The Pittsburgh Pirates got three players in exchange for catcher Jacob Stallings. They received MLB pitcher Zach Thompson and two minor leaguers — Kyle Nicolas and Connor Scott. Thompson made his major league debut the year prior and saw some success as a starter, while Nicolas and Scott were former high draft picks that had some upside but needed some work.
Jumping right out the gate, there were few players to get off to a better start than Scott, slashing .358/.443/.528 with six extra-base hits and a wRC+ of 169 during the first month of the season.
Connor Scott goes yard! He tucked it just inside the foul pole as u can tell by my commentary #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/V7FXP3gy5Y
— Anthony Murphy (@__Murphy88) April 16, 2022
It was a struggle offensively (.222 average and 77 wRC+ the rest of the year), but Scott still found a way to contribute to the Altoona Curve.
Scott put in one of the better defensive seasons in the system this past year, and it won’t be hard to scroll through the internet and find him making a fantastic catch.
CONNOR SCOTT ROBS A HOME RUN AND WE ARE GOING TO EXTRAS!!
cc: @ESPNAssignDesk @SportsCenter @connorscott24 pic.twitter.com/YI3zByJ2uB
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) August 28, 2022
The former first round pick put up some strong offensive numbers in 2021 in the Marlins system while playing in High-A, sporting a .779 OPS and 112 wRC+.
There’s a good chance that one, or multiple, of the Altoona outfielders begin the year again in Double-A, even if it’s just as simple as Indianapolis is expected to be incredibly crowded coming up.
In a way, Scott is similar to Travis Swaggerty’s path, who was drafted a few picks ahead of him back in 2018. Both are defensive first outfielders who really hadn’t hit much in the minors. The great work with the glove helps lift their ceiling a bit, but ultimately it will come to how much they can hit if they are going to have success in the majors.
Scott looked like he was ready to have that offensive season that allowed him to breakout, but quickly cooled off and could never find his path again. Maybe a full offseason in the Pirates system and a start back in Altoona in 2023, like Matt Gorski restarting back in Greensboro this past year, will help Scott get things going and take a step in the right direction.
It’d be another left-handed option added in to the many already in the picture, but Scott would provide the defensive work that few of them could actually provide.
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