Pittsburgh Pirates: Top Five Prospects RHP

Over the next few weeks the site will be sharing the top 5 prospects at each position in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

The Minor League season is now one month in and for the most part, one can start to see who is really producing.  Thee Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the best farm systems in the major leagues.  No matter how many prospects they graduate to the major leagues they seem to be able to replenish them with another young prospect.  With that the players at the top of these lists maybe recognizable, but the ones towards the bottom maybe newer names that are gaining prospect recognition.

The last list was on the top-5 left-handed pitchers.  This list will share the top five right handed pitching prospects.  The list will be pretty straight forward based on the top-30 rankings here on the site.

One draft goal under Neal Huntington has been to acquire as much pitching as possible, especially right-handed pitching.  He made this evident especially when looking at his second draft, in 2009, when he spent seven of his first ten picks on right-handed pitchers (None are in the organization anymore).  Now not all the pitchers have worked out the way he hoped, however the organization has been able to produce plenty of upside pitchers since taking Huntington’s taking over in 2008.

As of 2016 the Pittsburgh Pirates have built up one of the strongest pitching farm systems in the league.  The team seems to have two or three pitchers every year that put themselves on the prospect map.  The organization has also done a good job of finding projectable talent in the middle rounds and developing them. the In this article I will give a short bio on each player, their season stats, and their career stats.  So who is the top five right-handed prospects in the system right now?

Next: A Former Ninth Round Pick

#4 Mitch Keller

Keller is a six-foot-three and 195 pounds pitchers who ranks number 13 on the site’s prospect rankings.  Keller was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2nd round of the 2014 MLB Amateur Draft, in which he was ranked as the 65th best prospect.  He was drafted out of Xavier High School in Iowa.  With that, the now 20 year-old, signed for a bonus of one million dollars which was over slot value.

He was committed to University of North Carolina.  Obviously, the Pirates were able to sway him to not attend there, and he started pitching in the organization at the end of 2014.  Keller profiles as a classic Neal Huntington pick.  A big, projectable, right-handed prep pitcher who the Pirates believed that they could develop into a top prospect, a common theme for sure.

As I mentioned above, Keller got his first taste of big league action towards the end of the 2014 season.  Keller made nine appearance for the Pirates’ GCL affiliate, including eight starts.  He was very good in those games throwing to a 1.98 ERA.  In some of the more advanced stats he had a 1.17 WHIP, a 2.2 K/BB ratio, and held batters to a low .202 batting average.  People were intrigued by him after posting nice stats in his first year, many wanted to see what he could do in his first full season during 2015.  Unfortunately, Keller did not get to throw much in 2015.

Leading into his second season he started to have tightness in his forearm.  Rather than risk causing structural damage, the Pirates decided to hold Keller off most of the season.  The righty only made 6 starts last year.  One could see that the time off effected his pitching.  In his shortened season he threw to a 5.98 ERA with a 2.02 WHIP and a low 1.56 K/BB ratio.  Was Keller facing tough competition or was he struggling due to the time off?

The latter seems more likely, and he has proved that this year thus far in Low-A West Virginia.  Keller has been absolutely dominant.  In his first three starts of the season he went 15 innings, compiling 23 strikeouts, walking zero, and not giving up any runs.   However, he just gave up his first runs of the season in his last start on April 27th. With that being said, he was still very good.  He threw six innings, allowing 2 runs, striking out 5, and also allowed only 1 walk.  On the year Keller owns a 0.86  ERA with a K/BB ratio of 28/1.  Obviously his numbers will regress some, but so far so good.

Keller was drafted as a project pitcher.  Keller has the size and arm the profiles as a top-of-the-rotation candidate.  His fastball sits in the 92-95 miles per hour range.  His secondary pitchers are still developing, however you can see in the numbers that they have improved.  He throws an 11-5 curve-ball, the biggest knock was that he did not throw it tight and hard enough.

This year he has made improvements on that and has been more consistent with throwing it.  As with most young pitchers, Keller is still developing a change-up.  If he can continue to show good control and develop his curve and change, he will have three plus pitches.  If he has three plus pitches there is a good chance he could reach that top-of-the-rotation ceiling.  Why is he number four on this list?  First, because the Pirates are so deep in right-handed pitching.  Second, because he is only in West Virginia.  The three players ahead of him are close to the majors.

