North Shore Nine

Welcome to the weekly Scouting Prospects; Undiscovered Treasure series. Each week we will take a look at a different one of the Pirates prospects who fall outside of the Top 30. The format of these articles will highlight and discuss how the player came to the Pirates, how he has been playing and what to expect from them moving forward.
Kervin Pichardo was signed as an undrafted free agent to the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019. In 2022 he was dealt to the San Diego Padres for James Norwood. He was once again flipped in 2024 to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jackson Wolf. To start the 2024 season Pichardo stands at 6’0″ and 180 pounds, he is 22 years old and plays second base, third base and shortstop. Other than the fact he is on his 3rd team in as many years there has also been interesting placement for him over that timeframe. In 2022 he played 51 games in A ball, then 29 games in AAA. However, then in 2023 he started in High A before finishing in AA, where he currently resides after being dealt to the Pirates. It is odd that he jumped from A to AAA in 2022 and has not been back to that level since. It is possible it was an emergency situation brought about due to lack of organizational depth. Regardless, he played admirably there but was still over matched. What does Pichardo bring to the table as a player, other than he is able to play all the infield positions.
Pichardo hits for some power, both with doubles and home runs. While he has not put-up number you might see when playing The Show, they are still respectable. Though the end of April in Altoona he has managed to hit .259/.355/.352 with a .707 OPS. So far, he has also been able to put up 8 walks to his 14 strikeouts, an improvement over what he has done to date in his minor league career. His defense has not been the strongest part of his game so far. At 3B where he holds the most innings played (708.1) he has committed 14 errors and holds a .946 fielding percentage. For comparison, Jared Triolo in 2586.1 minor league innings at 3B had 37 errors and a .960 fielding percentage. Pichardo’s defense at 2B and SS are arguably worse than what it is at 3B. Which leaves him in a tough spot when it comes to making the majors at some point in his career.
Pichardo has not made any top prospect lists at any of the organizations he has been in. Nor will be crack the Pirates top 30 at any point, more than likely. This doesn’t limit his upside in anyway, but it does temper any potential exceptions for him. For him to be able to reach the majors it will be as a super utility type role. In order for that to occur he will have to work to get better defensively, and work to start hitting better. Which is a lot to ask of a 22-year-old who may be watching his chances at the big league dwindle in front of him. If he is able to continue to show improvement, then he might reach AAA by the end of the year. Should that occur then he could see the majors in 2025 or beyond. However, for that to occur he would need to be put on the 40-man roster. With the current makeup of the Pirates 40 man however, it is much more likely that if he is doing well enough for a potential call up then he would be claimed in the Rule 5 draft. Which when it boils down, seems like the most likely thing to happen for Pichardo.