Pittsburgh Pirates: Examining MLB Pipeline’s 2020 Top 30 List

Top Two Remain
Mitch Keller and Ke’Bryan Hayes rank as the team’s top two prospects entering the 2020 season. Entering last season it was a consensus who the Pittsburgh Pirates top hitting and pitching prospects were: Ke’Bryan Hayes and Mitch Keller. Keller was ranked as the team’s top overall prospect and Hayes came in at second overall. Both started the year in Triple-A, but of course, only Mitch Keller made it to the big leagues.
Keller had a tough start to his big league career and was actually demoted at one point. The big right-handed pitching prospect made 11 starts for the Pittsburgh Pirates and went 1-5 with an ERA over 7.00. One positive was that he struck out 65 batters in 48 innings pitched. Still, he posted a strong 3.56 ERA at Triple-A across 19 starts and is entering his age 24 season.
Unfortunately, Ke’Bryan Hayes never got a chance at the big league level in 2019. This was because he got off to a slow start with the bat. Across his first 63 games, he only hit for a .240 average but rebounded with a solid .290 average across his final 47 games. Overall he hit .261 with a career-high of 10 home runs. While there is more to hope for offensively, Hayes brought home his third consecutive Minor League Gold Glove.