The Pittsburgh Pirates had a very active winter last year. One underrated player the Pirates acquired was right-handed pitching prospect Jesus Travieso. The Bucs acquired him from the Boston Red Sox, alongside outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia, in exchange for Johan Oviedo and two minor leaguers.
Travieso entered 2026 as one of the Pirates’ biggest breakout candidates. However, a myriad of injuries have sidelined him for most of the season. He opened the year on the injured list and didn’t return to action until late July. The right-hander threw just two innings of work for the Pirates’ Florida Complex League affiliate team before he was shut down again.
There was a reason why Travieso was seen as a breakout candidate in 2026. Last year, he pitched to the tune of a 3.06 ERA, 3.15 FIP, and a 1.44 WHIP over 64.2 innings between the Red Sox’s FCL and A-Ball affiliate teams. He struck out nearly a third of opponents, albeit with a 12.7% walk rate. However, his BB% went from 15.3% over 39 innings at the FCL to 9.2% in 25 innings at A-Ball. The biggest improvement he made was his first-pitch strike rate going from 40.5% to 51.7% from the FCL to A-Ball.
When healthy, Travieso can be one of the Pirates’ hardest-throwing pitching prospects. He sits 95-97 MPH and can hit triple digits at his best. Keep in mind, 2025 was only his age-18 season. He throws both a slider and a sweeper, both of which can induce plenty of swings and misses. His go-to offspeed pitch is a change-up. His high-effort delivery raises some questions about his control, but he is trending in the right direction.
However, the Pirates have developed a similar pitcher into a legitimate MLB starter, who has a higher-effort delivery, but elite velocity, a smaller stature, and fringy command as a teenager. Right-hander Jared Jones was given similar critiques by Baseball America in 2021. However, Jones became a top 100 prospect by his age-21 season in 2023, and he now has a 103 ERA+, and 19.4% K-BB% over 41 MLB starts.
Entering 2026, Travieso was one of the Pirates’ top 30 prospects, per Baseball America. They put him at the #22 spot on the Pirates’ list. FanGraphs held a similar opinion as BA regarding Travieso, ranking him as the Pirates’ 20th best prospect.
A fully healthy season in 2027, overcoming the injuries he had this year, and proving he can maintain his stuff over a full year as a starting pitcher, could significantly help Travieso’s prospect stock. His stuff is good enough to be one of the Pirates’ best prospects already. Showing it off over a full year only proves he deserves to be recognized as one of the Bucs’ best young hurlers.
