Minors Review - Right Handed Starters Part II

Mid Level Right Handed Starters
Top 3 Prospects
1. Tyler Glasnow: The Pirates drafted Glasnow in the 5^th of the 2011 draft. Glasnow fit the typical Neal Huntington profile of a tall projectable right handed pitcher who the Pirates believed would add velocity as he filled out. So far Glasnow has proven to be probably the most successful of the group. He had his ridiculous breakout campaign last season where he struck out 36.3% of the hitters he faced and held the opposition to a miniscule .142 average. Glasnow’s arsenal includes a fastball that touches the upper 90s, a very good curve and a changeup he is still refining. Glasnow does have some control issues to iron out and his changeup still needs a good bit of work but right now he has the look of a top shelf pitching prospect and probably has a higher ceiling than any pitcher in the Pirate system not named Gerrit Cole. Glasnow is currently working through what appears to be a minor back issue so he won’t be ready for the start of the season but should join the A+ level shortly with the possibility of getting a taste of AA later in the season.
2. Luis Heredia: Heredia is the Pirates biggest international signee to date as the Pirates gave him a 2.6 million dollar signing bonus in 2010. Just 16 years old at the time Heredia was already hitting the low 90s with his fastball. The Pirates aggressively sent him to rookie ball in his debut season in 2011. His stat line wasn’t the greatest but this was a guy who was 16 years old for the majority of the season and he was 2-3 years younger than the majority of his competition. He moved up to short season ball in 2012 with much better results. The 2013 season had the look of a potential big breakout year but he showed up to camp out of shape and it took him longer than expected to join the Pirates A ball affiliate. He posted decent results but scouts reviews of him weren’t glowing and his control problem was back. At this point it is difficult to know just what the Pirates will do with him but best guess is they will start him back in A ball and let him work his way up to A+. Considering he will spend most of the year at 19 this isn’t really a bad thing. Heredia still possesses that huge upside that he had at the time he was signed but now it appears some of the shine has worn off and the likelihood of him realizing that upside seems to be fading.
3. Clay Holmes: Just a couple weeks ago Holmes had a firm grip on this number 3 spot but now with the news of his Tommy John surgery that grip is much more tentative. Like Glasnow, Holmes was part of the Pirates 2011 draft that ultimately was the final straw for the old system. The Pirates gave Holmes, a 9^th round pick, 1.2 million dollars to sign. Holmes made his pro debut in 2012 in short season ball. There he pitched well posting a 2.28 ERA. He did display some control problems and as is the case with most Pirates pitchers in short season ball his strike out rate was low. Holmes started the 2013 season in A ball and at first it was rough going but he settled in and posted a very good second half which had many outsiders viewing him as a potential break out candidate for the 2014 season. His arsenal is pretty much the standard for developing low level right handed pitcher meaning a low 90s fastball, a low 80s curve and a work in progress change up. The Tommy John surgery will cause Holmes to miss the entire 2014 season but he seems like he should be ready for Spring Training in 2015.
Next Up
Jason Creasy: Holmes’s stiffest competition for the third spot on this list is the guy taken one round before him in the 2011 draft. Creasy has the standard arsenal we are used to here meaning a fastball that sits around 90, a curveball and a rudimentary change. He got into a few games the year he was drafted in rookie ball but his first extended action came in 2012 in short season ball. Things did not go well for him there as he posted a 5.63 ERA and had a .301 average against. The Pirates still promoted him to A ball for the 2013 season but he began by pitching out of the bullpen. He handled that role well enough that when an opening came in the rotation he was moved there. Once in the rotation Creasy took a big step forward showing the ability to miss bats and harness his control. His ratios on the year, 8 K/9 and 2 BB/9 were both very solid. Creasy has kind of flown under the radar so far but this could be the year where he steps up and starts getting noticed. He will likely begin the 2014 season in the A+ rotation.
