From Top Prospect to MLB Hopeful, Socrates Brito Looks to Get Back to Bigs With Pirates
At one time, Socrates Brito was a top prospect in the Arizona Diamondbacks system and was climbing the ranks quickly. He has a .291 career average in Minor League games with 71 home runs in 898 games played, and many were looking forward to his call to the Big Leagues. However, those strong Minor League numbers were not able to transfer to the Big Leagues as he has hit just .179 in 207 MLB at-bats. He is now playing for his third organization of his professional baseball career and has gone from a blooming MLB talent to a guy fighting to keep his MLB career alive.
Last season, he was in the Toronto Blue Jays organization and appeared in 15 games at the MLB level. He could not find his offensive footing hitting just .077 with two RBI. Brito showed little power in the MLB last season with just one extra-base hit, a triple, and only picked up five total hits in those 15 games played. His speed played well in the outfield for Toronto, as he only committed two errors last season, but his offensive game sent him back down to the Minors. He would elect for free agency in the off-season and that is when the Pirates came in and signed the 27-year old outfielder to a Minor League contract and invited him to Spring Training.
Born in Azua, Dominican Republic, Brito has been playing baseball his entire life. He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks at age 22 and immediately began his professional baseball career with the DSL Diamondbacks during the 2010 season. Right off the bat, Brito showed offensive promise hitting .293 with eight RBI in 22 games played. He didn't strike out a lot, with just 15 in 82 at-bats, and used his speed to get on base at a high rate. His on-base percentage sat at .363 and he was able to pick up five extra-base hits in those 82 at-bats. He would move to the states for the 2011 season staying in rookie ball with the Arizona League Diamondbacks.
He would stay in Rookie ball for two more seasons before moving to Single-A Southbend for the 2013 season. His average would drop to .264 that season, but he started to show his power potential with two home runs and 49 RBI in 129 games played with the Silver Hawks. He also showed off his good speed stealing a career-high 27 bases that season while being caught just nine times. This speed allowed him to also set a career-high in doubles with 24 while picking up a team-high nine triples. As Brito started transforming into a corner outfielder, the power was a nice addition to his game and put him on the Big League club's radar.
He continued his progression during the 2014 season with Advanced-A Visalia raising his average while still showing strong power numbers. He had his first double-digit home run season, hitting 10 home runs while driving in 62 RBI. He became an extra-base threat setting a new career-high with 30 doubles while picking up five triples. Speed also continued to be a huge part of Brito's game as he was almost uncatchable on the base paths. He stole a new career-high 38 bases in 48 attempts. As his bat was progressing, his defense was pretty subpar in the outfield. He posted just a .965 fielding percentage in 655.1 innings as a left fielder,
Still, he continued to climb the ladder and made it to Double-A Mobile for the 2015 season. He had his first .300 season as a hitter batting exactly .300 with nine home runs and 57 RBI. While his power numbers dropped slightly, his ability to get on base went up and his average and on-base percentage both benefited. Brito's rise through the Minor Leagues did not go unnoticed and he got the call to the Major Leagues on September 8th, 2015 skipping Triple-A entirely. He made his MLB debut that day and picked up his first MLB hit going 1-1 against the San Francisco Giants.
His first stint in the Major Leagues went pretty well as he hit .303 with one RBI in 18 games. He got a hit in eight of his 18 games with the Diamondbacks and had just one multi-hit game. He would start the 2015 season with his first experience at Triple-A and hit .294 in 73 games played with eight home runs that season. He would once again get a call to the Big Leagues in 2015, but this time his offense suffered. He appeared in a career-high 40 games for the Diamondbacks that season while hitting four home runs and driving in 12 RBI. His MLB season would come to an end when he was put on the Disabled List on August 1st of that season and he would finish the year in Triple-A.
Brito was gearing up to come back strong in the 2017 season but was disappointing as a dislocated finger placed him on the 60-day Disabled List. He would return to Triple-A Reno in July and stay there for the rest of the season. He would appear in 78 games for Reno that season and hit .291 with five home runs and 44 RBI. Brito headed into the off-season fully healthy and was training to come back and earn his first Opening Day roster spot. He had the worst Spring Training of his young career in 2018 hitting .214 with one home run and two RBI in eight games. However, with Brito out of options, he made the Opening Day Roster for the first time in his career.
He would appear in 24 games for the Diamondbacks that season, and once again his numbers took a turn for the worst. He hit just .175 in 24 games while hitting just one home run and driving in three RBI. He would be sent down in June and the Diamondbacks had given up on their once-promising prospect, designating him for assignment. Brito was a San Diego Padre for a total of three days before he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for outfielder Rodrigo Orozco. He would start the season with the Blue Jays appearing in 17 games, but his average dropped to .077 and he was once again designated for assignment in May.
Brito elected free agency for the first time in his career, and the Pirates took a chance on the young outfielder. He would go play winter ball in the Dominican Winter League looking to improve his numbers over the off-season. He would get his batting average back to the 290s but was unable to capture the power that he showed early in his career. He entered a Big League spring training camp for the ninth time in his career and once again posted subpar offensive numbers. In 12 games with the Bucs, Brito hit just .240 and drove in one RBI. He was sent down to Triple-A Indianapolis with the first round of cuts and will look to make it back to the Majors in 2020.
If Brito wants to make it back to the Major Leagues, he is going to have to get his offensive numbers back to where they were in the Minor Leagues. In four MLB seasons, Brito has failed to produce a batting average higher than .303 and has only hit above .200 once. He has played decent defense in the outfield, using his speed cover ground, but his offensive struggles cannot be overlooked. With so many strong outfielders at the MLB level for the Pirates, Brito's path back to the Big Leagues looks to be a tough one for the 27-year old. However, it is an opportunity for the Pirates to see what this young outfielder can do, and for Brito to revive his professional baseball career.
Prediction: .276, 6 HR, 33 RBI (Triple-A)
I don't see Socrates Brito making the MLB in 2020, especially with the talent they have in the Majors and Minor League system. I look for Brito's numbers to get back to normal in the Minor Leagues, but I do not think he is going to find his footing. He was once a top prospect in the Arizona Diamondbacks system and even saw some success at the MLB level, but Brito's recent trend on the offensive side of the ball leads me to believe that Brito might be a talent that has flared out as far as being a quality Major League outfielder.
It is still uncertain as to when the 2020 MLB season is set to begin, but we at Buccos Cove are determined to continue to bring you strong content. Until the 2020 season begins, we will continue looking at the players who make up the 2020 Pirates organization and how they will impact the organization this season.
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