Road to The Show™: Pirates’ Solometo

Each week, MiLB.com profiles an elite prospect by chronicling the steps he's taken toward achieving his Major League dream. Here's a look at fourth-ranked Pirates’ prospect Anthony Solometo. For more stories about players on The Road to The Show, click here.

There are many ways to describe Anthony Solometo’s delivery, which has drawn comparisons to Madison Bumgarner, Mackenzie Gore and Chris Sale. But the Pirates left-hander knows which adjective suits him best.

“I think funky is a great word to describe it,” Solometo told MLB.com after he was drafted in 2021. “You know, I like to be a funky dancer out there sometimes.”

The Pirates’ fourth-ranked prospect advanced from High-A Greensboro to Double-A Altoona in what amounts to his first full season. In 24 total starts, he posted a 3.24 ERA with 118 punchouts in 110 ⅓ innings while holding opposing batters to a .227 average. His ERA, BAA and 1.19 WHIP ranked first among the 10 Pittsburgh prospects to complete at least 100 innings in 2023.

Solometo makes the most of his lanky, 6-foot-5 frame to attack hitters from a low arm slot and a release point that can make it seem like the pitch is coming from first base. Despite all the moving parts in his delivery, he commands his pitch mix well, especially after a midseason mechanical adjustment with his legs and elbow.

MLB Pipeline’s No. 84 overall prospect possesses a sinking fastball that tends to sit in the low-90s, but he’s added some velocity and can hit 96-97 mph. He also worked with Pirates pitching coordinator Josh Hopper to reshape his go-to breaking ball from a slurve to a harder sweeper that sits between 85-90 mph. Solometo rounds out his arsenal with a changeup that’s still developing into an effective offering.

Although he’s made many adjustments since his amateur days and had a lighter workload in his debut season in 2022, Solometo, who reached Double-A as a 20-year-old, is rising through the Minors quickly.

“We have a lot of faith in his maturity, his routine,” general manager Ben Cherington told MLB.com in June. “He's been ahead of his years since the day he signed as far as being on top of the right stuff and knowing what he needs to do to prepare. So, we were confident both in the on-field part and just as a person, as a mature young man that he would be ready and we felt like it was a good time to challenge him.”

The Voorhees, New Jersey, native had a brilliant high school senior season at Bishop Eustace, allowing one run in 32 2/3 innings and throwing no-hitters in back-to-back starts. He continued to impress national scouts at summer showcase events like the Area Code Games and rose to prominence as MLB Pipeline’s No. 17 Draft prospect in 2021.

Solometo slid a bit in the Draft, perhaps due to signability issues considering his commitment to the University of North Carolina, but was taken by the Pirates in the second round with the No. 37 overall pick.

Solometo was part of a larger Draft strategy that started with the selection of Henry Davis with the No. 1 overall pick. By drafting Davis over players like Jack Leiter or Marcelo Mayer who were looking for larger signing bonuses, Pittsburgh was able to save nearly $3 million in bonus pool money. The club used that savings to land Solometo, Lonnie White Jr. and Bubba Chandler – three high-schoolers who would require bonuses much higher than their slot value.

Solometo was the first domino to fall, reportedly signing for $2.8 million, which was more pricey than the No. 37 selection’s $2 million slot value. Eventually, White and Chandler, who were both big-time football recruits as well, also signed above-slot deals.

Solometo didn’t pitch in Minor League games in 2021 and actually stayed at Pirate City, the team’s facility in Bradenton, Florida, for more than 10 months after he was drafted.

He made his debut with Single-A Bradenton at the end of May 2022. Overall, he made eight starts in 13 appearances for the Marauders. He posted a 2.64 ERA with 51 punchouts in 47 ⅔ innings while holding opposing batters to a .188 average. Solometo did not throw more than 69 pitches in any of his outings but completed five innings in two of his last five appearances.

During the offseason, Solometo trained with Tread Athletics, the facility that helped Pirates righty Mitch Keller regain his form in 2023. He worked to eliminate the arm drag and adjust the angle of his elbow within his delivery. He also went on a nutrition and weightlifting plan and dropped more than 10 pounds.

He was among the youngest players in the South Atlantic League in 2023 when he reported to Greensboro, whose home park is traditionally tough on pitchers.

The season did not get off to a great start as his control and command eluded him in the early going. He issued 29 walks over his first seven starts, spanning 29 ⅔ innings, and held a 3.94 ERA.

After a particularly difficult start, Solometo made a mechanical adjustment that turned his season around. The “funky dancer” had a tendency to leap off the mound in his delivery rather than driving off his back leg, which threw him off-balance. Instead, he worked to stay low and get more direct to the plate. The results seemed to pay off immediately.

When he was elevated to Altoona in June, Solometo lowered his ERA to 2.30 and walked just four batters in his next five Grasshoppers starts, which spanned 29 frames. Overall, he left the South Atlantic League with 68 strikeouts across 58 2/3 innings.

Solometo made 12 starts for Altoona, posting a 4.35 ERA and .247 BAA with 52 punchouts in 53 ⅓ innings. Although he got knocked around a little bit, he walked just 2.7 batters per nine innings and continued to show impressive command.

Solometo should get some important innings during the upcoming Grapefruit League season this spring, but it would still be a tremendous leap for him to reach the big leagues in 2024.