Cleveland Baseball Insider

Cleveland Baseball Insider's 2024 Season Top 50 Prospects: No. 41 OF prospect Jose Pirela

Pirela was a Dominican Summer League All-Star in his first season hitting the most HR's in the league by a Guardians player since Junior Caminero

Todd Paquette

Cleveland Baseball Insider's 2024 Season Top 50 Prospects: No. 41 OF prospect Jose Pirela
Cleveland Baseball Insider's 2024 Season Top 50 Prospects: No. 41 OF prospect Jose Pirela /
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As we prepare for a new year and spring training to begin, there’s no better time to bring you an up-to-date look at Cleveland Baseball Insiders' top 50 prospects.

Rankings are based on seeing the players live, watching videos, and having conversations with evaluators within and outside of the organization, as well as other writers.

While prospect lists are fun and entertaining for fans, they are not an end-all-be-all in terms of who makes it eventually to the major leagues. Remember, Jose Ramirez was never a top-100 prospect nationally and players like Steven Kwan and Will Brennan weren't considered top-20 prospects in the Guardians organization by many outside publications.

The ultimate goal here is to inform our readers and give you information on some of the young talent in the organization that they can follow and look forward to seeing in the future at the MLB level.

Jose Pirela - OF

AGE - 17

BATS - L

DOB - 4/09/2006

THROWS - R

HT - 6'3"

SIGNED - 1/15/2003

WT - 181

ETA - 2028

Jose Pirela signed for $320K out of Maracaibo, Venezuela as part of the Guardians 2023 international signing class on January 15th, 2023. He made his professional debut in the Dominican Summer League in 2023.

Pirela was unknown outside Venezuela coming into the 2023 Dominican Summer League and was considered more of a mid-level sign. After his 2023 campaign, he's now viewed by many as the second-best prospect outside shortstop Welbyn Francisca from a deep 2023 Guardians international position player class.

Scouting Grades

Hit - 45

Arm - 50

Power - 50

Field - 50

Run - 55

Overall - 40

The athletic Pirela has a lot of nice tools to his game, but it may be his power potential that may end up being his best skill as he moves forward.

Pirela was listed at 6'3" 183lbs when he signed back in January of 2023 as a 16-year-old. His tall lanky frame will only enable him to add more muscle and good weight as he continues to develop and mature going forward.

Despite his long levers he possesses a quick compact stroke and has very fast hands allowing him to turn on inside pitches. He makes hard contact and shows the ability to barrel up the ball consistently. Pirela also has a good eye with the ability to draw a walk working deep counts.

He possesses average to above-average speed and despite his size started 28 of his 41 games in center field while also stealing eight bases in 2023. His arm currently grades as average but could improve as he matures and gets stronger. Pirela may eventually end up moving to a corner outfield position in the future.

2023 Stats

G

AB

R

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

SO

SB

AVG

OBP

SLG

ISO

OPS

wRC+

41

148

33

40

11

 1

 6

 34

25

40

 8

.270

.395

.480

.209

.874

  129

Pirela had an outstanding pro-debut in 2023 putting up some impressive numbers over his 41 games in the Dominican Summer League. He was one of four Guardians prospects named to the DSL All-Star team during the season.

Jose showed off the pop he possesses in his bat producing 18 extra-base hits including six home runs over just 148 at-bats. The six home runs were the most by a Guardians prospect in the Dominican Summer League since Cleveland prospect Junior Caminero hit 9 back in 2021.

Pirela also knocked in 34 runs, scored 33 times, and drew 25 walks while stealing 8 bases. His 25 walks produced a 13.5% walk rate and a very strong .395 one base percentage. He did strikeout 40 times for a 21.6% strikeout rate.

Overall, he slashed .270/.395/.480 to go along with a .874 OPS and 129 wRC+ on the year while starting 28 games in center field, 9 in right field, and four in left field.

2024 and Future Outlook

Look for Pirela to make the jump to the states for his 2024 campaign and participate in the Arizona Complex League. It will be interesting to see if he continues to show the impressive pop he displayed in the Dominican Summer League. 

Pirela has a lot of solid tools but it's his intriguing power potential that he has already shown off as a 6'3" 183lbs 17-year-old to watch going forward as he continues to develop and mature. 

Jose has a huge ceiling especially if he can continue to show he can handle center field as he progresses through the farm system. Even if he moves off center field, he has the look of a potential MLB power-hitting starting corner outfielder. Pirela is still many years away from reaching Cleveland but is an exciting name fans need to know about and should follow.

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Todd Paquette
TODD PAQUETTE

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