In the past few weeks, we’ve taken two looks at the Pirates’ farm system. With the season officially past the halfway mark, let’s again see how the Buccos’ prospects are faring. This time evaluating the Top Ten prospects coming into the 2013 season using Baseball America’s rankings as a guide.
We’ll begin with the top five today and round out the rest tomorrow.
1. Gerrit Cole/SP
AAA: 12 GS, 68 IP, 5-3 2.91 ERA 1.06 WHIP. 47/28 K/BB
MLB: 4 GS, 24.1 IP, 4-0 3.70 ERA 1.23 WHIP. 11/4 K/BB
Every Pirates’ fan knows and loves Cole’s story this year. The former first overall pick seems to have avoided the path John Van Benschoten and Bryan Bullington traveled. Cole dominated at Indianapolis and although he was called up to the big leagues more out of necessity from injuries than performance, he has obviously been well worth it.
Becoming the first Pirate to start a career with four straight wins since 1907, he possesses one of the most vicious fastballs of any starter and has shown excellent control at the big league level. Even with a fastball that can touch 100 and a changeup in the low 90s, he hasn’t been a flashy, strikeout pitcher and it would be remiss not to point out the need to further develop his secondary pitches. He’s throwing his fastball 77% of the time, a team high for pitchers not named Jared Hughes.
The bottom line is Cole has shown a level of professionalism and poise for a 22 year old. It’s reasonable at this point, even in the infancy of his career, to expect Cole to become the eventual ace of the staff.
The added bonus is the spike of fan attendance PNC Park receives with Cole on the bump. The average amount of fans in Cole’s three home starts? 34,917. All the other Pirates’ home games? 23,537.
2. Jameson Taillon/SP
AA: 15 GS, 83.2 IP, 3-5 2.90 ERA 1.34 WHIP. 81/31 K/BB
Taillon fell a tad short of expectations at High A Bradenton in 2012, but the former first rounder has been rock solid in his time with AA Altoona. He finished there last season, striking out 18 in three starts. Taillon picked up where he left off this year, bringing his ERA below three. He’s nearly striking a batter an inning and his SO/9 numbers are much better than last year (7.4 in 2012 to 8.7 this season). Taillon is pitching exceptionally well from the stretch with opposing batters hitting just .222 with runners on while still striking guys out at a high clip (23%).
Control is still a lingering issue with him walking at least three in five of his last eight starts. The righty is throwing strikes 59% of the time. From a 2009 Fangraphs report, the average MLB pitcher threw strikes 62% of the time. Not major concerns for a guy in Taillon at just 21 but there is still work to do.
3. Luis Heredia/SP
A: 2 GS, 9 IP, 1-0 2.00 ERA 1.44 WHIP. 9/6 K/BB
Heredia was just assigned to West Virginia on June 20th, allowing one hit in five innings during his first start with the Power. Still, the sample size is obviously small.
Despite that, any 18 year old who can hold his own against players three to four years older is worth talking about. 2012 gives a more complete statline, posting a 2.71 ERA in 66.1 innings. In 105 career innings, Heredia has only allowed five home runs leading to a microscopic 0.4 HR/9 mark.
Heredia won’t even be in the conversation about heading to the majors for another three to four years minimum making speculation over his future difficult at best. But the Pirates took a flier on him for good reason and it’s exciting to follow the young gun’s progress.
4. Gregory Polanco/OF
A+: .241 PA, 312/.364/.472, 68 H, 17 2B, 6 HR, 30 RBIs, 24 SB
AA: 57 PA, .280/.368/.400, 14 H, 1 2B, 1 HR, 10 RBIs, 4 SB
Polanco tore up Bradenton, showing speed and a lot of pop, earning a promotion to AA. He doesn’t appear to have looked completely lost there either with a 1.3K/BB ratio. However, he did predictably cool off after a strong start at Altoona. He started with seven hits in his first seven games and stealing three bases but has hit just .218 with only one stolen base in the other nine.
Most troubling of all is Polanco’s defense. He’s been guilty of seven errors on the season. Ugly numbers for an outfielder.
That’s not to be all doom and gloom on his prospects. Polanco has ample time to adjust to this next level. There’s no question he’s making big strides from being an afterthought a few seasons ago to potentially being next in a long line or athletic Pirate outfielders.
5. Alen Hanson/SS
A+: 317 PA, .289/.346/.446, 83 H, 18 2B, 5 HR, 31 RBIs, 20 SB
Hanson is the exciting shortstop prospect the organization has been lacking in some time. He’s a svelte 152 pounds but the stat sheet isn’t too shabby. His average is respectable and he’s really come on strong the last two months hitting over .300 and hitting all five of his dingers after a slow April.
He’s showing a lot more power than you’d expect from a player at his size. To go along with the 18 doubles, Hanson has six triples, showing off a combination of gap power and speed. 20 stolen bases is also a pretty number to look at but comes with the caveat of being caught 35.5% of the time.
As we’ve pointed out, Hanson was named MVP of the Florida State League All-Star Game in June and is on the rise as a multi-tool player.
Part Two will be released tomorrow featuring prospects 6-10.
