Pittsburgh Pirates 2020: Which Top Prospect will be Promoted Next?

The Pittsburgh Pirates promoted one of their top position prospects yesterday, and he immediately made an impact.  So who can fans expect to see next?

The Pittsburgh Pirates did not make any trades leading into this year’s Trade Deadline.  However, they did make a significant move in promoting their top positional prospect in Ke’Bryan Hayes.  Hayes made an immediate impact by showing off all the tools that scouts believed he possessed.  Hayes played a clean third base and showed off his strong arm.  He also had a double for his first big league hit and later hit his first career home run.  He also scored on a close play at the plate, showing off his plus speed.

Overall, Hayes could not have had much better of a Major League debut.  Not only did he produce but he brought some excitement back to the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Whenever prospects are promoted it is always exciting, but when a prospect of Hayes’ status is recalled it created a different type of excitement.  Fans want to see every at-bat he has and hope to see him produce more so than usual.

Who is the next top prospect for Pittsburgh Pirates fans to get excited about?  It is not easy to necessarily predict.  For instance, what is a top prospect; top 10 in system? Top 30?  Top 100 in baseball?  It really depends on what you consider to be a significant promotion or who one considers to be an important part of this team’s future, most of the time these are top 100 ranked prospects.

In terms of legit top prospect who will create buzz like Hayes did, it will be Oneil Cruz.  Some believe Cruz could play in the Majors right now, of course with some growing pains.  Still, the top shortstop prospect does not have clear path to Major League playing time.  One thing is for sure, there are high expectations for the top 100 prospect.

Cruz has some of the best power in all of the minor leagues.  This comes from his powerful left-handed swing and his 6’7” frame.  As he gets older and more mature, he will continue to add more power, lining him up to be the team’s future clean up hitter.  That is exactly where his value is as a player lies.  He is a bat first shortstop who the team will find a place to play when he finally gets an everyday chance.

One thing is that Cruz has an absolute cannon of an arm, so it would be surprising to see the team take his arm off the field.  Many have suggested that he could move to third base, but if Hayes secures that spot long-term that will not be an option.  The other position would be to replace Gregory Polanco in right-field and allow him to use his plus speed and arm.  This might be the best way to go, but as I mentioned earlier, the position will not matter if he is hitting home runs.

Right now, Cruz ranks as one of the Pittsburgh Pirates top prospects.  He played about half of his season at Double-A last year and posted a .270 batting average with 12 extra base hits in 35 games.  Obviously, Cruz has yet to have a big sample size in the upper minors.  That is most likely the one thing that is holding him back right now, is the fear of him being exposed to early in his career.  The main issue is that Cruz swings and misses a lot.  Last year at Double-A he struck out 35 times in 35 games.  This is something that cannot go up much at the next level or it will not matter how much power he has in that swing.

Cruz had a strong spring with the Pittsburgh Pirates and showed that he is definitely close to being ready.  With how the season has played out, it is safe to assume that Cruz will start the year in Triple-A next year, the level he likely would have made it this year.  That should line him up to debut as soon as June of next season.  Still, with a new Front Office, there are not guarantees that they will operate the exact same way, and this could include prospects and Super-2.