Top 25 Prospects

A wonderful post by Charlie at Bucs Dugout ranking the top prospects in the Pirates system. It has inspired me to do the same. I will have some disagreement with Charlie’s rankings. One difference will be I will not rank players draft, but who have yet to play in the Pirate system. Zach Von Rosenburg’s one inning is not enough to get him ranked either. I will also avoid ranking those in the Foreign Rookie Leagues. Although it is worth mentioning Jonathan Barrios was invited to the Develomental League by the Pirates. I suppose that might make him the best prospect of the foreign rookie leagues.

1. Pedro Alvarez (3B). There is really no debate here. Alvarez had a wonderful first year by any standards. He got better as he moved up in competition. His OPS in AA was over 1. That is pretty good. He has continued to do well for Team USA showing great power. He needs to work on his glove and continued improvement in plate discipline.
2. Jose Tabata (OF). He is improving every year. He slumped at the end of this year, but he still pulled a GPA (Gross Production Average) of .262 (the scale is similar to that of regular .AVG). Not great, but not a disaster.
3. Brad Lincoln (P). Lincoln had a great year and a year without injury, which might be more important. A 1.196 WHIP for the year while getting over 7 strikeouts per 9 innings. Waling under 1 per 9 innings and giving up .7 homeruns every 9 innings. That is good stuff. I think it might be time to see what Brad does in the majors.
4. Rudy Owens (P). This guy had a year that is hard to believe. Owens had a WHIP of .944 for the year. That is amazing. He averaged 8.2 strikeouts per 9 innings and had a Strikeout to walk ratio of 6.65. He also performed well in the playoffs.
5. Chase D’Arnaud (SS). He had a .292 GPA and did not see a drop off when going up a level in the minors. His defense needs some more work, but he showed great promise this year even adding some power as the year went on.
6. Tim Alderson (P). There is something about Tim Alderson. It is hard to explain. His WHIP is 1.282 which is pretty good, but he does not strike out a lot of guys. Yet, he wins games. He wins games. You would like to see him give up less hits, but he wins. He wins at every level. He has three minor league season under his belt spaning from Rookie ball to AA. He has only lost 7 games in three years. You have to like that.
7. Starling Marte (OF). Marte is still raw, but the Pirates seem to really like this kid. He seemed to handle the promotions well. The Pirates have a general rule not to promote anyone more than once a season, but Marte was promoted twice. His .274 GPA is good for a first year kid and a .802 OPS is also good. I list him so high because he is only 20.
8. Robbie Grossman (OF). Grossman slumped in the second half of the year, and only finished with a GPA of .257. Add to this his 164 strikeouts and one might be worried, but that is to be expected from a 19 year old as is the second half slump. His fielding percentage is excellent, and he stole 35 bases not to mention his On Base Percentage of .373. He is a good looking prospect with some places to work. But the upside is there.
9. Daniel McCutchen (P). McCutchen is another guy who does not wow you with his stats, but competes game in and game out. He won 13 games for Indianapolis, and that in itself is saying something. His WHIP is 1.220, but he does not strike out enough batters. Still he pitched rather well in his short stint with the majors, and I am interested to see what that does for his confidence.
10. Tony Sanchez (C). Sanchez could be a major steal. His .318 GPA is outstanding. A .949 OPS is great for a catcher. All of that and his defense is his real strength. Still he did struggle a bit when he moved up to Lychburg (High A) at the end of the season, but 10 At-Bats is hardly a good sample. This 21 year old is a prize in the system. I might have him a little low, but one year should not cause us to go over the moon. Yet.
11. Brett Lorin (P). I think that this guy could have the goods to make the Jack Wilson deal worth it all by himself. He had a 1.049 WHIP for the year. That is great. A 2.20 ERA is also impressive. He gives up too many walks, but he is still young. We will see how he does as he moves up in competition, but I like him right now.
