MLB Pipeline and Baseball America has released their top 100 prospect lists, and the Pirates are represented around middle of the pack with 3 prospects on Baseball America's ranking and 4 prospects on MLB Pipelines Ranking.
BA's prospect rankings are behind a paywall so I am not going to summarize the notes the ranking systems have on the player, but rather my own thoughts on who might also find themselves on some prospect list when the mid-season ranking are released. Currently BA has Bubba at 7th, the Pirates latest top 10 pick Konnor Griffin ranked 57th, and SP Thomas Harrington at 74th. MLB Pipeline has Bubba at 15th overall, Konnor Griffin at 43, and Harrington at 80. They included 2022 number 4 overall pick Termarr Johnson at 83.
I believe we will see Termarr Johnson on more top 100 preseason lists and be a regular on Top 100 lists midseason. Termarr Johnson was drafted with a 70 grade contact and 60 grade power ratings from MLB Pipeline. Those are elite. The only other players who have an equal 130 draft rating total with contact and power since MLB Pipeline switched to an 80 grade scale back in 2014 is Charlie Condon last year and Dylan Crews in 2023. No one has a higher total from at least 2014 from MLB Pipeline. I think it is clear the Pirates have to this point made facing minor league pitching harder than it needs to be for Termarr Johnson. Johnson has walked so much, and many at bats won't swing until there is two strikes leading to more strikeouts than he should be having. Also, when he gets into two strikes count the eye test will tell you that he is swinging way harder than he should. He is figuratively swinging out of his shoes.
Termarr has reach Double A last season where results are going to be more important, and with the seeming change in hitting philosophy lead by new MLB hitting coach Matt Hague we might see Termarr play into his biggest strength which is his ability to hit to all fields rather than swinging for moon shots. Please check out the Matt Hague Data Scientist article for more details on the change in philosophy hopefully leading to the same walks, higher OBP, and fewer strikeouts as an organization.
The Pirates were very excited when they drafted Termarr Johnson 4th overall. They essentially tweeted at that time that they "Got their guy". Looking at Termarr's rather stocky build at 5'7" he seems very Jose Altuve and Luis Arraez like. Those guys have very low bat speed because of their compact swing and have won batting titles. I am thinking the Pirates have been doing the batters box equivalent to Termarr Johnson as being a ninja while wearing ankle weights like Rock Lee or Blue Eye Samurai.
The Pirates are now ready to progress in Termarr's development to be more result focused and I can't wait to see it! There will be more articles like this guessing who might make the jump to the top 100 mid-season prospect lists coming soon.