Five Triple-A Players That Can Help The Pittsburgh Pirates In 2017

Who are five players starting the year at Triple-A that could help the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017?

During each Major League season, every team needs to dip into the minor leagues for help. Unless a team is incredibly lucky, they will do it multiple times each season. This makes having minor league depth very important.

Luckily, the Pittsburgh Pirates have good minor league depth. This is thanks to the strong ability of Neal Huntington and his scouts to identify talent.

Every time will have players that under perform. Additionally, each team will also battle injuries. As was said above, only teams that are incredibly lucky avoid these issues during a Major League Baseball season.

The Triple-A Indianapolis Indians have a strong roster to start the 2017 season. Their roster has a good combination of players with Major League experience, as well as some of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ top prospects.

Due to this combination, the Indianapolis Indians are littered with good depth players for the 2017 Pirates. There is no denying the Pirates have better depth this year than they did last year, which is great to see after all the injuries the 2016 Pirates endured.

Here is a look at five players that are beginning the year at Triple-A that could help the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017.

Left-handed pitcher Steven Brault

Steven Brault is a name that fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates have gotten to know well in recent years. Following the 2014 season, the Pirates acquired Brault, along with Stephen Tarpley, from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Travis Snider. While Tarpley is now property of the New York Yankees, via the Ivan Nova trade, Brault has worked his way into being the Pirates’ sixth starting pitcher.

In 2016, Brault made his Major League debut. He pitched 33 1/3 innings for the Pirates in 2016. These 33 1/3 innings came in eight games, seven of which were starts. He posted a 5.07 FIP, 4.77 xFIP, and averaged 7.83 K/9.

He entered Spring Training with a chance to win a job in the Pirates’ starting rotation. He found himself in a competition with Drew Hutchison, Trevor Williams, and Tyler Glasnow for this spot. Ultimately, it went to Glasnow.

At some point this season, the Pirates will have to dip into Triple-A for starting pitching help. Odds are, Steven Brault is the first starting pitcher from Triple-A that they would turn to.

It is also possible that Brault could help the Pirates as a reliever this season. Ultimately, his stuff might be best suited for a relief role in the Major Leagues. After all, Trevor Williams, who like Brault lost out on being in the rotation, is now in the Pirate bullpen.

It would be a surprise if Steven Brault does not see time in Pittsburgh at some point during the 2017 season.

Right-handed relief pitcher A.J. Schugel and Edgar Santana

During a Major League season, no spot on a roster sees more changes and overturn than the bullpen. This is for a variety of reasons.

Teams will have relievers that struggle and relievers that get hurt. There will be long extra inning games or stretches where a team’s starting rotation struggles to force a team to need extra bullpen arms.

This makes having good bullpen depth very important. The Pittsburgh Pirates have strong bullpen depth at Triple-A. A.J. Schugel and Edgar Santana are the two best, most talented of this bunch.

To be honest, Schugel should have made the Pirate roster out of Spring Training. He posted a 3.19 FIP in 52 innings pitched for the Pirates in 2016. In these 52 innings, he averaged 7.96 K/9, 2.25 BB/9, and he allowed just four home runs.

Schugel also possesses an absolutely devastating changeup. In 2016 opposing batters had just a .216 slugging percentage, .130 wOBA, and a wRC+ of -14 off of Schugel’s changeup in 2016. Despite his 2016 success, Schugel has started the year at Triple-A.

As for Edgar Santana, he is preparing for his first full season at Triple-A. The 25-year-old Santana possesses swing and miss stuff with a plus fastball and a wipeout slider. At some point in 2017, Santana will make his Major League debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates. And he could be a vital member of the Pirate bullpen for a long time.

Pirate fans can expect to see both A.J. Schugel and Edgar Santana pitching out of the Pirate bullpen at some point in 2017. The first time the Pirates dip into Triple-A for bullpen help, odds are, the first player they will call upon is Schugel. And Santana may not be far behind.

Depth is important

It is vital for Major League teams to have depth at Triple-A. Luckily, the Pittsburgh Pirates have that in 2017. And this is not something they have always had in past years.

Remember players like Brent Morel or Michael Martinez? What about Jayson Nix and Wyatt Torregas? Thankfully, the Pittsburgh Pirates have much better depth than that in 2017.

The five players mentioned in this article are just five of the players currently at Triple-A Indianapolis that can help the 2017 Pirates win. However, there are others. Pitchers Dovydas Neverauskas, Clay Holmes, and Nick Kingham are all in this boat as well.

To be honest, if he was not starting the year on the disabled list Nick Kingham would have been one of the top five. His ankle injury, however, will set him back a few weeks and make Brault the first man up for pitching help.

Catcher Elias Diaz would be on the Major League roster of a lot of teams. Having him as the catcher at Triple-A is some awesome depth, too.

Next: Pirates Shuffle Pitching Rotation

Despite a 0-2 start, the Pittsburgh Pirates are capable of returning to the postseason. And their Triple-A depth is a big reason why.