Bucco Boys Prospect Weekly: Plaz Powers Up, Florentino Keeps Rolling at 19
By Simon Lane ·
Bucco Boys Prospect Weekly covers the last 7 days of action for the Pirates farm system.
Axiel Plaz Has a Week Worth Noticing
Axiel Plaz (A+, C, Rank: 31) went 8-for-19 with two doubles, two home runs, seven RBI, and three walks across 19 plate appearances last week, generating the highest Performance Index delta of any Pittsburgh prospect in the system. The production is not a total surprise given the trajectory: he is hitting .301/.383/.496 with 16 home runs through 401 plate appearances at Greensboro this season, a significant leap from the 11-game cameo at High-A in 2025 where he hit .086/.214/.200. Over his last 30 days he is hitting .301/.370/.578 with six home runs in 92 plate appearances, a 12.0% strikeout rate, and a contact rate of 80.9%, which is the most important number in his recent line. He came to High-A this year as a bat-first catcher whose contact questions were real, and the strikeout rate sitting at 17.0% for the season while climbing even lower over the last month suggests he is making better decisions as the season wears on.
The honest profile here is a 50 hit, 55 power catcher with a 45 field grade and limited athleticism for the position. That combination points toward a bench receiver or part-time corner bat at the big league level, and nothing about last week changes that ceiling. What does change is the degree of confidence in the offensive side of the ledger. He is an aggressive swinger at 51.6% on the season, but a 74% contact rate means that aggression does not automatically translate into empty swings, and the power has shown up consistently enough to matter: 16 home runs in 401 plate appearances at 21 years old at High-A is legitimate production. The question that follows him to Double-A, whenever that comes, is whether the contact quality holds against more varied secondary stuff. For now, last week was his most complete performance of the season and a genuine reason to pay closer attention.
Florentino Adds Eight More RBI and Another Pair of Homers
Edward Florentino (A+, OF, Rank: 2) went 9-for-30 with three doubles, two home runs, eight RBI, six walks, a hit-by-pitch, and three strikeouts over 30 plate appearances, pushing his combined season total to 26 home runs across 458 plate appearances. The week's output fits cleanly inside a last-30-day stretch that looks like a different gear: eight home runs, 28 RBI, an 18-walk month, and a strikeout rate of just 17.1% against a season-long 25.5%. His contact rate has climbed from 68.7% on the year to 75.3% over the last month, which matters because the contact question has always been the caveat attached to his power-and-patience package. A 14.6% walk rate over that same stretch confirms the approach has not slipped while the bat-to-ball has improved.
He is 19, playing High-A, and has now hit 26 combined homers while posting a 15.9% walk rate for the season. A 55 hit, 55 power, 55 speed profile who runs a 39.7% swing rate is a player who can afford to swing selectively because the contact, when it comes, carries weight. Last year he hit .290/.400/.548 across 351 plate appearances split between rookie ball and Bradenton. This year he has 26 home runs in 458 at a level two rungs higher. The gap between his .238 average at Greensboro and his .511 slugging tells the story of a teenager who takes walks, hits the ball hard when he engages, and still carries enough swing-and-miss to give pitchers a path. But that contact rate improvement over the last 30 days is the number that would make a Double-A assignment feel less like a push and more like the obvious next step. Pittsburgh's developmental clock on Florentino is ticking louder every week.
Quick Hits
- Murf Gray (AA, 3B, Rank: 21) · drove in seven runs on seven hits, including two doubles and two home runs, across 28 plate appearances last week. Gray's combined season line now sits at .300/.399/.568 with 31 home runs and 92 RBI across three levels; his 30th homer came at Altoona on August 28. The power is real and it has played at every stop. His last 30 days at Double-A show a 14.1% walk rate and a 78.5% contact rate, which are both encouraging signs for a 55 power profile still adjusting to the better pitching. The chase concerns that dot his scouting report remain a legitimate Double-A test, but the ball has kept leaving the yard.
