ALTOONA, Pa. — A handful of Pirates prospects will begin the season at the same level of the minors where they played most of last year. That includes catcher Henry Davis, the top draft pick in 2021, who was sent back to Double-A Altoona.

“You can be pissed off. You can be passionate about it,” Davis said Monday during Altoona’s media day. “Everybody in our locker room should be upset they’re here, Everybody in the Triple-A locker room should be upset that they’re there. Everybody’s goal is to be in Pittsburgh. So, it’s OK to be pissed off.”

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The important thing, Davis said, is how the players channel their emotions given their situations.

“If you let that control how you play and your conduct, shame on you,” Davis said. “But, if you say, ‘I’ll show them and work as hard as I can to be so good that there’s no choice but for me to be in Pittsburgh,’ there’s no shame in that. I want to be in Pittsburgh right now — right now. Everybody in the locker room feels the same way. So, it’s OK for it to sting a little bit, but what are you going to do about it?”

Endy Rodríguez, 22, whom The Athletic’s Keith Law rates as the Pirates’ No. 3 prospect, opened eyes last year by slashing .323/.407/.590 with 25 home runs. He is the everyday catcher this year at Triple-A Indianapolis.

Law ranks Davis, 23, as the Pirates’ No. 2 prospect. Injuries limited Davis to only 59 games last season. He batted a combined .264/.380/.472 with 10 homers at four levels, but is playing catchup to Rodriguez defensively.

Going into the season with their top two catching prospects at different levels will enable the Pirates to give both of them steady playing time. Altoona manager Callix Crabbe said Davis will be the Curve’s regular catcher but also will make one start a week in right field.

“Henry is steadily improving,” Crabbe said. “His bat is his carrying tool, but he throws well. He’s continued to improve his receiving. He’s really focused on being a great game-caller. There’s no reason why he can’t end up a really good catcher.”

Here’s a look at where the Pirates prospects on Law’s top 20 list, as well as some other noteworthy players, will begin the season.

No. 1 Termarr Johnson, INF — Low-A Bradenton

When Johnson injured a hamstring at the start of spring training, doctors expected him to miss at least six weeks. The good news is, Johnson was not placed on the injured list. Bradenton’s opener is Friday against Clearwater at LECOM Park. After being drafted fourth last year, Johnson played in nine games in the Florida Complex League and 14 games with Bradenton.

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No. 4 Quinn Priester, RHP— Indianapolis

Priester began last season on the IL, then went 4-4 with a 2.87 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP with Altoona. He made two starts with Indy at the end of the season and this summer will jockey for position on the call-up queue.

No. 5 Bubba Chandler, RHP — High-A Greensboro

Chandler is now a full-time pitcher and his days as a two-way player appear to be over. Last year, he made eight appearances (six starts) with Low-A Bradenton and went 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA.

No. 6 Anthony Solometo, LHP — Greensboro

Solometo, 20, was a second-rounder in 2021. He’s an exciting prospect who last year went 5-1 with a 2.65 ERA in 13 outings (eight starts) with Bradenton.

No. 7 Michael Burrows, RHP — Indy

Burrows is the No. 3 pitcher in Indy’s rotation. Monday, he allowed one run on two hits over five innings in an 8-3 loss against Omaha. Burrows was placed on the 40-man roster this past offseason.

No. 8 Liover Peguero, SS — Altoona

Other than a couple of days spent with the Pirates — he was an emergency call-up chosen because he was only a short drive from Pittsburgh — Peguero spent last year with the Curve. He got word a couple of weeks into spring training this year that he had a return ticket to Altoona. “I didn’t feel great about it because I worked a lot during the offseason,” Peugero said. “This is a process we’ve got to believe in. Everything is not like the way we want it to be. This is a challenge to grow up, learn, and take another step up. Just keep going.”

No. 9 Nick Gonzales, 2B — Indy

A foot injury limited him to 71 games last summer with Altoona. Gonzales went to the Arizona Fall League and hit .279/.351/.500, which convinced management he was ready for Triple A.

No. 10 Malcom Nuñez, 1B — Indy

He turned 22 only a month ago and is about five years younger than the average Triple A player. Nuñez was a fast riser in the Cardinals system, zooming from rookie ball to Double A in just two seasons, not including the 2020 season that was wiped out by the pandemic.

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No. 11 Luis Ortiz, RHP — Indy

One veteran scout who saw a lot of Ortiz at multiple levels last summer offered high praise: “The Pirates’ two best pitchers? Give me (Roansy) Contreras and Ortiz.” Ortiz established himself in 2022 by dominating at Altoona (1.17 WHIP, 9.9 K/9) before making four starts with the Pirates in a late-season look-see.

No. 13 Thomas Harrington, RHP — Bradenton

The 36th pick last year, Harrington went from a college walk-on at Campbell to the highest-drafted player in the school’s history. He was a draft-eligible sophomore, so the Pirates took a slightly cautious approach with his opening assignment.

