Pirates Prospects Daily: The Pirates Organization Has Strength at Third Base

I talked about Jack Brannigan yesterday, and his potential either on the mound or playing third base.

He has just north of 100 plate appearances, but his advanced bat provides a very good case in making the jump straight to High-A and play for Greensboro this upcoming season.

That would allow the Pirates to flex the kind of depth they have at the position throughout the system. It is a position that you wouldn’t think would have that kind of depth, especially with the team investing heavily in one player for the foreseeable future.

Majors – Ke’Bryan Hayes

The current holder of the biggest contract in franchise history, Hayes was a first round pick back in 2014 and has been long noted for his defense. He’s already one of the best defensive players in the majors, and has put up solid exit velocity numbers, but has been below league average hitting wise.

He hits the ball hard, and if he could ever find the open space on the field, he could become one of the better players in the game with his already elite defense.

Jared Triolo

If Hayes is the best fielder in the entire system, Triolo might be the second. He’s one of the best fielders in all of the minors, and hasn’t exactly been a slouch with the bat as well. When it comes to hits, only Endy Rodriguez has more over the last two seasons.

Triolo got off to a really slow start (at least power wise) but really turned it on down the stretch. When it was all said and done, he was seventh in the Eastern League in hits, and was tied for the league lead in average (of players remaining in Double-A).

He was added to the 40-man roster, and has played all over the field, so he could factor into the major league team as an utility option sooner rather than later.

Dariel Lopez

The current third baseman in the system with probably the most upside on the offensive side of things, Lopez hit 19-home runs as a 20-year-old in High-A Greensboro last year. An injury late in the season kept him from reaching 20, but regardless, his power potential is very much real.

Dariel Lopez with a two run single in the seventh inning for Greensboro #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/FBY1ZW0WIH

— Anthony Murphy (@__Murphy88) August 7, 2022

He flashed some opposite field power, even in Bradenton the year prior as a teenager, showing that it wasn’t all Greensboro induced.

There are some questions on whether or not he stays at first, but he has the range, athleticism, and arm for it, it’s just the accuracy and cutting down on the simple mistakes as well.

Jack Brannigan

I talked about Brannigan yesterday, and while he was drafted as a two-way player, we only know him as a third baseman right now. He has a really strong arm, and showed good range at third, with Baseball America even calling his highest ceiling a gold glove caliber fielder.

Bonus: Yordany De Los Santos

One of the Pirates high profile International signings last year, he spent time at both shortstop and third base in his debut. He put up decent numbers as a 17-year-old in the DSL, posting a 106 wRC+ and collected 17 total extra-base hits (15 doubles).

It’s always nice to have depth, but in the Pirates case, they are especially set up at third base throughout the system. This is also a big reason behind trying players at different positions throughout the system. In the meantime, third base is certainly an area of strength for the Pirates.

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