Pittsburgh Pirates: Top Prospects in the Player Pool

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BRADENTON, FL – FEBRUARY 19: Blake Cederlind #62 of the Pittsburgh Pirates poses for a photo during the Pirates’ photo day on February 19, 2020 at Pirate City in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images) /

Pitching Prospects

On the pitching front, there are not as many top prospects in the team’s 60-man player pool. This does not come as a surprise though. First off, pitchers can take longer to develop in the minor leagues and a pitcher that is not MLB ready is less likely to have MLB success than a hitter who is not yet fully developed. Second, the Pirate farm system is very hitter heavy. Which was likely a factor in Cherington going pitcher heavy in the draft earlier this month.

The most notable pitching prospect that is a member of the team’s player pool is right-handed starting pitcher Cody Bolton. FanGraphs ranks Bolton as the team’s 10th best prospect. After dominating High-A, he was promoted to Double-A last year. With the Curve, Bolton struggled to the tune of a 5.85 ERA and a 4.67 FIP in nine starts.

Joining Bolton on the taxi squad is relief pitching prospect Nick Mears. The hard-throwing Mears will likely be a major part of the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen core and soon. Mears is a player that should be MLB ready at some point next season.

Speaking of hard throwing relief prospect, Blake Cederlind who was turning heads in the Grapefruit League will be among the 40 players training in Pittsburgh. It would not be a surprise to see Cederlind make his MLB debut at some point this season.

Righty Max Kranick and lefty Braeden Ogle will both train with the taxi squad in Altoona as well. Both pitchers were drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2016 draft. Kranick posted a 3.79 ERA and 4.23 FIP in 109.1 innings of work (20 starts) for High-A Bradenton in 2019. As for Ogle, he pitched in 27 games, 25 of those being in relief, between Low-A and High-A last season. In 43 innings of work, he posted a 3.56 ERA and struck out 44 batters.

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The prospects who made the Pittsburgh Pirates 60-man player pool are players that Cherington and the rest of the Pirate brass think highly of. Cherington said on Sunday that the players the Pirates believe can help support the MLB team this year, while also gaining valuable experience and development. With limited roster spots, it speaks highly about the prospect who made the cut for the Bucs.

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