The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today that they would be inviting 12 additional non-roster prospects to spring training in 2016.
Headlining the list is prized catching prospect Reese McGuire. The 20-year old McGuire spent the entirety of the 2015 with the Class A- Advanced Bradenton Marauders, in which he hit .254 with a .595 OPS. By most accounts, his defensive abilities are far ahead of his swing. The invite to spring training comes on the heels of a hot sting in the Arizona Fall League. McGuire hit .294 during the 14-game session, earning a Fall Stars nomination.
Notable names on the pitcher’s side include Steven Brault and Trevor Williams. Brault is known to fans as the return in the Travis Snider trade with Baltimore after the 2014 season concluded. Brault has shown great promise in finishing second in the entire Pirates minor league system in strikeouts, trailing only Tyler Glasnow. Brault, the team’s 24th-ranked prospect, finished the year at Double-A Altoona and could serve as a dark-horse rotation or bullpen depth option if he shows well in spring.
Williams is best known for coming over from the Miami Marlins as compensation for the hiring away of Pirates pitching guru Jim Benedict. Williams reached the Triple-A level of the Miami farm system in 2015, and showed fairly well over three starts at that level. He took a 2.57 ERA into the Arizona Fall League. During his time in the desert, Williams pitched out of the bullpen and acquitted well, with a 2.89 ERA in seven appearances. Most notably, he carried a sparkling 8.0 SO/W (strikeout-to-walk) ratio, showing excellent command.
Non-roster invitees are traditionally brought to the spring camp for evaluators to gauge their progress and determine their assignments to start the season. The time with the big-league club can help a team make decisions on those players that find themselves teetering on the fence between levels.
For the entire list of the non-roster invitees, please see the team’s official press release.
Photo credit: West Virginia Gazette
