2026 Pirates Breakout Watch Prospect: Tony Blanco Jr.
In 2024, I chose Bubba Chandler as my Pittsburgh Pirates breakout prospect, and he has now emerged as the top pitching prospect in the system. Last year, my pick was Khristian Curtis, who struggled in the first half, but finished the season on a high note, with a strong final three months. Heading into this year, I’ve decided to go the position player route, on a player who received some buzz towards the end of 2025, and that’s Tony Blanco Jr.
During the 2022 international free agency period, the Pirates signed Blanco to a signing bonus of $900,000.
Blanco is the son of Tony Blanco Sr - a former top prospect in the early-2000’s that played for the Washington Nationals expansion team in 2005, and had success playing over in Japan.
After spending his first two seasons in the Dominican Summer League, Blanco had a productive rookie ball stint stateside in the Florida Complex in 2024; slashing .305/.385/.505 in 109 plate appearances.
The beginning of 2025 was rough for Blanco, as he not only started the season on the 60-day injured list, because of a hamstring issue, but also with the sudden passing of his father, who lost his life during a roof collapse accident in the Dominican Republic, which involved long time MLB reliever Octavio Dotel, as well as Nelsy Cruz - the sister of former big leaguer Nelson Cruz.
Blanco was activated off the IL in mid-July and assigned to the Bradenton Marauders.
In 28 games with Bradenton, the 20-year-old Blanco put up a slash of .264/.368/.491, along with seven home runs.
To make up for lost playing time, the Pirates sent Blanco to the Arizona Fall League as a member of the Salt River Rafters. He held his own in 13 games; posting an .809 OPS. Blanco participated in the AFL Home Run Derby and came out victorious.
At 6’7, 243 pounds, Blanco has prodigious raw power and displays excellent exit velocity figures. If he can manage the strikeouts to a respectable level in the future, and can tap into his full power potential, it’s the profile of 30-35 homers that can possibly flirt with 40. Defensively, he can play both a corner outfield and first base, with the latter being his most likely position long-term.
Blanco has showed off his impressive power in spurts, but will need to do it over the course of a full minor league season; similar to what Esmerlyn Valdez did last year.