P2Daily: Rodolfo Nolasco Was Figuring Things Out Before Injury

One of the great things about the Bradenton Marauders is it’s the first opportunity a lot of people get to see some of the Pirates’ top prospects in the system.

This past year we saw a handful of their recent high draft picks, including 2022 fourth overall pick Termarr Johnson and second round pick from 2021 Anthony Solometo. It’s also an opportunity to see of the system’s top international prospects, one of which was outfielder Rodolfo Nolasco.

Known for his raw power, Nolasco hit eight homers (16 extra-base hits total) in just 42 games in 2021 in the Florida Complex League, so anticipation was high to see him make the jump up to affiliated ball.

Making the jump to full season baseball is a difficult one for some, and Nolasco wasn’t any different, struggling out the gate in the month of April.

Month	Slash	BB%	K%	wRC+
April	.180/.231/.295	6.2%	38.5%	49
May	.221/.309/.314	11.3%	28.9%	83
June	.239/.349/.465	12%	41%	113
July	.341/.455/.795	18.2%	25.5%	236

While it’s nice to see a player constantly perform well as they move through the minors, it’s not always something that’s going to happen. So when a prospect, especially one as young as Nolasco, struggles it gives you a chance to see how they answer adversity. Baseball is a game of adjustments.

As you can see, Nolasco was making those adjustments before going down with an injury late in July. He improved his average, walk rate, and wRC+ in each month leading up to July, and was on a tear before getting injured. In a six game span, Nolasco went 11-for-22 with five home runs and four doubles, with 11 RBI and five walks.

He came back and scattered five games between August and September, nothing really to get a gauge or determine he was back at 100%.

Overall on the season Nolasco slashed .239/.330/.425 with 11 home runs, 48 RBI, and a wRC+ of 116. He even stole seven bases, and was able to bring the walk rate over 10% (11.5%). The strikeouts remained high, as a rate of over 40% in June prevented him from getting it under 30%.

At this level in the minors, prospects have the tools, they are just working to translate that to the field. Nolasco was started to flash the things that made him an exciting prospect but didn’t get a chance to finish things out healthy.

Nolasco will have to work on making more consistent contact, but he’ll be 21-years-old for the majority of the 2023 season (late September birthday), so even if he starts the year back in Bradenton to get adjusted back on the field, he still has plenty of times to continue to put that raw power together.

Highlight of the Day

Rodolfo Nolasco with a BOMB to left field. Measured at 420 feet. His 11th of the season #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/A4WxnFbQ2y

— Anthony Murphy (@__Murphy88) July 15, 2022