These Bucs prospects created a buzz in '24

This story was excerpted from Alex Stumpf's Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

As we look toward the Hot Stove season and the 2025 campaign, let’s take one more look back at what happened in the Pirates’ farm system this season and discuss which players are worth keeping tabs on moving forward.

3 players who forced their way onto the radar

RHP Thomas Harrington (Pirates’ No. 5 prospect, No. 91 overall)
Harrington entered the season with some intriguing peripherals and the pedigree of being the No. 36 overall Draft pick in 2022, but he was lost in the shuffle a bit given the other pitching prospects in the system. That changed in '24, when he recorded a 2.61 ERA with 115 strikeouts over 117 1/3 innings between Single-A Bradenton, Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. He pitches off his four-seam fastball, which gets plenty of movement, and can go into a six-pitch mix to finish hitters. Others took notice, too, and Harrington is now an MLB Pipeline Top 100 Prospect.

OF/INF Billy Cook (Pirates’ No. 24 prospect)
Cook was picked up from the Orioles at the Trade Deadline and left a good impression during his September callup, picking up six defensive runs saved in the outfield with three home runs. There’s still plenty to iron out -- including a 38.8% strikeout rate -- but Cook’s versatility (all three outfield positions, second base and first base) and aggressiveness at the plate have made him a player to watch.

C Omar Alfonzo (Pirates’ No. 26 prospect)
Alfonzo had shown some good hitting traits in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League -- like laying off spin pitches and drawing walks -- in 2022-23, and he tapped into some power as he filled into his 6-foot-1 frame, hitting 13 home runs and 17 doubles over 451 plate appearances for Bradenton and High-A Greensboro. MLB Pipeline has his hit, fielding and throwing tool at a 50 grade, all encouraging signs for a young catcher, and his left-handed bat could be set up for a big season in hitter-friendly Greensboro in 2025.

2 breakout players to watch in 2025

3B/SS Jack Brannigan (Pirates’ No. 14 prospect)
Brannigan had a solid cameo with Greensboro late in 2023, and he continued to build on it this season, hitting 18 home runs with 12 stolen bases in 77 games. A left shoulder injury sidelined him for most of the second half of the season, but his strikeout rate dipped from 2023 (33.5% to 26.1%) and he elevated the ball more (a 35.2% ground-ball rate with Bradenton in '23; 25.6% in '24 with Greensboro). A third-round Draft pick in '22, Brannigan always had raw power, and it’s starting to translate more into games.

RHP Carlson Reed (Pirates’ No. 30 prospect)
Reed, a fourth-round Draft pick in 2023, had a change in role (going from a closer with West Virginia to a starter in the Minors) and mechanics (maximizing his potential energy by moving more directly toward the plate) in his first full pro season. It worked out terrifically, as Reed pitched to a 2.43 ERA with Bradenton before allowing just seven runs (three earned) with 34 strikeouts over 31 innings with Greensboro. His slider has the potential to be one of the better breaking offerings in the system, and if he can continue to develop, he could be a power arm out of the rotation or bullpen.

1 big prospect question for next year

Can the hitting catch up to the pitching?
Jared Jones. Paul Skenes. Luis Ortiz. Bubba Chandler. Braxton Ashcraft. Harrington. All six were Top 100 Prospects in 2023 or '24 and are in position to be major contributors to the Pirates in '25. The wealth of pitching prospects extends beyond that, with MLB Pipeline naming the Bucs as the top pitching farm system in baseball, even after graduating Jones and Skenes.

Pittsburgh needs hitters, too. The Pirates have just four in their Top 30 Prospects list who finished with Double-A Altoona or higher (Cook, No. 3 prospect Termarr Johnson -- who's ranked No. 75 overall -- No. 6 Nick Yorke and No. 18 Tsung-Che Cheng). Yorke and Cook are newcomers to the system, having been acquired at the Trade Deadline.

The Pirates don’t have many bats they can turn to next year that haven’t already made the Majors. That’s a problem for a team that finished 24th in MLB in runs (665) and 27th in OPS (.672). General manager Ben Cherington has hinted that the team could use its pitching depth as trade pieces for hitters, but the Bucs also need to produce and grow those young bats, too. It’s an unbalanced farm system at the moment, and the hitters are going to need to break out to fix it.