Keith Law is the latest to release his top 100 prospect list, with his list available here for ESPN Insider subscribers. Law had seven Pirates in his top 100, which is the same amount as Baseball Prospectus, and one more than MLB.com.
The top ranked Pirates prospect was Gregory Polanco, who came in at number 13. That’s the same ranking that MLB.com had, and higher than BP’s ranking of 24.
Next up was Tyler Glasnow, who ranked 20th overall. This is the highest Glasnow has been ranked. He was 27th by MLB.com and 42nd in BP’s rankings. This is also the first time that anyone has rated Glasnow ahead of Jameson Taillon.
Taillon was next on the list, coming in at number 27. This is the opposite of Glasnow, as Law has the lowest ranking on Taillon. MLB.com had him 16th and BP had him 19th.
Austin Meadows gave the Pirates four players in the top 50, and actually four in the top 35, since that is where he came in. Meadows has been all over the board, with MLB.com ranking him 45th and BP having a much lower rating of 89th.
Nick Kingham and Alen Hanson finished back to back, ranked 73rd and 74th respectively. Kingham missed the MLB.com rankings, but was 80th in BP’s rankings. Hanson missed BP’s rankings, but was 67th by MLB.com. Both guys seem to be in that group of 51-100 prospects who could fall outside of the top 100 in some lists.
Josh Bell rounded out the list for the Pirates, coming in at number 97. This is the third time Bell has been ranked in a top 100 this year, previously being ranked 74th by MLB.com and 77th by BP.
The biggest surprise of the list is the ranking of Glasnow ahead of Taillon. Law said that it’s not hard to imagine Glasnow with three plus pitches, and noted that he could still get stronger. Meanwhile, he knocked Taillon for having a fastball that is easier to hit than his velocity indicates, which has been a complaint, and is why his two-seam fastball and changeup developments will be so important. He wasn’t exactly down on Taillon, since he said that the right-hander has a good probability of being a top 30-40 starter in the majors at his peak.
