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.
Maikol Escotto:
Escotto was signed by the New York Yankees as an International Free Agent in 2018. He was traded to the Pirates as part of the Jameson Taillon deal. Currently he stands at 5’11” and is reported to weigh 180 pounds. Escotto has been known for his offense in his progression through the minor leagues. Like many in the Pirates system he has a high strikeout rate which tends to be an issue for him. He has a good arm for the infield and some speed to help him there, he has played at all spots around the infield.
Escotto is 21 coming into the 2024 season. While known for his bat, he has been slowly declining since his addition from the Yankees. His walk rate has declined and his strikeout rate has increased. However so far this season his numbers have improved a bit, hopefully marking a turning point for his game. His BABIP this season to date is .306 and his wRC+ is 86. His K% remains high at 33.3%, but his BB% has gone up to 6.9% a increase over the last two years. Furthermore, his ISO is .163 the second highest it has ever been in his Pirate career to date. His triple slash has also improved this season .225/.276/.388 with a OPS of .663. While these numbers are not good, they are improvements over his last few seasons. Which would be necessary as this is the second season he has started a Greensboro and the third overall he has been there. What has improved so far this season is his power numbers, he is currently projecting to hit more doubles and homeruns then he has in any other minor league season. His scouting scores rate him high on raw power, but low on game power. This indicates he has power has not been translating into actual power numbers. However this might be changing this season, and it will need to if he hopes to continue to progress through the system. A
As far as timeline goes it is going to be measures in years. It is possible he could see AA by the end of the year. If that is the case based on how he has been progressing recently he could see AAA in 2026-27 when he is either 23 or 24. That is if things progress better for him then they have over the last few seasons. So, if all goes well, you could see Escotto in the majors late in 2027 or early in 2028. But that is very dependent on his bat coming back around and limiting the amount of swing and misses he has. His future is a bit murky, but there is some progress so far this year to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
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