The Pittsburgh Pirates announced the minor league roster of the Bradenton Marauders on Monday morning. Here’s a look at the roster by positions. Note that there are players on here who won’t be active at the beginning of the season, but this will be their placement once they return to action.
Pitchers
Elijah Birdsong, Julian Bosnic, Yoldin De La Paz, Derek Diamond, Wilber Dotel, Alessandro Ercolani, Darvin Garcia, Ryan Harbin, Thomas Harrington, Luigi Hernandez, Owen Kellington, Joshua Loeschorn, Carlos Lomeli, JP Massey, Dominic Perachi, Luis Peralta, Yunior Thibo, Mike Walsh
Catchers
Nick Cimillo, Wyatt Hendrie, Geovanny Planchart
Infielders
Jack Brannigan, Jesus Castillo, Termarr Johnson, Alexander Mojica, Deivis Nadal, Javier Rivas, Rayber Romero
Outfielders
Braylon Bishop, Jauri Custodio, Tres Gonzalez, Rodolfo Nolasco, Shalin Polanco, Enmanuel Terrero
Termarr Johnson is the big name here. He will be out for at least another month, as he returns from a Spring Training hamstring injury. Rodolfo Nolasco was also injured during Spring Training, though I have no timetable for his return.
Thomas Harrington is the top pitching prospect here. He was the 36th overall pick in the 2022 draft. He did not pitch last year after signing. Jack Brannigan was last year’s third round pick.
Javier Rivas and Shalin Polanco are two high upside players over from the FCL Pirates last year. I got great reports on Alessandro Ercolani and JP Massey from Spring Training this year, so they will be two pitchers to watch.
There aren’t a lot of top prospects in the system here, especially not with Johnson out early, but there are a lot of upside players who could develop into something.
The Bradenton season opens up on Friday
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
Am I missing Mike Kennedy on a roster?
This is possibly going to be one of the most exciting Bradenton teams in the last 5 or 6 years. Strong pitching and the up the middle defensively is very strong. Javier Rivas and TJ in the MI, Planchart at C, and take your pick in CF of Polanco who played CF 20 games in the FCL, Bishop 15 games at CF in the FCL, or Terrero, 11 games in CF in the FCL.
I hope that you”’re right.
My top 10, hoping on some breakouts as this list is not especially inspiring as we sit here today. Maybe a mid-late season Hunter Barco debut? Dylan Crews??
Massey should be moved up. He got talked up a lot to me and to Tim, and we talked to two different people. His stock is WAY up. Ercolani also needs to be on there
Did Massey fixed his control issues? He always had an interesting arm!
I heard he’s been unhittable in his spring appearances. It’s a small sample size, so you can’t say anything is fixed for sure, but the reports are glowing
I’m very excited for a lot of these kids.
There’s almost as much breakout potential on this team as a cartel king in a Mexican prison that already has the warden on its payroll.
Bizarre that Hendrie would repeat the level. That probably means Gutierrez repeats Greensboro.