'It starts now': Pirates pumped to showcase top prospects against Orioles in Spring Breakout

Where Paul Skenes and Jackson Holliday are the headliners for the Spring Breakout prospect game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles, they are far from the only attractions.

The Pirates’ roster features nine of their top 10 prospects, including four of their five top-100 prospects. Joining Skenes, the 2023 No. 1 overall pick regarded as baseball’s top pitching prospect, are second baseman Termarr Johnson, fellow right-handed pitcher Bubba Chandler and lefty Anthony Solometo.

So, after years of picking at or near the top of the MLB Draft, the Pirates are pumped about showcasing their future stars in the Spring Breakout that will be televised by MLB Network and SportsNet Pittsburgh at 7:05 p.m. Thursday from LECOM Park in Bradenton, Fla.

“I think Major League Baseball is doing a really cool thing,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said Sunday during an in-game interview on the SportsNet Pittsburgh telecast. “With us and the Orioles, there’s a lot of prospects and you’re going to get to see them highlighted all in one game, as it’s going to be on national TV. I really like the fact that we’re highlighting our group of young players.”

The 19-year-old Johnson shined on the Grapefruit League stage, slashing .368/.429/.737 in 14 games and becoming the first teenager since Carlos Correa in 2014 to homer twice in a spring training game.

A 2022 first-round pick (No. 4), Johnson is the Pirates’ No. 2 prospect and ranked 44th overall. Before being reassigned to minor league camp Tuesday, Johnson made a strong impression on Shelton and had talent evaluators predicting he could make his major league debut by September.

“This guy’s going to be fun to watch in Pittsburgh,” said Shelton, who noted that Johnson drew 101 walks between Low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro last season. “That’s the biggest thing: one hundred-plus walks as an 18- and 19-year-old in the minor leagues. That hadn’t been done in forever. The ability to control the zone, just the way he handles his at-bats, we’re excited about Termarr being a Pirate. He’s going to push us, which is really important. That’s the one thing we tell our minor league players: Push us to make decisions.”

Chandler and Solometo are hoping to do the same. Now 21, both were drafted out of high school in 2021 – Solometo in the second round, Chandler in the third – and received above-slot signing bonuses to skip college. They have different styles but are on a similar trajectory, with both finishing last season at Double-A Altoona.

Chandler was a two-sport star who was preparing to play quarterback at Clemson and a two-way player who ultimately chose pitching over playing shortstop. The 6-foot-2, 200-pounder pairs a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and touches the upper 90s and has been described as “electric” by scouts with an upper-80s slider.

“The slider, I know where it’s going every pitch,” said Chandler, ranked No. 93 by MLB Pipeline. “I have very good idea of what exactly it’s going to do and when to throw it and who to throw it to.”

What Chandler needed to refine was his routine between starts, and he showed maturity by posting a 1.66 ERA and .163 batting average against over his final nine starts in July and August.

“Once I stopped worrying about getting promoted and where I start the season, my mind started to be peaceful,” Chandler said. “The first day I got (to major league camp), I realized I probably was not making the big leagues at 19. … But it’s cool. Each level is good, especially for starting pitchers because each level gets harder. The seasons get longer, so finding that routine and adapting to a new routine is how I look at each level. You want to win, but you’ve got to adapt to a certain routine and stick to it.”

The 6-5, 220-pound Solometo also pairs a four-seamer with a slider but does so with a funky delivery and more deception than Chandler.

After watching the likes of Felix Hernandez, Mike Trout and Bryce Harper reach the majors at age 19, Solometo set a similar goal for himself and became frustrated when he realized it wasn’t going to happen. So he learned to concentrate on his performance, going 4-7 with a 3.26 ERA and 1.19 WHIP while averaging 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 110 1/3 innings over 24 starts split between Greensboro and Altoona.

“I missed that goal, so now it’s just me playing catch-up to those guys so I can start my career sooner,” said Solometo, ranked No. 82 by MLB Pipeline. “It’s exciting. I really want to be part of that. It was cool being close, in Altoona, but now I want to be in Pittsburgh. … Everybody wants to get up there as fast as possible. That realization for me has been really important. All that matters is winning in Pittsburgh. They’re going to put the guy up there who’s going to get the job done. I’m looking to be a part of that.”

So is Thomas Harrington, a 2022 first-round pick (No. 36) out of Campbell University whose stock soared after going 7-6 with a 3.53 ERA and 1.24 WHIP while averaging 10.3 K/9 in 127 1/3 innings over 26 starts split between Low-A Bradenton and Greensboro last year.

The idea of top-10 prospects Skenes, Solometo, Chandler, Harrington and Braxton Ashcraft – not to mention No. 2 Jared Jones, who isn’t playing in the Spring Breakout as he competes for a spot in the Pirates’ starting rotation – has the young pitchers excited for their future.

“It creates that internal competition, which is great,” Harrington said, “but it also creates a little bit of a brotherhood of where we’re all trying to learn from each other and bounce ideas off each other.”

That starts with Skenes, who appears to be on the fast track to the majors but will start the season in the minors so he can get accustomed to pitching every five days and incorporate his full repertoire. He has thrown to another former No. 1 overall pick in catcher Henry Davis and watched Johnson hit this spring and sees the makings of the Pirates’ future starting rotation with the other top pitching prospects.

“Just getting to know them and getting to work with them has been awesome because we do all recognize that we’re going to be pitching together for awhile,” Skenes said. “So we’re building those relationships now, and getting to know each other and work with each other has been an awesome experience.

“We talk about winning a lot, whether it’s in Double-A or Triple-A or, obviously, the goal is to do it in the big leagues. But it starts now. Building those relationships and getting to work together, that’s where it starts. That’s what’s going to create winning at the big league level for a long time.”