Pirates Top 30 Prospects No. 26: Keiner Delgado Starts With a Bang

This is one in a series of stories breaking down PBN’s Top 30 Pittsburgh Pirates prospects.

A newcomer to the Pirates’ organization following the completion of the trade that sent JT Brubaker to the New York Yankees, Keiner Delgado looked like one of Pittsburgh’s best power hitting prospects during the first few weeks of the minor league season.

Delgado started the year with the Pirates’ rookie ball team, making one start and going 2-for-5 with a homer. He promptly received a promotion to Bradenton, where he homered in two of his next three games. Delgado hit seven home runs across the months of May and June… but he only finished the season with nine, his power surge tapering off as the season dragged on.

It’s worth noting that Delgado was never seen as a heavy hitter: at 5-foot-7 and 145 pounds, a 15-20 homer pace over the course of a 162 game season is perfectly reasonable for a switch-hitting shortstop like him. More troubling is the fact that his other offensive statistics tailed off from his time with the Yankees. While playing for New York’s Dominican Summer League and rookie ball teams in 2022 and 2023, Delgado posted an OPS of 1.010 and .899, respectively. During 2024 with Pittsburgh, he slumped to .676.

As of right now, it’s impossible to tell whether that regression stems from a new organization and a new hitting philosophy, growing pains as he adjusts to a higher level of the professional system, or some combination of both. At just 20 years old, Delgado has plenty of time to grow as a hitter, and 27 stolen bases in 90 games played helps flesh out his offensive contributions.

Glove Work

Defensively, Keiner Delgado played 37 games at second base and 46 games at shortstop during the 2024 season. Fielding percentage is a flawed metric—focusing solely on the proportion of errors committed to successful plays and failing to take other factors like a player’s defensive range into account—but it’s often all we have for the minor leagues where advanced statistics aren’t compiled.

Delgado posted fielding percentages of .966 and .965 at second base and shortstop, solid but not exceptional marks.

All in all, Delgado projects as a solid contributor should he make the major leagues. His bat could use some improvement (and he may not possess superstar upside) but in a system starved for offensive contributors, he’s one of the best of the bunch.