Pirates Pitching Prospect Continues Strong Performance In AFL
In a Pittsburgh Pirates system that's filled with good pitching prospects, another one may be emerging.
Valentin Linarez, a 6-foot-5 right-handed pitcher out of the Dominican Republic, continued his strong showing in the Arizona Fall League, pitching two shutout innings in the Scottsdale Scorpions' 6-0 win over the Glendale Desert Dogs on Tuesday. The win was Linarez's first in the AFL.
Linarez entered out of the bullpen in the bottom of the third inning with the game tied 0-0 and sat the first two batters down before St. Louis Cardinals infield prospect Thomas Saggese got a two-out single to left field. The Pirates' right-handed pitching prospect escaped the two-out hit when Saggese was thrown out by San Francisco Giants catching prospect Drew Cavanaugh to end the inning.
Linarez had to work his way out of a more difficult situation in his second inning of work when Glendale loaded the bases with two outs after an error, walk and hit-by-pitch. He escaped the bases-loaded jam by striking out Philadelphia Phillies catching prospect Jacob Dissin looking.
With his performance, Linarez is 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA over nine innings pitched, giving up just two hits and striking out 10 batters through his six appearances. The biggest knock on Linarez's game that has also been evident in the AFL has been his control. The hard-throwing right-hander has walked seven batters and hit one.
Those numbers aren't too far off from his performance in the minor leagues in 2024. In High-A Greensboro, Linarez went 3-0 with a 3.20 ERA and struck out 43 batters while walking 12 over 25.1 innings pitched across 18 appearances. Things were more difficult for Linarez in Double-A Altoona, as he went 1-2 with a 6.46 ERA and struck out 28 batters over 30.2 innings pitched while walking 19.
At the beginning of the AFL, MLB Pipeline's Jonathan Mayo touted Linarez as someone who could eventually be a solid arm coming out of the Pirates' bullpen. Pittsburgh's relievers ranked 27th in ERA last season.
"Signed back in January of 2018 for $45,000, Linarez was developed as a starter before moving to the bullpen in 2023," Mayo wrote. "He started to figure some things out with High-A Greensboro this year, striking out 15.3 per nine to earn his first promotion to Double-A. He’s imposing at 6-foot-5 with the chance to have a fastball-slider combination that could look good coming out of a big league bullpen."
Linarez's performance gives reason for optimism, though, his control needs work as he progresses through the minor leagues. With the Pirates needing to improve their bullpen, Linarez may be part of the answer to that problem if he stays on this trajectory.
