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).
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
That last paragraph doesn’t give the list much cred. Who else was on that list 5 years ago ?