North Shore Nine

Welcome to the weekly Scouting Prospects; The Top 30 series. Each week we will take a look at a different one of the Pirates Top 30 prospects, with a few bonus “double drop” weeks. The format of these articles will highlight and discuss the following.

• Scouting Score
• Performance
• Expectations
• Projected Debut
  
  When it comes to scouting grades, the scale used is 20-80. So, a 20-30 grade would be considered well below average. A 40 is below average, 50 is average, 60 is above average (Also called Plus) and 70-80 is well above average (or Plus Plus). For prospects the overall grade is where scouts expect the player to perform once in the majors. For example, a 65 grade would be an All-Star caliber standout player, whereas a 50 would be an everyday player and a 40 would be a bench player.

Mitch Jebb:

Mitch Jebb was selected 42nd overall in the 2023 MLB draft, the year that will be remembered for its 1:1 pick, Paul Skenes. Less that a year later to start the 2024 season Jebb was the Pirates 8th best prospect in the system. He was also the second highest rated non-pitching prospect behind only Termarr Johnson.

Mitch Jebb has a plus hit tool and a nearly plus-plus speed tool. When you add this to the average fielding and glove, he possesses it could make for a very exciting player once he matures. The part his game that separates him from the rest is the lack of strikeouts. Jebb has been very good at taking control of his at bats, limiting strikeouts and drawing a good amount of walks. Scouts all concur that power will not be a focal point of his game. As mentioned, he will play solid defense and get on base via the hit or the walk, and will be a demon on the basepaths. Jebb just turned 22 in May and is spending the start of the season at high A Greensboro.

So far this season he has not been as sharp at the plate as he had been in 2023 while at Bradenton. In 42 games this year he has hit .192/.258/.287 with a dismal .546 OPS. A big reason for his has been an increase in his strikeouts as he has done so at a 29.9% clip. This is worrying, however he is also just under the average age for the level. If he is able to cut that rate back down to the level he is used to having it at the rest of his offensive game should rebound nicely. Defensively he has spent 22 games at 2B and 15 at SS. He is playing far better at 2B then he is at SS but he is not too far off with his SS work. In Bradenton last season he also had a near 50/50 split between the two positions, and will likely continue to do so moving forward. Which brings up the inevitable, road map to the show.

With this poor performance to date in A+ he is unlikely to move to Altoona this season. While that could change it appears unlikely at the moment. If he is able to get some parts of his game back to his normal then it is possible he could be in Altoona at some point next year at the age of 23. Meaning base case scenario Indy in 26-27 with a potential call up for a cup of coffee that season to Pittsburgh. Meaning the earliest you could see him full-time in Pittsburgh would be 27-28 when he is 25 or so. This is if things progress slow but well. It is possible that he takes off second half of 2024 and continues to improve and pushes that time table forward. However, if he is unable to do that then he will start to slip down the prospect list. Which could then put his MLB future in jeopardy of not occurring.