I wrote this post last week, so the stats will not be the same. Also, Gerrit Cole has already been called up to AA where he has made one start, going five innings with two earned runs, five hits, zero walks, and six strikeouts. Jameson Taillon is also coming off a great seven inning, one hit performance that lowered his ERA to 4.10. Kyle McPherson has also returned, with one start at Altoona where he went five innings, giving up four hits, one walk, five strikeouts, and one earned run. Luis Heredia makes his first start of the year tonight, June 21st.
1.) Gerrit Cole (2)--RHP--21
Last year’s #1 overall pick got off to a slow start to the season, with an ERA over 5.00 in his first few starts. That start dropped him to #2 in the system, but since those rankings were released in early May, Cole has been untouchable. He has lowered his ERA to 2.53 (as of June 8th), and his secondary numbers are great as well, with a 1.11 WHIP, 6.9 H/9, and 8.8 K/9. At this point in the season, it is a little surprising to see Cole still in high-A, especially after his dominant month of May where he posted in ERA well under 2.00. With the makings of three plus pitches, we should be seeing Cole in AA very soon.
2.) Jameson Taillon (1)--RHP--20
After a very hot start where he once had an ERA of 1.47, Taillon has cooled down recently and looked very hittable. His ERA has fallen to 3.71 after 12 starts, but he still has strong secondary numbers, with a 1.14 WHIP, 2.3 BB/9, and 8.3 K/9. With a plus fastball and one of the best curveballs in the business, Taillon should be able to turn his season back around and display more dominance, and the development of his changeup will definitely help him in doing this. There aren’t as many calls to see him up in AA after he has cooled down recently, so Taillon may be spending the remainder of the 2012 season in high-A.
3.) Mark Appel (NA)--RHP--20
Appel was the Pirates first round draft pick in 2012. Coming into the draft, all signs pointed to Appel being drafted with either the #1 or #2 overall pick. Somehow, he kept falling and was available for the Pirates to select him with the #8 pick. GM Neal Huntington stayed true to his promise that he would take the best player available with the pick of Appel. A player that people have compared Appel to is Gerrit Cole, with both having a plus fastball, and makings of plus pitches with their sliders and changeups. Cole has the edge with all three pitches, but Appel still throws them all well. Along with Taillon and Cole, Appel tends to be more hittable than he should be at times, but the Pirates have shown the ability to develop pitchers, so this shouldn’t be as much of a problem moving forward.
4.) Starling Marte (3)--OF--23
2012 has been a bit of a disappointment for Marte, especially after a great spring with the major league team. His average seems to be consistently floating around .260 (now at .257), and his strikeout rate is at 24.3%, up from his 18.7% last year. He seemed to be getting hot last week, but since then he has cooled down again. But, Marte is still a very good prospect and like Dejan Kovacevic states in this great article about Marte (http://triblive.com/sports/columnists/1899579-74/marte-dejankovacevic-bat-field-indianapolis-joestarkey-starling-happy-hole-huntington), you have to have patience with him. Marte COULD be an Andrew McCutchen-lite, with an average over .300, around 15 homers, and Gold-Glove caliber play in the outfield.
5.) Luis Heredia (5)--RHP--17
Heredia may have the highest upside of anyone on this list, and we will finally be able to see him pitch again when the State College Spikes season starts in mid-June. Heredia will be the most exciting player to watch on that team, and one of the most interesting to watch in the system. He posted a 4.75 ERA last year in the rookie level Gulf Coast League, but that is still respectable for a 16 year old facing a lot of hitters who are at least two years older than him. At times Heredia was very hard to hit, but he will have to improve his control from last year to be more successful.
6.) Josh Bell (4)--OF--19
Bell was injured early in the season after only 62 at bats. In those at bats, he had a .274 average with one homerun, and a .691 OPS. His OPS is really only that low because of a .288 OBP caused by a very low walk rate (2 BB in 66 plate appearances). As Bell moves forward and comes back from his injury, his plate patience will improve, and that can allow him to improve his average and OPS as well. Bell is very young, and has the upside to be a .300 hitter with 30 or so homers a year. That’s definitely a good player to have in the middle of your order.
7.) Alen Hanson (14)--SS--19
Baseball America has called Hanson the “Breakout Prospect of the Year” to this point, and he has deserved that honor by hitting for a .321/.380/.560 line in low-A, with eight homers and a total of 33 extra base hits in 234 at bats. However, Hanson also has 23 errors this year at short, which leads to a horrific .894 fielding percentage. But, there is still a lot of time for him to develop into a good defensive shortstop in the future. A good defensive shortstop who can hit, hit for some power, and steal bases is very hard to find, but Alen Hanson has the potential to be this kind of player.
8.) Rudy Owens (8)--LHP--24
After struggling throughout 2011 in his first year of AAA, the two time Minor League Pitcher of the Year for the Pirates’ organization is really having a great bounce back year. Through 11 starts and 72.2 IP, Owens has a 2.35 ERA, along with a fantastic 0.96 WHIP and 1.2 BB/9. He has also improved his K/9 and H/9 this year, which will always lead to more success. If the Pirates need another starter because of injury, Owens should be the first one called up from a good AAA rotation.
9.) Kyle McPherson (7)--RHP--24
Coming into spring training, it looked like McPherson could be a candidate to be called up to the majors midseason to take a full time spot in the rotation. Instead, he got hurt and has yet to pitch an inning this year. The 2011 Minor League Pitcher of the Year is currently on a throwing program, but his return is unknown. In 2011, McPherson had a 2.96 ERA between high-A and AA, along with a great 1.02 WHIP. But, his injury deals with his shoulder, and any shoulder injury that is keeping a pitcher out for more than half the year is definitely a red flag, as shoulder injuries are not easy to come back from as a pitcher.
10.) Tony Sanchez (10)--C--24
The Pirates’ 2009 first round pick got off to a hot start in the organization, but really struggled at the plate in 2011 at AA, and those struggles continued into the beginning of 2012. Recently, Sanchez was on a hot streak at the plate, getting his overall numbers up to .277/.370/.390, and this helped him to be promoted to AAA Indianapolis. His power numbers continue to stay down from what they were in 2009 and 2010, with zero homers so far this year. He is getting more extra base hits though, which is a good sign. His defense has never been a problem, as he still projects to be an above average major league defender. His arm can be inaccurate at times, and he will continue to work on that moving forward. Sanchez could be an above average MLB catcher, but time is running out for his offense to improve.
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