Pirates Trade Potentially Makes Room For Top Prospect
Using their pitching depth to address their needs on offense was always on the table for the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason.
That plan was put into action on Tuesday when Pittsburgh traded right-handed starting pitcher Luis Ortiz and top-20 left-handed pitching prospects Michael Kennedy and Josh Hartle to the Cleveland Guardians for left-handed hitting infielder Spencer Horwitz.
Ortiz, 25, thrived after being moved from the bullpen to the starting rotation in the middle of the season, going 4-4 with a 3.22 ERA over 15 starts. The right-hander's strong performance in the second half of the season included a stretch where he pitched 16.2 straight innings without allowing a run. Within the scoreless streak, Ortiz pitched six scoreless innings against his new team on Aug. 31 in a 3-0 win for the Pirates.
With Ortiz departing, Pittsburgh isn't short on options to replace him. It boasts three top-100 prospects in baseball by MLB Pipeline's rankings: right-handed pitchers Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft, and Thomas Harrington, all of whom reached Triple-A Indianapolis last season. Johan Oviedo is set to return after he missed all of last season due to Tommy John surgery. Left-handed pitching prospect Hunter Barco reached Double-A Altoona after a strong 2024 season and is the Pirates' No. 8 ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline.
"You start to talk about the guys in the minor leagues with Chandler, Harrington, Barco [and] Ashcraft," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "I mean, that's a deep group of pitching, which is really important. How we're going to deploy them right now? I can't tell you that. You guys know how I am. I don't want to talk about that until we get through spring training and then have to make a decision. The good thing is we're going to have some decisions to make."
Chandler, 22, is the Pirates' top-ranked prospect and No. 15 in baseball. Among MLB Pipeline's pitchers in its top 100 rankings, the Pirates' right-hander is No. 2, only trailing Detroit Tigers right-handed pitcher Jackson Jobe, who ranks No. 5.
Chander went 10-7 with a 3.08 ERA last season across 26 appearances for Altoona and Indianapolis. He did his best work upon arriving in Triple-A, going 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA in seven starts and he struck out 54 batters over 39.1 innings pitched.
The Pirates' pitching depth throughout their system allowed them to part ways with a pitcher of Ortiz's caliber and paved a much clearer path for one of their top prospects to potentially break camp with the team when the 2025 season begins. While Pittsburgh took the cautious approach with 2024 National Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes and waited a month before calling him up from Triple-A, it had right-handed pitcher Jared Jones start last season in the Majors.
If Chandler can carry a strong ending from 2024 into Spring Training, one of the tough decisions Shelton could have on his hands is whether another top prospect will be a part of their starting rotation to begin next season.
