After rising fast, Pinckney needs to adjust to upper levels of minor leagues

PROSPECT REVIEW: ANDREW PINCKNEY

Age on opening day 2025: 24

How acquired: Drafted in fourth round in 2023 from University of Alabama

Ranking: No. 28 per MLB Pipeline, No. 21 per Baseball America

MLB ETA: 2026
* Projected by MLB Pipeline

Signing bonus: $500,000

2024 levels: Double-A Harrisburg and Triple-A Rochester

2024 stats: 137 G, 580 PA, 520 AB, 65 R, 134 H, 22 2B, 4 3B, 8 HR, 50 RBIs, 27 SB, 10 CS, 43 BB, 167 SO, .258 AVG, .329 OBP, .362 SLG, .690 OPS

Quotable: “It’s awesome. It can be a little intimidating at first. Like when I got drafted, I’m looking at the list and it’s like, ‘Oh, gosh. How am I gonna get through this?’ But they’re all super cool. They’re all my friends. And we’re all just getting better together, really. When I see Woody (James Wood) doing well in the big leagues, and me and (Dylan) Crews were here at the beginning of the year and he’s doing well in Triple-A, it sets up my path for the future. When they’re doing well, I can learn from them. And when I’m doing well, they can learn from me.” – Andrew Pinckney on being a part of the Nationals’ group of young outfielders

2024 analysis: Pinckney entered the Nationals system as an experienced college bat, the third of the six the Nats selected with their first seven picks in the 2023 draft. He used his experience at an SEC school to rise through four different minor league levels in the months after being a fourth-round pick.

That set the bar for him entering his first full professional season. Starting the season at Harrisburg (where he played four games to end the 2023 season), Pinckney slashed .259/.328/.366 with a .694 OPS, 20 doubles, three triples, seven home runs, 44 RBIs, 22 stolen bases in 31 attempts and 36 walks in 114 games.

The Nats promoted him to Rochester in late August and he pretty much kept that pace at the next level. He slashed .253/.333/.337 with a .671 OPS, two doubles, one triple, one homer, six RBIs, five stolen bases in six attempts and seven walks over 23 games.

But even with his college experience and quick rise last year, Pinckney struggled with strikeouts this season, like a lot of young hitters in the upper levels of the minors. He struck out 130 times with the Senators and 37 times in his short time with the Red Wings. His 167 total strikeouts were the second-most in the Nats system behind only Elijah Green.

Like his fellow outfield prospects, Pinckney saw time at all three spots. In fact, he may have seen the most balanced time between the three positions by logging at least 353 innings at each. He only committed five errors all season while recording nine assists.

2025 outlook: Pinckney was a part of the Nats’ recent efforts to draft more college bats in an effort to get more experience into their system. And he has used that experience to his advantage.

Like Crews and Yohandy Morales, the Alabama product has been able to rise through the ranks with relative ease. But now that he’s hit the upper levels, an adjustment must be made.

Of course, he needs to cut the strikeouts way down (a recurring theme so far in these prospect reviews). But if his understanding of the strike zone improves, he could develop into a solid all-around player with his defense and speed giving him an edge.

Pinckney has talked about how the grind of playing in the SEC helped him learn to make adjustments. And to his credit, he did improve every year while with the Crimson Tide. Now he needs to apply what he learned in college to his professional development.