Buddy Borden: Borden should probably technically belong in part one of this group seeing as he hasn’t pitched above short season ball yet but as an advanced college pitcher that didn’t feel right to me. The Pirates drafted Borden in the 7^th round of last year’s draft and though he was thought to be looking for a big bonus he ended up signing exactly for slot amount. Borden had a solid college career and in last season shared the Mountain West Pitcher of the Year award with first round pick Braden Shipley. The Pirates moved Borden slowly getting him into only 6 games at the A- level and having him pitch only 16.1 innings but it was a great debut. Borden posted great results including a 12.4 K/9 rate and a .169 average against. Like most other players here Borden can reach the mid 90s with his fastball and has a curve and a changeup which need work. Due to him being a relatively advanced college arm I thought the Pirates may try him at the A+ level but right now it appears more likely he’ll start the 2014 season in A ball.
The Depth
Jake Burnette: Burnette is yet another product of the 2011 draft being selected in the 7^th round. As you could probably guess he is another tall projectable pitcher with the basic arsenal. After pitching one inning in rookie ball in 2011 Burnette started the 2012 season in short season ball until a sore elbow caused him to miss the rest of the season. The elbow didn’t require surgery though so after spending a little time in extended spring training the Pirates sent him to A ball in 2013. Things didn’t go well as he made 5 awful appearances before landing on the DL and ultimately requiring shoulder surgery. Burnette won’t be ready to pitch until midway through 2014 at which point he’ll probably return to A ball.
Shane Carle: I have hammered home the idea of the tall projectable righty that Huntington loves to draft but the truth is there is another type of pitcher he quietly selects a lot of and those are the ground ball types. Carle fits that mold of a player who throws a lot of sinkers and induces a ton of ground balls. The Pirates selected him in the 10^th round of this past draft and he made a solid debut in short season ball. His season was cut short with a forearm strain but he appears good to go now. As a college pitcher Carle could move to A+ but it looks like he’ll start in A ball.
Chad Kuhl: Kuhl is essentially a copy of Carle. The Pirates drafted him a round earlier than Carle but he basically has the same profile meaning a low 90s sinker which generates a ton of ground balls and a fringy breaking pitch and change up. Like Carle, Kuhl also has good command and will limit his walks. He was showing a bit more velocity touching the mid 90s and stayed healthy the whole year which is likely why he appears likely to start the year at A+ ball in the rotation.
John Kuchno: After failing to sign Appel the Pirates gave the money they saved up to other players most notably Max Moroff and Hayden Hurst but also in the group was Kuchno. He appears to be kind of a hybrid between the Pirates two types of pitchers as he is tall with a good fastball but he generates a lot of ground balls and displays control issues. He got into a few games in 2012 but his first extended action came last season where he started off poorly but kept improving as the year went along. Long term he profiles best a reliever but right now the Pirates appear likely to have him starting in A+ ball to begin 2014.
Robby Rowland: The Pirates acquired Rowland in exchange for Brett Lorin whom the Diamondbacks selected in the Rule V draft. He is sort of an interesting case as the Dbacks selected him in the 3^rd round of the 2010 draft as a tall projectable pitcher but as he developed he became the Pirates other favorite type a ground ball pitcher. Rowland had a strong debut season with the Pirates organization in 2012 but was unable to follow it up with a good 2013 year. Still he is only 22 years old and he has shown good command and ground ball tendencies in the past so he can’t be completely written off as a prospect. Due to the quantity of arms at the A+ level it appears Rowland is likely to move up to AA in 2014.
Adrian Sampson: For whatever reason the Pirates appear to be pushing Sampson ultra aggressively. The Pirates drafted him in the 5^th round of the 2012 draft out of Junior College. He had a good debut season showing good swing and miss stuff and decent command in short season ball. To begin the 2013 season the Pirates opted to push him to A+ something they usually only do with their most advanced college players. The push appeared to be too much for him as despite posting solid walk rates his strike out rates plummeted and his ERA was 5.14 on the season. Still even with all this it appears quite possible the Pirates are going to send him to AA to play the 2014 season. Make no mistake Sampson does have the talent to excel and is no organizational player as he was rated in Baseball America’s top 100 prospects in his draft year which was only two years ago.