The Pittsburgh Pirates have plenty of high-end prospects in the minor leagues we’re itching to see play. 2025 first round pick Seth Hernandez will get his first full professional season. Edward Florentino could get even better by playing a full year as well. They also have a handful of MLB-ready or near-MLB-ready prospects. However, there are plenty of prospects in the Bucs’ system that don’t get as much attention as Hernandez or Florentino. Each of the Pirates’ minor league affiliates has someone underrated that every fan should be paying attention to this year, so let’s shine a spotlight on those players today.
Bradenton - Jesus Travieso
Jesus Travieso was acquired from the Boston Red Sox alongside Jhostynxon Garcia. Travieso split his season between the Sox’s Florida Complex League and A-Ball affiliate. Between the two levels, the right-hander tossed 64.2 innings while working to the tune of a 3.06 ERA, 3.11 FIP, and 1.44 WHIP.
Travieso had an outstanding 31.8% strikeout percentage, and only allowed three home runs all year. His 12.7% walk rate may not have been great, but he cut it down from 15.3% at the FCL compared to only 9.2% at A-Ball. Travieso was only 18 last season. He was the fourth youngest pitcher at any level of the minor leagues to make 15+ starts in 2025.
Travieso throws hard, sitting upper-90s and topping out in the triple-digits. He has two sliders. One has more gyro spin, and the other acts like a sweeper. Both breaking offerings got plenty of swings and misses. Travieso also utilizes a change-up to round out his arsenal. He needs to sharpen up his control, and his massive improvement in walk rate from the FCL to A-Ball is a good start. That will be the most important thing to watch as he pitches a full year at Bradenton this year.
Greensboro - Axiel Plaz
Axiel Plaz got off to a strong start at Bradenton. Over 233 plate appearances, the young backstop batted .262/.348/.450 with a .378 wOBA, and 122 wRC+. He showed off his power, with nine home runs, a 92.3 MPH exit velocity, and 12.3% barrel rate. Plaz only had a 20% strikeout rate, albeit with an unimpressive 29.9% whiff rate. He also walked 9% of the time. What makes this even more impressive is that Plaz was only in his age-19 season.
Plaz missed a good portion of the season with an injury. He was placed on the IL after June 17, and wouldn’t reappear in a game until August 19. On the plus side, Plaz was sent to High-A Greensboro upon his return, but struggled in a small 11 game sample size. He still walked five times with only a half-dozen K’s in 42 plate appearances, but had just three hits.
Plaz should return to Greensboro, given he played very little there last season. He showed off some immense raw power, especially for a catcher. His exit velocity was the 24th best among minor leaguers who saw at least 750 pitches at A-Ball or Triple-A. He can also play first base, adding to his versatility. Plaz is only ranked as the Pirates’ 20th best prospect, and MLB Pipeline puts him at just 29th.
Altoona - Khristian Curtis
Khristan Curtis is the highest ranked prospect on this list. Baseball America ranks him as the Bucs’ 15th best prospect. But even that seems low for what he is capable of. Last year, Curtis owned a 3.90 ERA, with a 25.1% strikeout rate, and 9.7% walk rate. He also had a 0.98 HR/9 ratio. However, while these numbers are solid, they don’t do Curtis complete justice.
Curtis’ best performances came after a cold month of April and most of May. From May 30 through the end of the season, Curtis put up a 2.89 ERA, 3.62 FIP, and 1.02 WHIP in 81 innings. He struck out just over a quarter of opponents with a 25.8% K%, and had a respectable 8.9% walk rate. Curtis ended his year on a very high note, tossing two perfect innings with three K’s in his Altoona debut.
Curtis’s fastball sits mid-to-upper-90s and is a plus offering by BA. They also project his slider, change-up, and cutter as above-average offerings. His curveball is the only offering they don’t view as an above-average pitch. Even then, it still receives a 50-grade. Curtis’ control is the biggest question mark of his game, but he had a sub-7% walk rate through his final 11 starts of the year. A prospect with a plus offering, three more above-average pitches, and a fourth average pitch with improving command only ranked as the Pirates’ 15th best prospect makes him an underrated arm to watch at Altoona in 2026.
Indianapolis - Duce Gourson
Duce Gourson was the Pirates’ ninth round pick in 2024. Coming out of UCLA, Gourson showed off a knack for drawing walks and getting on base at a high rate. That didn’t change as he went into pro ball. Gourson hit .275/.370/.439 with a 135 wRC+ over 392 plate appearances. He hit for above-average pop, with ten home runs and a .168 ISO. The infielder struck out at a 22.7% rate, and walked 10.2% of the time.
He used his high on-base percentage to its fullest ability. Gourson swiped 31 bases in just 34 attempts. He only got caught once in 11 attempts at Double-A Altoona. He also played all over the infield. Gourson started games at third base, second base, along with first base. Plus he has experience at shortstop from his college days.
Gourson hit well at Altoona last season, with a .804 OPS, .371 wOBA, and 134 wRC+ in 197 plate appearances. He also turned 23 in late September of last year. He did well enough over a large enough sample size, and is old enough to justify starting him at Triple-A to open 2026. Even if he doesn’t, he’ll have a good shot of getting to Indianapolis early in the season, so long as he stays healthy and hits anything like he did last year.
