BRADENTON, Fla. -- Connor Scott was watching a movie with his girlfriend when he got the phone call. She was irked that he was on his phone, but he had to take it.
He had just found out he was traded.
“It ended up being some good news,” Scott said at the Pirates’ minor-league camp at Pirate City Tuesday. “We were super excited. My whole family is excited.”
Scott was one of three players the Pirates received from the Marlins on the Nov. 29 trade for Jacob Stallings, which because of the lockout has been the most impactful move the team has made for both its short-term and long-term plans.. Also coming the Pirates’ way were pitchers Zach Thompson and Kyle Nicolas.
Of those two pitchers, Thompson made his major-league debut in 2021 as a late-bloomer, and the 28-year-old is expected to be a part of the Pirates’ rotation this season.
Nicolas, on the other hand, was a minor-leaguer in 2021 alongside Scott in Class High-A. In fact, they were roommates, and they FaceTimed each other as soon as they heard the news.
“I was nervous when I heard the news, Scott said. “We called each other, and we were like, ‘What's going on? What are we gonna do?’ ”
Kyle Nicolas was one of three players the Pirates got back from the Marlins for Jacob Stallings. Here’s what he remembers from that day pic.twitter.com/6uKBZn5d5C
— Alex Stumpf (@AlexJStumpf) February 21, 2022
The best thing they could do is build off of the areas they improved in 2021 that drew the Pirates to them.
Nicolas was a competitive balance round B pick after the second round in 2020, and posted a 2.52 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 39⅓ innings after a midseason promotion to Class AA. While his changeup is going to need to develop and will most likely ultimately determine if he is a starter or reliever long-term, he features above average breaking stuff and a mid-90s fastball.
“We are excited about him. I’ll hold no punches there,” pitching coordinator Josh Hopper said. “It’s a really good skill set, and a great kid. Very perceptive. Anytime a dude is standing on the mound it looks like he’s playing catch with my seven-year-old and it comes out 94, it’s a good thing.”
Pitching in his first full season of ball, Nicolas said he learned a lot about how to approach the game, including when to attack hitters and pitch aggressively versus when to not. Right now he’s focusing on getting up to game speed and tightening up his release points ahead of his sophomore campaign, and appreciating how the Pirates are letting him have a say of his development.
“They give us a lot of freedom,” Nicolas said. “That’s something I like. I know my routine. I know what I need to do every day. They’re very player-friendly.”
Scott was another early round draft pick, being taken 13th overall in 2018. His first two years in the Marlins’ lower levels were underwhelming, but he had what might have been his breakout season as a 21-year-old in Class High-A, slashing .276/.333/.446 with 10 home runs and 14 stolen bases.
He was still prone to swing and miss, and he’s been working on trying not to spin at the end of swings, which could lead to more and better contact.
Like Nicolas, the Pirates were drawn to him more for his tools than his on-field results thus far.
“He can run, he's athletic, he can really throw,” Ben Cherington said about Scott in December. “He's got some pop, and starting to figure some things out this year. We're excited about getting to work with him, frankly, and getting him in our hitting program, and we hope there's some untapped potential.”
Scott started to make some adjustments at the alternate training site in 2020, when he got to face some of the top pitching prospects in baseball. He welcomed the challenge, and it helped him take another step.
“I kind of figured out who I was as a hitter,” Scott said. “A lot of it was mental, just kind of the process of going into my at-bats, going into the games, taking each pitch individually. I was myself physically, but mentally, started to turn some more gears and get it locked in more.”
The next step for both players will be to build off of those encouraging steps they took in 2021. They will need to if they want to emerge from the Pirates’ growing pool of pitching and outfield prospects.
“At the end of the day, you’ve got to be you, so that’s what I’ve been trying to do,” Nicolas said.
