Pittsburgh Pirates: Next Wave of Top Pitching Prospects

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Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /

This year, the Pittsburgh Pirates have graduated a lot of their top pitching prospects to the major leagues. Fans are still waiting to see Trevor Williams make his debut and Steven Brault to permanently remain in the big leagues. So who are the next pitching prospects to get excited for in minors?

The Pittsburgh Pirates are notorious for producing quality pitching prospects. They consistently draft projectable pitchers, and are always trying to acquire more prospects in trades. With that, the Pittsburgh Pirates look to be in good shape going forward.

As of now they may not have the top names to follow as they have had over the last few years. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates organization has done a really good job of developing raw pitchers in the lower minors into top prospect, see Tyler Glasnow, Nick Kingham, and Chad Kuhl. Even with that, the Pirates have enough talented pitching depth at every level of the minors that they should find some future breakout prospects. Even if they do not have future Taillon’s or Glasnow like prospects now, but they could in a few years.

Next: The next top prospect

Mitch Keller

The Pittsburgh Pirates second round pick in 2014 is turning exactly into what the Pirates were hoping. At 6’3” and 200 pounds, Keller has exactly the frame that you want to see in a pitcher. Keller’s fastball sits 93 to 95 miles per hour and he is able to for the most part maintain his velocity into the later innings. He also has a plus curve-ball and a developing change-up. The biggest thing that has led to Keller’s success this year is his command. On the season he has totaled 124 strikeouts to 16 walks in 119.1 innings pitched. The 20-year-old also has an outstanding earned run average of 2.56 in 22 games started.

What has led to his success? As mentioned earlier his command. However, it is more because he is able to use his secondary pitches more effectively. When he entered the Pittsburgh Pirates system his change-up was his worst pitch. Now Keller’s change-up is considered an above average offering that he has confidence in. Keller most likely will be the Pittsburgh Pirates top pitching prospect as soon as next year (assuming Glasnow graduates). Keller already is a consensus top 100 prospect, some having him as a top 60 prospect in all of baseball.

Next: A Tommy-John recipient

Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports /

Nick Kingham

This one is a bit of a throwback. Nick Kingham looked like he was going to be a part of the Pittsburgh Pirates 2015 pitching rotation at some point in time. However, he went down with Tommy-John surgery in May of 2015. He has been kind of forgotten about over the last year and a half. Kingham is currently is rehabbing from this surgery. He has pitched in rehab games for the last month between the Gulf Coast League and now High-A Bradenton.

Kingham will most likely be on the Jameson Taillon track next season. He will start the year in Triple-A and will pitch until the Super Two date. At that point, the Pittsburgh Pirates will evaluate their needs. Expect to see Nick Kingham at some point in 2017, and you should still be excited. Returning from Tommy-John surgery is tough, but as Jameson Taillon has shown, young pitchers do not lose much on their pitches.

Kingham’s fastball sits 93-95 miles per hour, and can reach as high as 96. His best secondary pitch is his curve-ball, which has a lot of break and produces a lot of swing and misses. Kingham may not have the best all-around stuff in the minors, but what makes him impressive is that he is very polished. He has always had good command, set up by really good mechanics. Mix it with his plus fastball and plus curve-ball and the Pittsburgh Pirates have another solid pitching prospect with big time upside of a #2 type starter.

Next: Two High-Upside arms that need development

<img class=”size-large wp-image-86673″ src=”https://rumbunter.com/files/2016/08/9331775-ray-searage-mlb-pittsburgh-pirates-colorado-rockies-850×560.jpg” alt=”Ray Searage ” width=”590″ height=”389″ /> Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Gage Hinsz

Another prep pitcher taken in the 2014 draft, Hinsz fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the eleventh round due to signability concerns. However, the Pirates were ready to pay him a significant bonus to join their organization. Hinsz is a big pitcher as he stands at 6’4” and 210 pounds. He puts that size into his fastball that hits as high as 96 miles per hour.

This year at Low-A, he has been very hit or miss. Hinsz has had some really good starts and some poor starts. Inconsistency has given him earned run average of 4.12 in 14 starts. Hinsz is very raw at this point in his career. One thing that will lead him to be better is if he can start missing more bats. This year he is only striking out six hitters per nine innings pitched. If he can improve on this as he develops, he should start to develop into a future work house.

Taylor Hearn

Taylor Hearn could be a very intriguing prospect. Like Hinsz, Hearn has a big frame behind his pitching. The left-handed thrower stands at 6’5” and 215 pounds. His fastball has reached as high as 100 miles per hour, in an appearance out of the bullpen. Typically as a starter, Hearn’s fastball sits 95-97 miles per hour. He is very raw and can struggle with command at times. So far, since being acquire in the Mark Melancon deal, Hearn has been pitching long relief out of the bullpen for Low-A. He has 18 strikeouts in 11.2 innings pitched.

Obviously, the big frame, and fastball from the left side is going to produce a lot of swings and misses. The question around Hearn is whether he will make it as a starter in the bigs. If he does he most likely will be very dominant. However, if the Pittsburgh Pirates do not feel he will be successful in the Major Leagues as a starter, they will move him to the bullpen.

Next: Honorable Mentions!

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /

Honorable Mentions: This will be pitchers who will likely help the Pirates rotation, but will never be top flight prospects (kind of the Chad Kuhl and Steven Brault types of this year).

Stephen Tarpley, left-handed pitcher, High-A Bradenton

Yeudy Garcia, right-handed pitcher, High-A Bradenton (like Hearn, maybe a bullpen piece)

Drew Hutchinson, right-handed pitcher, Triple-A

J.T. Brubaker, right-handed pitcher, High-A

Brandon Waddell, left-handed pitcher, Double-A

Clay Holmes, right-handed pitcher, Double-A

These players should give quality depth. The biggest upside arms on this list are Stephen Tarpley, Yeudy Garcia, and Clay Holmes. Those three could be consistent parts of the big league rotation, but most likely will never be more than back-end options. Garcia could be better suited for the bullpen, as his fastball reaches the upper 90s consistently.

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Although the Pittsburgh Pirates are seeing a lot of their young pitchers reach the majors, they still have plenty left. With only a few top of the rotation type arms in the minors, they need some of the other intriguing arms like Hinsz and Hearn to turn corners. If they can, they will have another crop of high upside prospects and depth pitching prospect knocking at the door by the end of 2017 and 2018 season.

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