2 breakout Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospects sustaining success after promotion

The Pittsburgh Pirates' system is chock-full of pitching talent. Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington, and Braxton Ashcraft are three of the Bucs' best pitching prospects, as well as three of the best pitching prospects across all of minor-league baseball. Further below the surface, the Pirates have recently promoted two of their fastest-rising pitching prospects, both of whom were drafted in the fourth round of their respective draft classes. Both hurlers are dominating High-A ball since their bump to the next level of the minor leagues.

One is Carlson Reed, who was dominating at Bradenton prior to his promotion, working to the tune of a 2.43 ERA, 3.48 FIP, and 1.25 WHIP in 77.2 innings of work. Walks gave him some trouble, with a 13% BB%, but that's about it. Reed struck out nearly 30% of his opponents (29.7%), only allowed home runs at an 0.46-per-9 rate, and induced ground balls 55.7% of the time.

Reed was promoted to High-A at the end of July and has pitched 31 innings across six starts for the Grasshoppers. During those six games, Reed owns an 0.87 ERA, 2.74 FIP, and microscopic 0.65 WHIP. Reed has continued to strike out batters at a high rate of 29.8% while allowing just a single home run, but he has notably cut his walk rate down significantly to just 7.9% since getting promoted. His ground ball rate, which has fallen to 37.3%, is the only thing he hasn't improved upon.

Pirates seeing immediate returns from promoting two breakout prospects

The second noteworthy prospect is Michael Kennedy. Kennedy got sent to Greensboro about a month after Reed after he posted a 4.07 ERA, but a prettier 3.73 FIP and 1.12 WHIP in 73 frames for Bradenton. Kennedy struck out over a quarter of his opponents, with a 26.3% K% and a respectable 0.99 HR/9, but he rarely allowed a walk. His 5.3% walk rate was the seventh-best among the 81 pitchers at A-Ball to have started 15 or more games.

Kennedy has only appeared in two games for the Grasshoppers, but they've been two dominant outings. He has pitched 10.2 innings, allowing a single earned run thus far. Only three opponents have reached via free pass against Kennedy, and he has struck out 15. Opponents have just a .167 batting average against him, and none of their hits have left the park. Arguably the most impressive part of Kennedy's season is that he's just 19 and won't turn 20 until late November.

The Pirates already have a boatload of noteworthy pitching prospects, and both Kennedy and Reed have only added to their stockpile. Kennedy is doing well in his first extended look, and Reed is having an even better season as a pro baseball starter compared to when he worked as a reliever throughout college. Given how well the duo has been pitching, they could both be a huge factor into the Pirates' offseason plans, as well as their plans regarding the pitching staff in the near future.