- Levi Sterling (A+, RHP, Rank: 24) · struck out 9 batters over 4.2 innings at Greensboro, allowing two runs on two hits and a walk in 71 pitches. The strikeout output is the headline: his K% at High-A sits at 32.7% across three starts, and his last-30-day whiff rate of 34.6% with a 51.2% strike rate are the best command-adjacent numbers of his young pro career. The ERA at Greensboro is 6.39, propped up by home runs allowed at a rate that reflects the adjustment to a new level more than a breakdown in stuff. He posted a 4.31 ERA with 112 strikeouts across 96 innings at Bradenton, and the 93-95 mph fastball and plus slider that drove those numbers have not disappeared.
- Carlson Reed (A+, RHP, Rank: 6) · worked 4.2 innings of one-run ball, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out seven over 57 pitches. The outing was his cleanest in a while: his season ERA at Greensboro is 5.87 through 87.1 innings with a 12.8% walk rate that has been the persistent drag on his profile. Over his last 30 days that walk rate has stayed elevated at 12.5%, so one clean outing does not fix the command picture, but the 60-grade slider was clearly doing damage, and the 55-grade fastball sitting 95-97 gives him enough to cycle through lineups when both are working. A 40 command grade is the honest ceiling constraint until he proves otherwise.
- Tony Blanco Jr. (A+, 1B, Rank: 26) · went 6-for-24 with two home runs and four RBI, running his High-A total to 25 home runs in 318 plate appearances. His last 30 days at Greensboro are a legitimate highlight: .343/.457/.746 with eight home runs, a 14.8% walk rate, and a 24.7% strikeout rate that is well below his 28.3% season mark. The swing rate has also dropped to 45.9% in that window from a season-long 48.7%, suggesting he has been more selective without losing the power output. For a 65 raw power, 40 hit profile, a stretch where the contact rate improves without sacrificing damage is the development signal the organization wants to see.
- Yordany De Los Santos (A+, SS, Rank: 23) · went 6-for-29 last week with a double, a homer, five RBI, four walks, and six strikeouts. The week was a reasonable line, but the last-30-day picture is more complicated: a 27.0% strikeout rate, a 5.4% walk rate, and a 60% swing rate that is well above his already aggressive season mark suggest the approach has slipped in recent weeks. He is still at 44 stolen bases for the year, which is the floor of his value when the bat is inconsistent, and the 55 speed and plus athleticism give him a path to relevance regardless. The hit tool questions are real and the recent swing rate spike is worth watching.
- Jack Brannigan (AAA, SS, Rank: 35) · went 5-for-19 with two doubles, two walks, and one strikeout across 19 plate appearances at Indianapolis. The contact was there; the power was not, but a 20.0% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate over his last 30 days represent the best sustained plate discipline he has shown at Triple-A. His season line at Indianapolis sits at .219/.311/.367 with three home runs through 152 plate appearances, which is the honest assessment of where the 45 hit tool is right now against upper-level pitching. At 25 with brief MLB exposure already on the ledger, the clock is moving.
- Jared Jones (A+, 1B, Rank: 36) · was placed on the 7-day injured list at Greensboro on August 29, with no diagnosis confirmed. The timing stings: in the 14 days before the placement he had gone 13-for-42 with seven home runs and a .810 slugging percentage across 47 plate appearances, his best stretch of a season that already included 23 home runs in 358 plate appearances at High-A. He was hitting .311/.411/.567 at Greensboro before the IL stint. There is no timetable available yet.
- Wilber Dotel (AAA, RHP, Rank: 38) · threw 3.2 innings of two-run ball with three strikeouts out of the Indianapolis bullpen. His last 30 days at Triple-A tell a better story than the single outing: a 2.51 ERA across 14.1 innings with 12 strikeouts, no home runs allowed, and a 49.2% strike rate. The 60-grade fastball sitting 96-100 with a pair of above-average secondaries is a legitimate weapon when the sequencing is right. His season ERA at Triple-A is 4.50, but the recent-form numbers suggest a version of Dotel capable of sticking in a big league bullpen.
- Khristian Curtis (AAA, RHP, Rank: 27) · worked 3.1 innings without allowing a run, scattering one hit and three walks while striking out four. The outing keeps his last-30-day ERA at Triple-A at 2.38 across 11.1 innings with a 31.9% whiff rate. The walk rate has been the issue all year, sitting at 15.6% at Triple-A for the season, and three more free passes last week did not help. The fastball sits 95-98 and the curveball flashes above-average, giving him a legitimate two-pitch combination when the command cooperates, which it does not often enough to stick in a rotation.