Along with his top 100 prospect list, Keith Law has released his top ten prospects for each team.
The list for the Pittsburgh Pirates starts out in the exact order as order in the top 100 list. Gerrit Cole comes in first, followed in order by Jameson Taillon, Josh Bell, Starling Marte, and Robbie Grossman. Luis Heredia, who was on Law’s list of players who just missed the top 100, came in sixth.
The next player was Kyle McPherson, who Law rated seventh. McPherson was followed by Stetson Allie, Colton Cain, and Zack Dodson.
The big surprise on the list was Dodson, as this is the highest he’s been rated. That’s not to say the rating isn’t deserved, as Dodson put up strong numbers when healthy last year, and shows some good movement on his pitches. Dodson was ranked 21st in the 2012 Prospect Guide. Baseball America had him 23rd, Baseball Prospectus didn’t have him in the top 20, and John Sickels had him 15th.
The notable omission was Tony Sanchez. Sanchez ranked in the top ten in the 2012 Prospect Guide. He also ranked in the top ten in Baseball America’s rankings as well as the rankings for Baseball Prospectus and John Sickels.
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.
