Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates lost an unprecedented amount of minor league talent in the Minor League phase of the Rule-5 Draft. The likes of upcoming left-handed starter Trey McGough to the Orioles, bullpen arm Austin Roberts to Miami, left-handed bullpen star Joe Jacques to Boston, along with 8 other players! The Pittsburgh Pirates have many decisions to make come the December Rule 5 deadline, but many players slip through the cracks like Jacques, Roberts, and McGough. Today, we will look at some of the names that might slip through the Rule 5 draft come December. There will be 10 total players I will go over today and I’ll rank them into 3 categories; Up and comers, proven, and reclamation projects.

Author’s note: Yes Jase Bowen is available too, but I’m going for the lesser known names in this article. Also yes, I believe Bowen will be selected in the major league portion.

Up and comers

OF Enmanuel Terrero: The 21-year-old made his affiliate debut this season in Low A Bradenton, where he hit .266 in his 308 at-bats in 80 games. 8 home runs, 37 RBIs, and 47 walks (15%), just shows how well he transitioned this season. More than likely he will not be added to any 40-man roster but he could maybe sneak his way into conversations in the Double-A portion of the draft. 

P Yunior Thibo: Thibo started in 2023 in the same place he did in 2022; Bradenton. A phenomenal start to his campaign earned him a promotion to High A Greensboro. 2.75 ERA, a 2-2 record, and 17 strikeouts in 14 appearances. In Greensboro, Thibo struggled in upper North Carolina and finished with a 6.04 ERA, a 4-1 record, and 17 strikeouts in 23 appearances. Thibo might be a sneaky good pickup for a team looking to take a chance on him. 

P Valentin Linarez: His start to 2023 in Greensboro was average at best, but a move to the bullpen provided dividends and a ton of promise on this prospect. Before his move to the bullpen, he held a 5.45 ERA but his move dropped that number to 4.70. 76 total strikeouts across the board including a late-season promotion to Double-A Altoona. Linarez entering his 2nd Rule 5 draft might not be able to sneak out of this draft unclaimed.  

INF Will Matthiessen: He went back to High A Greensboro for 2023 after an injury-plagued 2022 season in Altoona.  Will was seeing the ball really well sending 12 balls packing out of the park and a .245 average and 53 RBIs. Matthiessen earned his promotion to Double-A where he seemed out of tune and was on and off the development list for the duration of the season. Will still seems like a possibility to be a candidate for the future on the first base side. Maybe on the Pirates side, maybe not.

Proven

P Cameron Junker: Quite possibly the most sneaky good bullpen arm the Pirates have had in quite some time. He has never had an ERA above 4 in his career so far. He holds a 2.45 strikeout-to-walk ratio throughout his career and has 17 total career saves. Junker held a 3.25 ERA this season (Best on the Curve) and got a taste of Triple-A action to end 2023. The Pirates may elect to put him on the 40-man roster similar to what they did with Colin Selby last year. Hopefully, if they do not protect him, they can sneak him through the draft. 

INF Andres Alvarez: He surprisingly went back to Altoona for 2023 after a 20 home run and 20 stolen base seasons in 2022. This season he came nowhere close to that homerun mark in 8 and his average dipped from .220 to .215 so nothing much in that regard. His strikeout ratio did drop from 33% to 29%. He is great defensively and a threat once he gets on base to take some bags. In a loaded infield system, maybe the best thing for Alvarez is to get claimed by one of the other teams. 

Reclamation

OF Sergio Campana: His third season in Bradenton did not go as planned. He ended up not being in an organized ballgame until June 26th with the FCL Pirates. There he ended up back in Bradenton ball by August 4th where he played just average ball slashing a .226 average and only 12 hits in a limited 19-game action. Campana has the tools to be a good ball player and some teams might take the risk on him as a high-reward low-risk prospect. 

OF Rodolfo Nolasco: Nolasco took his second crack at Low A Bradenton and it ended up being worse than his 2022 campaign. He struck out 152 times in just 359 at-bats (45%) but did walk in 20% of his appearances. Nolasco did have a .240 average in 2022 but that dipped to a .214 in 2023.  Nolasco, similar to Campana, might just need a change of scenery trade to unlock his tools. 

INF Alex Mojica: A once highly touted prospect, has really seemed to have not panned out. The Pirates have not been pleased with how well Mojica takes care of himself off the field (6’1 250lbs), and has the ability to not be coachable and change. Despite all this, 25 RBIs and a .219 average have been his better season compared to his awful 2022. For everyone’s sake, I hope Mojica can get picked by another team that can save his career because his 2019  campaign (.351 average, 8HR, 46RBI) in the DSL was nothing short of spectacular. 

OF Connor Scott: For a 13th overall pick back in 2018 by the Miami Marlins, Scott seemingly has hit bust potential. He was never seen as a great hitter and an average outfielder and that is pretty much the story of his career thus far. He hit .196 this year with a 25% strikeout percentage and 37 RBIs. For Scott, maybe the best thing for him is a new team to tap that potential that made him a 13th overall pick in 2018.