Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect Has Made Progress in This Area

The Pittsburgh Pirates have a solid MLB-level young core, but they also have exciting prospects making waves in the minors.

One of the players who fall into the category is Pittsburgh’s No. 5 prospect, Wyatt Sanford, who is coming off a very strong 2026 campaign and made progress in a few different areas.

The Pirates selected Sanford with the 47th overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft. When Pittsburgh brought the infielder into the organization two and a half years ago, he was known as a contact-oriented hitter.

That remained true during Sanford's first season of affiliate ball in 2025, but he saw a significant power boost in the second season.

Sanford ended up hitting 19 home runs with 16 doubles across Single-A and High-A in 2026. That’s a +12 and +8 increase in each category, respectively.

The advanced numbers back up Sanford’s power progress, too. He had an average exit velocity of 81.5 mph with a max exit velocity of 106.5 mph in 19 games at Single-A in 2025. This year, Sanford logged an average exit velocity of 103.7 mph and a max exit velocity of 106.4 mph in 20 games at that level.

It’s impressive to see a 20-year-old make this much growth in the power department in just one calendar year. Sanford said he wasn’t exactly expecting to hit so many home runs last year, but he definitely felt like he had the ability early on in spring training last March.

During a recent interview in the Arizona Fall League, which Sanford is currently participating in, he explained that one of his goals last offseason was to add more muscle this frame. He clearly did, and it worked out exactly as he envisioned.

Obviously, the more power that a player has, the better. That said, Sanford said he doesn’t want his ability to hit more home runs to impact his swing decisions at the plate; he still wants to be known for being a contact-first hitter.

Sanford said he wants his power to be seen more as a tool instead than something he’s known for.

Finding a balance between hitting for power and not whiffing at pitches will be something for Sanford to work on during the 2027 season. His strikeout rate at the Minor League level in 2026 was just over 30.6 percent.

That will never play at the big-league level, let alone at Double-A or Triple-A.

Still, Sanford is young, and there's plenty of time for him to grow and determine how his power best fits his hitter profile.