in their league.

Orelvis Martinez	Stat	Liover Peguero
.220/.294/.495	Slash	.292/.315/.469
114	wRC+	113
15	HR	5
25	XBH	26
5	SB	14

While comparing prospects, especially their development can be unfair, as each moves at their own speed, it is fun when these match-ups do come up and presents an opportunity to gauge how a player we are use to seeing stacks up against a similar prospect in a different organization.

When thinking about player vs player matchups, the first thought is usually pitcher vs hitter. Sometimes the position vs position battle can provide more excitement over the course of the entire week. This one is special as it is two highly regarded players playing a premium position.

The Pirates farm system has been getting a lot of ‘wins’ lately with the success of some of the prospects at the major league level. They have a chance to flex their organizational muscle with one of their top prospects taking the same field as another highly regarded player who plays the same position.

Peguero, of course, struck first on Tuesday with a two-hit night as well as making a great over the shoulder catch on a blooper in the outfield.