Tony Blanco Jr. is making the kind of noise the Pittsburgh Pirates have been waiting to hear from the farm system.
The High-A Greensboro outfielder has kept the power coming in 2026, and his latest burst was especially loud: two home runs in back-to-back games on the road against Bowling Green, the Tampa Bay Rays affiliate, pushing him to 23 homers for the season.
That’s the headline, but the bigger story is how much Blanco has given the Pirates to evaluate this year. He has appeared in 70 of Greensboro’s 110 games, a notable step forward after a career-high 40 games in 2023, 30 games in each of the last two seasons, and only eight games in 2022. For a player whose development has been interrupted by limited availability, simply staying on the field has mattered.
And when he has been out there, he has produced. Blanco is hitting .264/.352/.606 with a .958 OPS, along with 67 hits, 16 doubles, 23 home runs, 54 RBI and 31 walks against 82 strikeouts.
The power has come in waves, too. April was his quietest month, with just two homers, but he has still managed at least four in every month since, including six in May and seven in August. This month has been his best stretch yet: he’s batting .370/.500/.891 with a 1.391 OPS, 17 hits in 46 at-bats, three doubles, seven home runs, 11 RBI and 10 walks to 14 strikeouts.
Those seven homers tie him for the South Atlantic League lead in August. Overall, his 23 long balls rank fourth in the league, and Greensboro teammate Jhonny Severino is ahead of him with 29.
Blanco did miss a little more than a month on the injured list from June 21-July 24, but since coming back he’s been even more dangerous, hitting .333/.422/.859 for a 1.281 OPS in the second half of 2026.
He turned 21 in May and is still early in his pro career, despite signing with Pittsburgh for $900,000 during the 2022 International Signing Period. He is technically eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this offseason, though it’s unlikely another club would take him this year.
The tools are obvious. At 6-foot-7 and 243 pounds, Blanco has the kind of frame that makes his power jump off the page. He’s already flashed it in eye-catching ways: after returning from injury in 2025, he posted massive exit velocities at Single-A Bradenton and hit the hardest home run in the minor leagues at 119.8 mph.
He kept showing off in the Arizona Fall League, where he hit the longest home run at 464 feet, won the AFL Home Run Derby by beating Pirates rookie Esmerlyn Valdez, and launched a double at 120.4 mph - the second-hardest hit ball in baseball last season, behind Oneil Cruz’s 122.3 mph record-setting home run per Statcast since 2015.
This season has been a strong step forward because Blanco has been healthy and the power has played more consistently. The next challenge is the one that usually decides these stories: carrying it to Double-A Altoona and beyond if he wants to reach the majors in the coming years.
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