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.

Jack Brannigan:

In 2022 the Pittsburgh Pirates took Brannigan in the 3rd round of the draft at 83rd overall. He was the fourth player selected by the Pirates following Termarr Johnson, Thomas Harrington and Hunter Barco. Brannigan was a two-way player for Notre Dame playing as a relief pitcher and a infielder. He started the 2024 campaign as the Pirates 10th best rated prospect and has moved to 8th on the list after the promotions of Jared Jones and Paul Skenes.

Brannigan rates as just below average with his hitting tool, average with his power and running. He has a plus plus arm nearly plus glove and overall comes in as a potential everyday player. Brannigan is known by scouts for his raw power, and his ability to crush a baseball when he makes contact. Which is the issue he holds with many other Pirate prospects, which is his high strikeout rate and inability at time to make contact. Like many at his age, 23, he will need to quickly overcome that issue if he wants to continue to progress and make it to the majors one day. Defensively he is seen by scouts as a plus defender at the hot corner. He has also spent time in the minors and in the Arizona Fall League at short stop. The issues there is he does not quiet have the range that would be needed to be a permanent fixture there. He compares similarly to an extend to Ke’Bryan Hayes defensively, though offensively he struggles to hit for the same average as Hayes, though has much more power.

In 2024 Brannigan started high A Greensboro, though he is a bit old for that league. Through nearly the end of June he has a .223/.360/.401 triple slash with a .761 OPS. He has hit nine double and eight home runs while striking out 59 times and walking 34 times. This 30% strikeout rate is the issue that Brannigan faces, for him to be able to move to Altoona he will need to cut that rate down by 5-8%. Defensively he has played 240 innings at SS, 131.2 innings at 3B and 31 innings at 2B. He has played well but not great so far this year at SS and 3B. The fact he watched Charles MacAdoo joining him then get promoted before him is not a great sign for Brannigan. But again, if he can bring down his strikeouts he could see a promotion this year to Altoona.

There is a good chance Brannigan gets the call to Altoona before the end of the year. At 23, though he just turned it in March, he will need to be pushed a bit to see if he can make the Bigs. Hayes was already in the show at 23, and while Brannigan isn’t as well regarded he is in a somewhat similar cast. If Brannigan cam make it to Altoona this year he could be at Indianapolis at some point in 2025, allowing for the possibility of sometime in Pittsburgh in 2026. But as overly stated it will come down to his strikeouts, as well as what position he sticks at. If he can increase his range and make it as a shortstop then the strikeouts are not as big a deal, then if he sticks at third base or second base. He is a fun player to watch and watch people should. If he can get one or two things to click, he could be a deadly contributor for the Pirates in the not-so-distant future.