Pittsburgh Pirates: Next Wave of Top Pitching Prospects

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