No. 14 Jared Jones, RHP — Altoona

Greensboro’s ballpark is a bandbox, so take Jones’ numbers last season (4.99 ERA, 1.4 HR/9) with a grain of salt. He’ll be happy to work in Altoona’s pitcher-friendly confines. “When I found out, I was really happy I wasn’t going back to Greensboro,” Jones said. “I had some really, really good outings out there and then I had others that just got away from me.”

No. 15  Jared Triolo, INF — Indy

He is on the IL and out indefinitely after having hamate surgery. Last season, Triolo slashed .282/.376/.419 with Altoona before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

No. 16 Carmen Moldzinski, RHP — Indy

He’s working out of Indy’s bullpen. Mlodzinski spent all of last season with Altoona and went 6-8 with a 4.78 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 27 games (22 starts).

No. 17 Matt Gorski, OF — Altoona

Gorski was upset when management had him return to Greensboro to begin the 2022 season. He responded with a breakout season, slugging a total of 24 homers and making it to Indy before a quad injury ended his season. He’ll have to prove that power was no fluke by climbing back up from Altoona. “I have a better understanding about how the system works now,” Gorski said. “We have (40-man) roster guys at Triple A and they need me to play every day, so being here is going to give me an opportunity to do that.”

No. 18 Tsung-Che Cheng, SS — Greensboro

He moved up a rung in the system this year after hitting .270/.376/.418 with six homers and 33 stolen bases last season with Bradenton.

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No. 19 Axiel Plaz, C — Not yet assigned to a full-season affiliate

The Pirates signed him in January 2022 for $350,000 out of Venezuela. Still only 17, he’s still a couple of years away from reaching Low A.

No. 20 Yordany De Los Santos, SS — Not yet assigned to a full-season affiliate

He hit .258/.372/.363 over 59 games last year in the Dominican Summer League. He turned 18 in February.

(Note: No. 12, shortstop Ji Hwan Bae, was on the Pirates’ Opening Day roster.)

Other notable players

Mason Martin, 1B  — He’s back at Altoona after spending part of 2021 and all of last season with Indy. Martin has mammoth power, but the club’s analytics wonks are alarmed by his 37 percent strikeout rate. He’s only 23, so there’s time to get back on track — but he has to move fast. “Certainly, this is motivation,” Martin said. “No hard feelings, of course. I’ve had a lot of conversations with the team and they’re reinforcing the positive and telling me to go tear it up. That’s what I’m here to do.”

Kyle Nicolas, RHP — He is among 12 pitchers who spent at least some time with Altoona last season who are back this year. Nicolas, 24, was a non-roster invitee to spring training and will be the Curve’s Opening Day starter Thursday. “If I take care of what I do, then everything will work out,” Nicolas said.

Hunter Barco, LHP — A second-round pick last year out of the University of Florida, Barco, 22, has not yet played for an affiliate. He’ll start the season in the Florida Complex League but could move up quickly from there.

Jun-Seok Shim, RHP — Not yet assigned to a full-season affiliate. The No. 10 prospect in the international free agent class, Shim signed with the Pirates in January for $750,000. He will turn 19 on Sunday.

Michael Kennedy, LHP — Not yet assigned to a full-season affiliate. A fourth-round pick last year, Kennedy gave up a scholarship to LSU to sign with the Pirates.

Jeffrey Passantino, RHP — Released. He was a Rule 5 draft pickup in 2020, had a 3.92 ERA in 19 outings last season with Altoona, and pitched for Italy in the World Baseball Classic.

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Cristofer Melendez, RHP — Restricted list with Indy. Last season, he put up a 4.83 ERA in 26 relief outings with Indy.

Tahnaj Thomas, RHP — He is returning to Altoona to firm up the transition he began last year from starter to late-inning reliever. “I think it’s going to be more settled this year,” Thomas said. “I’m going to be coming out of the bullpen more this year, just like last year. But I’m ready for whatever.”

Injured players

Wei-Chieh Huang, RHP — Full-season IL with Indy. Huang was a non-roster invitee to spring training.

Lonnie White Jr., OF — Sixty-day IL at Indy (thumb surgery). A second-round pick in 2021, White turned down a football scholarship to Penn State to sign with the Pirates. Hounded by injuries, he’s played in 11 games in the Florida Complex League.

Brennan Malone, RHP — Sixty-day IL at Indy. He and Peguero were the return in general manager Ben Cherington’s first trade, in which Starling Marte was sent to the Diamondbacks in January 2020. Since joining the Pirates organization, Malone has pitched in 12 games and produced a 6.67 ERA.

Nathan Webb, RHP — Full-season IL at Indy. He was a non-roster invitee to spring training.

Dariel Lopez, SS — Full-season IL at Indy (knee injury).

(Top photo of Henry Davis courtesy of the Altoona Curve)