The Pittsburgh Pirates have been very aggressive with some of their younger prospects, with several teenagers getting pushed to Bradenton over the past couple of seasons.
One player who has responded each year with an aggressive placement has been Dariel Lopez. Just 19 when he played for Bradenton, he became a key part of their lineup in the division championship run in 2021.
Lopez played the entire 2022 season in Greensboro, thoroughly taking advantage of the hitter’s haven that is First National Bank Field.
A late season injury kept Lopez out of the lineup just long enough to finish one home run short of 20, nearly doubling his total from 2021 in Bradenton.
There is always a moment of hesitation when looking at a player’s offensive output when they play for Greensboro, especially when their home/road splits look the way they do for Lopez.
Lopez posted a .915 OPS (15 HR) at home, while just .692 (4 HR) on the road — a pretty stark contrast from each other that would usually leave some room for concern as he potentially heads to Altoona.
There is some hope that Lopez doesn’t become another that falls into the trap of giving false hope over his numbers in Greensboro. The obvious hope is he flashed a good amount of power in Bradenton, especially going the other way. He hit to the opposite field nearly 40% of the time while with the Marauders.
RBI Trip Trip Triple for Dariel Lopez! pic.twitter.com/4WovokTIop
— Jim Rosati
Lopez started pulling the ball a lot more in 2022 with Greensboro, making slight adjustments to his swing to really help get in front of things. We saw what the change did, as he improved across the board offensively.
I talked about Sean Sullivan’s HR/FB rate the other day and how it wasn’t maintainable, especially leaving such a hitter friendly park.
Lopez’s HR/FB was 27.5%, the 10th highest mark in all of minor league baseball among hitters that had at least 400 plate appearances last year. While that rate would be hard to replicate, the expectations of a drop off for a pitcher would be greater than a power-hitting position player.
He also had one of the better line drive rates in the minors, finishing 115th out of the 609 hitters with at least 400-plate appearances (puts him around the 80th percentile among hitters in line drives).
According to some of the data (over 1100 batted ball events recorded from over 10 players) I’ve recorded from Bradenton hitters (using Baseball Savant), hitters recorded a .733 average on line drives (batted balls with launch angle of 10-25 degrees). Even if the home run power decreases, Lopez is still putting himself in position to succeed at the plate.
Lopez will be an interesting player to watch this upcoming season. He’ll be 21-years-old when the season starts, which is still young for Double-A, so there will be some growing pains involved.
He’s been somewhat of a slow start in each of the last two seasons as he adjusts to a new level, but once he figures things out, he’s one of the more exciting young prospects in the Pirates system.
He has the raw power to blow past the ‘Greensboro helped me’ thoughts, and has continued to evolve as a hitter. Lopez was one of my picks to breakout last year, and with 19 homers, that wasn’t far off. There still seems to be more that he can tap into as he continues to grow and develop.
Highlight of the Day
Pirates Prospects Daily
By Tim Williams
**The Pirates continue to make big signings in Asia, and John Dreker broke down their increased focus on the continent.
**Wilbur Miller looked at the potential logjam of outfielders in Greensboro for the upcoming season.
**Anthony broke down Scott Randall, the control specialist who was acquired for Diego Castillo last month.
**Check out photos of the latest Pirates international signings.
**Missed yesterday? Anthony looked at the continued evolution of Nick Gonzales.
Song of the Day
Pirates Prospects Weekly
In our latest article drop, John Dreker looks at the Pirates’ increased focus in Asia over the last several years.
Wilbur Miller breaks down the potential outfield logjam in Greensboro for the upcoming season.
Anthony Murphy broke down Scott Randall, a control specialist the Pirates acquired for Diego Castillo.
Scott Randall: The Pirates Traded For an Interesting Control Specialist
I’ll have a column on Wednesday at noon.
