The Pittsburgh Pirates took a handful of overslot high school draft picks in 2021. After selecting Henry Davis first overall in the first round, their next four picks would be high school selections. One of those picks was outfielder Lonnie White Jr. Lonnie was their second-round competitive balance pick. After a promising start to his career, he struggled over the last two seasons. However, it looks like he is putting things back on track.
White Jr. broke out in 2023, batting .276/.406/.476 with a .417 wOBA and 139 wRC+ over 276 plate appearances split between the Florida Complex League and A-Ball Bradenton. Although he went down on strikes 27.2% of the time, he walked at an outstanding 15.6% rate. He was one of only 21 minor league hitters in 2023 with an ISO of at least .200, a walk rate of 15%+, and a wRC+ of 130 or greater.
Unfortunately, White Jr. took a step back in 2024, as he hit a meager .167/.275/.340 with a .290 wOBA, and 75 wRC+ at High-A Greensboro. He still hit 14 home runs in 375 plate appearances, and swiped 15 bases, but his K% took a step in the wrong direction to 34.4%. It also didn't help that his walk rate plummeted to just 9.6%. 2025 was better, but nowhere near his 2023 campaign. He slashed .220/.329/.394 with a .345 wOBA, and 111 wRC+. While his walk rate improved to 10.9%, his K% continued to climb to 35.9%.
White Jr. returned to Greensboro for his third straight season this year, and he may finally be figuring out what made him so good in 2023. It has only been 73 plate appearances, but White Jr. owns a .317/.411/.633 triple-slash, and 167 wRC+. He already has five home runs and is walking at a healthy 13.7% rate. White Jr. had a sub-65% contact rate in both 2024 and 2025. So far this year, he has upped that to 72%. His strikeout percentage is down to 23.3%.
White Jr.'s rebound is huge for the Pirates' farm system. Esmerlyn Valdez and Edward Florentino are the Pirates' top two outfield prospects, but are the Bucs' only top outfield prospects on Baseball America's top 30 list. The Pirates also haven't had very much luck in drafting and developing an outfielder. The last outfielder they drafted and to put up at least 3.0 bWAR in the Major Leagues was former MVP and fan favorite Andrew McCutchen, who was drafted in 2005.
White Jr. is in his age-23 season, and given that it is his third go-around at Greensboro, it is finally time to test him at Double-A Altoona. The former second-rounder has always had the potential to be a Major League outfielder, given his excellent defense and speed. Showing some offensive upside once again will make him a very interesting player to watch once he reaches the next level of the minor leagues.