Next: Someone you may have forgotten

#3 Nick Kingham

Nick Kingham comes in at number three on this list.  A prospect who some of you may have forgotten about, Kingham faced Tommy-John Surgery in 2015.  If not for the surgery, the right-handed pitcher would be up pitching for the Pirates already.

Kingham was a fourth round pick by the Pirates in the 2010 draft.  Another tall, projectable pitcher out of Sierra-Vista High School, Nevada, Kingham is six-foot-six and 215 pounds.  In high school Kingham missed his junior year.  He transferred schools and had to sit out, this caused him to be available in the fourth round for the Pirates.  He was a consensus top 200 prospect in the draft. He was committed to Oregon but settled to sign with the Pirates for nearly 500 thousand dollars.

Kingham’s stuff is excellent and goes along with his big frame. Hist fastball sits 93-95 miles per hour, and his change-up is considered a plus pitch.  His curve-ball was the biggest question mark when he was drafted.  It has now turned into a plus pitch that he has been able to strikeout batters with consistently.  With a strong three pitch mix Kingham has found himself ranked as a top 12 prospect for the Pirates (according to most major prospect sites).

In his career he has been very dominant.  At times Kingham struggles with control, especially early in his career, but that is expected from young, big pitchers who are developing their pitching and into their bodies.  However, with each passing year Kingham has shown improvement.  On his minor league career Kingham owns a 3.35 ERA with a solid 1.19  WHIP.  The biggest thing is that his strikeout to walk ratio sits at a 3.00.  During his first season his strikeouts per nine innings was only six, but has has seen that number rise and his walks fall as he now fans about nine per nine innings and walks only 2.5.

Kingham started in Triple-A for the 2015 season.  The results were not very strong in his six starts putting a 4.21 ERA.  However, it all made sense as he came out of his sixth start with pain in his elbow.  A lot of times you when you see good pitchers struggling for untold reasons it is not a surprise that they need Tommy-John Surgery.  Kingham’s elbow most likely was damaged already and he was trying to pitch without knowing.  When it finally completely let out, it explained his struggles.  Kingham likely will not be back until July this year.  Unfortunately for him and the Pirates he could have been a big part of this team’s rotation this year.  During his time off Kingham has been able to study and refine his mechanics, something we heard Jameson Taillon was able to do during his rehab period.

Kingham ranks third on this list because he is knocking at the big league door and has three advanced pitches and the size of a top-of-the-rotation pitcher.  If he comes back at all like Taillon has, he will still be a big part of this team’s future.

Next: A Big Texan

#2 Jameson Taillon

Jameson Taillon has been looked forward to by fans since he was drafted number two overall in 2010.  The big right-handed pitcher from Texas has a lot to live up to.  One reason he is not already up is because he received Tommy-John Surgery in 2014.  When he came back last year many were hoping he would be ready for a September call up, unfortunately he then was diagnosed with a sports hernia, which shut him down for the rest of the year.

Taillon is six-foot-five and 240 pounds, the definition of a big, work horse right-handed pitcher.  Coming out of high school he had a three pitch mix of a fastball, curve-ball, and a change-up. All three were considered plus pitches when he was drafted.  Taillon’s best pitch is his curve ball, ask Ryan Braun.  Back in the 2013 World Baseball Classic many got to see Taillon throw live.  He pitched for Team Canada against Team USA.  He pitched very well, and his curve-ball seemed devastating.  It seems to be a 12-6 curve-ball.  Matching that wipe out pitch with his 95 miles per hour heater, Taillon has the makeup to reach the #2 overall potential.

Taillon has had a interesting path to the majors.  Early on his numbers were not overly impressive.  However, the front office made it public that Taillon was working on throwing his change-up and mechanics in his start.  In fact, during his time at single-a there would be start where he was not allowed to throw his curve-ball.  The Pirates knew is curve-ball was a great pitch, and wanted him to learn fastball and change-up command.  Doing so would make him a more complete pitcher.

