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.
Po-Yu Chen was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an International Free Agent in 2020. He is a starting pitcher who stands 6’2″ and weighs 187 pounds. Chen has a good mix of pitches with a fastball, sinker, change-up, curve and cutter within his arsenal. He has been working to increase the velocity on his fastball since joining the organization, however the increase comes and goes at times. He has never made a top prospect list for the Pirates.
In 2021 he pitched in the Florida Coast league, so well he was promoted to Bradenton where he spent the rest of the year and the next. In 2023 he spent the season in Greensboro before the promotion to Altoona for 2024. He pitched well in A and High A holding a WHIP of 1.261 and 1.379 respectively, in both places his SO/W was nearly 3. So far in Altoona in the 2024 season he looks over matched. He has pitched 20 inings gving up 25 hits, 4 homeruns, while walking 9 and striking out 11. His WHIP is high at 1.7 and his SO/9 is so far at a career low of 5.0 and his H/9 is at a career high of 11.3. While it is early in the season still and this percentages can change it is a rough start to say the least. Chen needs to work to limit his walks and to mix his pitches better. He has a great arsenal, keeping the fastball velocity up in the mid 90’s where he can get it and mixing his secondary pitches will allow him to be craftier and should create better results. At 22 years old in AA it is not quiet make or break for him, however a poor year could make his path to the majors harder, especially when considering the prospects in front of him on the organizational depth chart.
This is another player who is Rule 5 eligible at seasons end. If he continues to pitch as he has been the chances of him being picked are very low. Chen got a big bonus to sign with the Pirates, while he has not pitched poorly he has not made the most of his talent yet either. A good rest of May could get him back on track in Altoona, which would suit him well. However, considering the depth in AAA do not expect to see him there until 2025 at the earliest but 2026 might be a better goal. Meaning that if he is expected to make the Majors, it is unlikely to happen before 2026 if not 2027. There is a lot of tough sledding for him to reach the MLB, but with his talent he could do it if he can just reach that next gear.