The Pirates have a new affiliate in the South Atlantic League this year. They’ve replaced West Virginia with Greensboro. The makeup of the team will have some new aspects as well. The West Virginia team last year was very young, with the league’s third youngest hitters and (in a tie) pitchers. Some of those young players struggled, though, and will return this year. Having lower-level players repeat levels is something the Pirates haven’t done much in recent years, but the returning players will still mostly be good ages for the SAL.
Greensboro also will have more early round college draftees than the Pirates usually send to this level.