In his career, Taillon owns a 3.54 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in 419 innings.  His strikeout to walk ratio is very good, he has struck out 3.34 batters for every one walk.  His numbers improved every year as he made his way up through the system.   This year has been his best.  It was reported that during his two year off he was able to refine his mechanics and learn more about the art of pitching and more specifically how to refine his game.  So far it has shown this year.  In six starts he has an impressive 1.69 ERA and a 0.78 WHIP.  He has struck out 32 batters while only walking 4 and is holding batters to a .178 batting average.

Taillon is Major League ready.  His pitches have been big league ready since 2013, but had to work up through the system.  If not for injuries and this year dealing with super two he would be up already.  People are talking about inning limits, however the Pirates organization has not mentioned this.  In fact, the Pirates are trying to build his arm up.  He has proven he can go deep into games and pitch effectively.  He is by far the most polished pitcher in the system.  It is only a matter of time until he arrives.

Next: An Even Bigger Pitcher

#1 Tyler Glasnow

Number one and two are interchangeable.  Taillon is the most polished of the two, but with Glasnow’s height and ability to ramp his fastball up to 98 miles per hour, he has the highest ceiling.  The former 5th round pick has gone from a tall, raw right-handed pitcher to a top 20 prospect in all of baseball.  He signed a 600,000 dollar bonus which led to him passing on his commitment to the University of Portland.

Glasnow has a four pitch mix including a four-seam fastball, a curve-ball, a slider, and a change-up.  The biggest concern that has faced Glasnow all through the minors is the ability to throw a change-up.  With his fastball, he needs a change to succeed.  A plus change-up would give him a nice complement to stop hitters from sitting on his fastball.  This is the one thing holding him in AAA, other than Super Two of course.  Glasnow’s change is very inconsistent and until he shows that he can command the pitch the Pirates will continue to keep him down and work on it.

His minor league career is quite impressive.  His career ERA is an amazing 2.03 with a WHIP of 1.06.  He also has struck out 12 batters per nine innings pitched.  One of the biggest concerns with Glasnow is his ability to command his pitches, as mentioned above with his change-up.  Glasnow has a career walk rate of 4.1 per nine innings.  This numbers has gone down over the last year, but still we have seen him walk five in a game this year.  It has never hurt him because of his ability to strikeout batters and get out of jams in doing so.  This will not always be the case in the major leagues.

So far this year he has been very good.  On the year in AAA his ERA is 1.64 in six starts and he also has a WHIP of 1.03, which shows he is limiting base runners as well.  What is eve better is his strikeout rate is up to 13 per nine innings and his walk rate is down to 3.5 per nine innings, both numbers have moved in the direction you want to see.

If Glasnow continues to show better command of his pitches and continue to dominate the AAA level, we most likley could see him up in June.  The one thing that may hold him back is whether or not there will be a spot for him.  It is easy to say replace Lock and move Nicasio to the bullpen, but those moves are easier to say to do then to actually make the move.  Regardless we will likely see Taillon up first, then Glasnow as he needs more work on refining his game.

Next: What is next?

Overview

This list was easy to put together.  The Pirates are loaded with right-handed pitching talent, especially on the high-end of the prospect lists. The final list goes: Clay Holmes, Mitch Keller, Nick Kingham, Jameson Taillon, and Tyler Glasnow.

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All these prospects have similar attributes.  They all are tall, big framed, and have big arms.  All these prospect throw in the mid to upper 90’s and were draft picks by the team.  Some were top picks like Taillon and Keller, while the other three were selected in rounds four through nine.

As mentioned earlier in the article the Pirates have focused on bringing in as much right-handed pitching talent as possible.  They have succeeded in this as they are easily one of the deepest teams in terms of right-handed pitching prospects.  As everyone says, you can never have to much pitching.  The Pirates have set themselves up to have a lot of good pitching to come up every year.  If there ever is a back log of arms in the minors they could then look to move them in the trade market to help get other pieces.  Either way having big, work horse like arms is a great problem to have in the farm system.

Related Story: Top 5 Lefties

So far  the site has looked at the top five left-handed pitching prospects in the organization and now the top five right-handed pitching prospects. Next week Rumbunter will look at the top 5 outfield prospects. This list will be interesting as the team always has depth at this position, but have recently seen many of their top outfielders either graduate to the MLB or are now in the upper minors.  So look back next week to learn about some of the up and coming outfielders.