Down On The Farm: High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers Preview
Once a college player gets drafted into Major League Baseball, the long and winding road to the Major Leagues begins. For many college players, their professional careers got started in Low-A or Short-Season ball, and they would fight their way up through the system. However, with the changes to the Minor League system, there will also come with it some changes in the development of players. With Low-A serving as the lowest level above Rookie Ball, many college players will start beginning their career with Advanced-A teams. It provides more of a challenge for the players and creates more exciting rosters for the Advanced-A clubs of teams around the league. After serving as the Pirate's Low-A team for the last several seasons, the Greensboro Grasshoppers are going to benefit from this change as they move to the Advanced-A Affiliate for the Pirates.
While the full roster has yet to be officially announced, several of the players taken by the Pirates in the 2020 MLB Draft are set to begin their careers in Greensboro. Headlining the group is first-round pick Nick Gonzales, who will be seeing his first live-action since Spring Training. Many of these players have been working at home due to the pandemic, but will now get the chance to showcase their skills in front of Pirates management. Last season, the team had the league's leading hitter in Ji-Hwan Bae and he may very well be back with Greensboro as he moves to High-A ball with the team. The pitching staff also features some young exciting pitchers that look to help the Pirates in the future. Today, we look at the 2021 Greensboro Grasshoppers season preview and see how things will shape up as the Pirate's young stars develop into professional ballplayers.
A Mix of Old And New
The exciting thing to watch at Advanced-A Greensboro this season is going to be the collaboration of new prospects and up-and-coming talents in the Pirates system. One of these battles to watch features middle infielder Ji-Hwan Bae and middle infielder Nick Gonzales. Gonzalez has moved to second base and Bae has primarily played shortstop, giving the Grasshoppers one of the best middle infields in the system. Bae has already proved how well he can handle the bat, leading the South Atlantic League with a .323 average while driving in 38 RBI. The big question with Bae has been his defensive play, and even that took a step forward in 2019, as he raised his fielding percentage more than 20 points.
However, the man that everyone will have their eyes on is 2020 first-round draft pick, Nick Gonzales. Gonzales has yet to play a regular-season game since joining pro ball, but fans got a glimpse of his during Big League Spring Training. Obviously, he still has a lot more development to go through, but it wasn't a bad showing as he hit .214 with a home run and three RBI in 15 games this spring. Gonzales was highly regarded as one of the best hitters in the game in college, and led the NCAA in average (.448), home runs (12), and RBI (36) at the time of the 2020 season shut down. The Pirates could be aggressive and elect to move Gonzales to Double-A to start his career, but the safe move would be to start the 21-year-old in Greensboro and move him up towards the end of the season.
More Draft Prospects in the Rotation
While Gonzales is the one who garners the most attention when it comes to the 2020 draft, there were other exciting young arms taken by the Pirates in that draft, and many of them will be featured at High-A Greensboro this season. Some of those guys include first-rounder Carmen Mlodzinski and Nick Garcia. All were 2020 draft picks and are set to make up what is shaping up to be a very young Grasshoppers rotation. Mlodzinski will get the most attention after being drafted out of South Carolina. During his pandemic shortened senior year, he went 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA over 25.1 innings of work. He doesn't have really overpowering stuff, but his control is what he lives on. He walked just eight batters lasts season in 25.1 innings for a 7.5% walk rate, and that control will help him as he develops at High-A.
Garcia is another guy from the 2020 draft who could be used either in the bullpen or the starting rotation. The Pirates drafted him as a starting pitcher, and he did well during his shortened sophomore season in that role. He made five starts in 2020 and went 4-1 with a 2.33 ERA while racking up 36 strikeouts in 27 innings of work. Garcia is a power pitcher, who can ramp it up to the mid-90s consistently and uses his stuff to blow hitters away. The biggest thing for Chapman is looking at how he will perform against professional talent. He comes from Division III Chapman and will have to prove he has what it takes to pitch against the best of the best. Both pitchers will be challenged at High-A ball, and are looking to use their stuff to shine on the mound.
The Switch From Low-A to High-A
The biggest adjustment for fans of the Greensboro Grasshoppers will be the change from Low-A Ball to High-A Ball. This means that the Grasshoppers roster will look very similar to 2019 because players will be advancing to the next level. Guys like Osvaldo Bido, Brad Case, and Lolo Sanchez will remain with the Grasshoppers, but because of that, they are receiving a promotion. The Grasshoppers will be facing higher levels of competition, and look to continue to compete in the South Atlantic League. The most exciting of the returning prospects is outfielder Lolo Sanchez, who is looking to separate himself as a top outfield prospect. Offense has been shaky throughout Sanchez's career, but he has picked it up as of late.
In 2019, he hit .257 with five home runs and 35 RBI, but his real weapon was his speed on the basepaths. He swiped a career-high 33 bags during that season and eclipse the 30 stolen base mark for the second time in his career. Sanchez is a guy with a lot of speed, and if he can find a way to get it together offensively, he could be a player to watch in the future. On the pitching staff, Osvaldo Bido is returning to Greensboro and looking to lead the rotation. He had a career year in 2019, going 12-8 with a 3.32 ERA in 25 career starts in 135.2 innings of work. He struck out 107 batters, and his control is good as he walked 6.8% of the batters he faced. Greensboro will feature some young talent this season that is looking to develop into stars of the future.
The Greensboro Grasshoppers begin their season on May 4th, when they take on the Hickory Crawdads. The Pittsburgh Pirates (12-12) are off today, but kick off their first series of the year with the St. Louis Cardinals (12-12) tomorrow at 6:35 pm. JT Brubaker (2-1, 2.01) looks to bounce back after a tough-luck loss last time against John Gant (1-2, 2.25) for the Cardinals.
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