12. Jordy Mercer (SS). It is far too early to give up on Jordy Mercer. He did have a less than stellar year with a .713 OPS, but he was put at High A in his first year of professional baseball. That is an adjustment from college. His 10 homeruns and 83 RBIs give reason to hope that good things are still to come from this middle infielder.
13. Brooks Pounders (P). It is still early on this one too. He needs to watch his walks, but that is to be expected from a 18 year old. What is impressive is only one homerun over 23.2 innings and 99 batters. In a draft class full of great pitching he looks good.
14. Aaron Pribonic (P). He is still a bit wild, but a 1.115 WHIP is good. He did not give up many long balls either, which is encouraging. About .4 every 9 innings. He is 22 so he needs to continue to be good as he moves up, but I think he earned a spot on Lynchburg for this upcoming year. He is one to watch. He came over in the Jack Wilson deal.
15. Zachary Foster (P). I know that this one might be a stretch, but Foster had a 1.000 WHIP. That is good. But since he is not a starter nor is he being used as one than other criteria should be used. He allowed one homerun in 29 innings which is what you want in the bullpen. He struck out almost a person an inning, and walked a little over half that many. He only allowed four earned runs and five total. He did convert one save, which I think was his only opportunity. That is the beginning of a good bullpen resume.
16. Justin Wilson (P). Another draft pick put right into High A baseball at Lynchburg. He struggled greatly out of the gate just like Jordy Mercer. Yet, he finished well, and thus, I think Wilson will be fine. His over all line with a 1.491 WHIP is not that good, but the fact he got better as the year went on is a great sign.
17. Trent Stevenson (P). Only 15 innings, so this is another stretch. Still a .867 WHIP in your first 15 innings of professional baseball is nothing to sneeze at.
18. Victor Black (P). Black only pitched 31 innings, but he struck out 33. It is a little early to rank him too high with 1.309 WHIP. Still a lot of hope here.
19. Jeffrey Locke (P). This might be another stretch, but he a quality that is seldom seen. This guy gives up more hits than he has innings pitched. That is awful, but only 5 of those 145 hits were homeruns. A good sign. With that many hits a 4.50 ERA is lower than one would expect. He strikes out a lot of hitters which makes you think if he can learn to command the pitches and fool hitters with them, he might be great.
20. Quinton Miller (P). Miller was another player who improved over the year. His walks are way too high, but that is one thing that pitchers generally improve upon as they work. His are high enough that keeping an eye on the walks might be a good way to gauge his progress. Still this is a 19 year old arm, and it looks loaded with potential.
21. Brian Bixler (IF). This one will probably make some people mad, but Brian Bixler improved this year. A .264 GPA is not all that impressive, and his 26 years of age is high. He will never be the Short Stop of the future for the Pirates, but he can still be a bench player. He played not only short this year, but Secondbase as well as some Centerfield. Learning those positions makes him more valuable. He also was better than years past while playing at the major league level both at the plate and in the field.
22. Ronald Uviedo (P). A respectable 1.236 WHIP makes him an interesting prospect. He did get hurt in the middle of this year, but seemed to come back from it well. A good strikeout pitcher who suffers from the long ball.
23. Neil Walker (3B). A .254 GPA is not so good. His time in the majors was not impressive either. He is a chronic slow starter and should be doing better. However, he is only 23. There is still time, but his spot is going to go to Alvarez. A trade maybe the best thing for him.
24. Jeff Clement (1B/C/OF). His age is one thing that bothers me. 26 is pretty old. He did put up a .283 GPA, which is good, but his defense at first is not that good. He might ought to be higher.
25. Brock Holt (SS). This position was hard to pick. Holt just does beat out Evan Chambers. Chambers had a horrible batting average, but a higher on-base percentage. In the end, Holt’s .274 GPA beat Chambers’s .271. Plus, Holt had 114 total bases. He can learn to take a walk later. Only 31 strikeouts shows that Holt is going to put the bat on the ball when he goes to the plate.