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.
Eddy Yean was signed as an International Amateur Free Agent by the Washington Nationals in 2017. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 along with Wil Crowe in the Josh Bell trade, at the time they were the 6th and 4th best in the Washington System. Yean stands at 6’1″ and weights 180 pounds. At the time of the traded he has a fastball rated at 60 with a slider and a change up both rated at 55, with an overall grade of a 50. In the first three years in the Pirates organization, he spent one in Bradenton followed by two in Greensboro before starting 2024 in Altoona.
Yean has not had a good start to his career with the Pirates. In his season at Bradenton, he was transitioned from a starter to a bullpen arm, a bad sign for a young pitcher. He then spent a pair of seasons in High A where his numbers were not good. In 82 games in Greensboro, including one start, he had a 1.650 WHIP and averaged 10.3 hit per nine innings pitched. While he had a SO/W of 2 it was not an impressive couple of seasons. However, in the month of April in his 7 appearances in Altoona he is pitching better. His WHIP is a 1.30 and his batting average against is .227, his SO/W ratio is down to 1.66. While these number are not barn burning good they are better than what he has done so far, and at a high level within the game. It should also be noted that his start to May has not been ideal. He was roughed up in back-to-back appearances by Harrisburg, which has worsened his stat line.
Yean has not been on the Pirates top 20 list since 2021 when he was ranked 13th, though scouts had downgraded his change-up to a 50 and his overall to a 45. To say it has been tough sledding for him would be a massive understatement. His control has been his biggest issue as he tends to walk far to many batters. However, the end is not neigh for him as of yet. While he is Rule 5 eligible at 22 in his current state, he isn’t good enough to warrant a selection.
If, however, he could continue to pitch like he did in April in Altoona, then he could make his way to Indianapolis either this year or next. If he manages to do that and continues to limit walks and use his fastball and slider to get folks to swing and miss. Then he might see the majors one day, but the window is closing fast so he will have to hurry or else he might end up in one of the foreign leagues within a year or two.