Baseball America released their top 20 prospects for the 2011 International League today, with Alex Presley being the lone Pittsburgh Pirates prospect on the list. Presley came in at number 18, and his scouting report can be seen here by subscribers.
Presley has been a big surprise the last two years. After his breakout performance in 2010 there were questions as to whether he could repeat his numbers. In 2011 he did repeat those numbers, improving on his AAA results, only to follow that up with a .298/.339/.465 line in 215 at-bats in the majors. Having Presley listed as a top 20 prospect in the International League only adds further validation that what we’ve seen over the last two years has been legit.
Five years ago, the top 20 list included Tom Gorzelanny at number four as the only member of the Pirates. The group also included Lastings Milledge (2), Josh Fields (6), Hayden Penn (7), and Andy Marte (8).
