Last year it looked like the Pittsburgh Pirates would have a rotation full of prospects. Brad Lincoln was expected to start the year in Triple-A, while the “Altoona Four” of Rudy Owens, Justin Wilson, Bryan Morris, and Jeff Locke were expected to make the jump to the next level.
Only two of the Altoona pitchers made that jump, with Owens and Wilson getting the call, while Morris and Locke returned to Double-A to get more work at the level. The Pirates also added Brian Burres and Sean Gallagher to the Indianapolis rotation, providing immediate depth should the major league team have needed an extra pitcher early in the season. The Pirates never needed that depth. The only pitcher to go down early in the season was Ross Ohlendorf, and he was replaced by Jeff Karstens.
A year later, we could be looking at a rotation full of prospects in Indianapolis. It may not be an all-prospect rotation like the one you see in the New York Yankees’ farm system. There isn’t a Manny Banuelos or a Dellin Betances in the upper levels of the Pirates’ system. But the Pirates don’t project be entering the season with veteran pitchers taking up rotation spots in Triple-A.
“I think that’s the idea,” Pirates’ farm director Larry Broadway said. “We’ve put a lot of emphasis on pitching in the draft in the last four years since the system got put in place. A lot of those guys are starting to push their way through and be developed to help in the big league club.”
“The ideal is that we can always build within, and our organization has a sustainable minor league system to continue to bring guys up to the big leagues and help us win up there,” Broadway added. “Ideally, yes, we need to sign less six-year free agents to fill holes that we can do from inside.”
The Pirates needed Burres and Gallagher last year in case there was an urgent need for pitchers early in the season. They didn’t project that Lincoln, Wilson, or Owens would be ready to make the jump to the majors. This year they have guys who can immediately step in, should they be needed.
Brad Lincoln and Jeff Locke look like the number seven and eight pitchers in the rotation right now. The Pirates will begin the year with A.J. Burnett on the disabled list, putting their sixth starter, Kevin Correia, in the rotation. Burnett doesn’t look like he will return before the end of April, and possibly later. If the Pirates see another injury before his return, they’ll have to dip in to the Triple-A rotation.
Lincoln technically isn’t a prospect, with 58.2 innings in the majors, just enough to lose his eligibility. However, he still has a major league future. He had the better major league results of the two pitchers in 2011, putting up a 4.29 ERA in eight starts, along with a 24:14 K/BB ratio in 42 innings. It’s not a guarantee that Lincoln could end up in Triple-A. He could find a spot in the major league bullpen, although that’s a crowded situation. In either case, he looks like the number seven starter in the rotation, and the first to step in should someone else go down before Burnett returns.
Locke made four starts in September, and struggled with his command in the majors. He put up a 6.48 ERA in 16.2 innings. Before that he only made five starts in Triple-A. The left-hander worked with former Pirates’ pitching coordinator and current Assistant GM Jim Benedict in the last week, focusing on commanding his fastball and curveball inside against right-handed hitters. His command looked good in the bullpen, although it’s a different situation in an actual game. Some additional experience in Triple-A should do Locke well.
The prospects who aren’t ready for the majors at the start of the year are Rudy Owens, Justin Wilson, and Kyle McPherson.
Owens was the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2009 and 2010. In 2011 he struggled in his jump to Indianapolis, then later dealt with a shoulder problem. He’s healthy now, and a key for his 2012 season will be trusting his stuff.
Wilson was moved to the Indianapolis bullpen last year to work on his fastball command, with the Pirates wanting to give him more frequent opportunities to take the mound and focus on commanding the pitch. He impressed with a fastball that touched 99 MPH, although his command didn’t really improve. The Pirates are moving him back to the rotation this year, and they’ve never counted out his chances at being a starter in the majors.
“Justin is going to go down to Triple-A, and he’ll be in that rotation down there because the key to his future success is fastball command,” Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington said. “We still believe he can be a Major League starter. We still believe he can be a very effective starter. He might be one of those guys that breaks into the Major Leagues as a reliever, but the most important thing we can get from him is fastball command, some delivery adjustments, some refinement.”
The top prospect at the level is Kyle McPherson, who was the organization’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2011. McPherson combined for a 2.96 ERA in 28 starts between High-A and Double-A last year, and will make the jump to Triple-A at the start of the season. If his 2012 season is anything close to his 2011 season, he could put himself in line to make it to the majors by the end of the year.
“Kyle is a guy that we like a lot,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. “We put him on the [40-man] roster a couple years ago and a lot of people were surprised by that. It was what we’ve seen and believed he could become. He’s certainly in process of becoming that. He projects to go to Triple-A in the rotation. Hopefully continued growth. He pounds the strike zone. He’s got good stuff. He’s fearless and positions himself to be help for us at some point this season.”
You can never have too much pitching depth, and the Pirates will definitely have a lot of depth at Indianapolis this year. That depth will allow guys like Rudy Owens and Justin Wilson to bounce back. It will allow Kyle McPherson time to adjust to the jump to Triple-A. At the same time it will provide the majors with emergency replacements, and not the minor league free agent variety that we’ve seen in the past. In a best case scenario, if the major league rotation is strong and healthy, and enough prospects are doing well in Triple-A, it could provide the Pirates with some trade chips. These are all the benefits of having actual prospects in the Triple-A rotation.
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.
I don’t really see this as depth. Sure some of these guys are prospects, but none of them are major league-ready. I can’t imagine having Owens, Wilson, Locke or McPherson start a ML game right now and that is how I would define depth.
I don’t see Owens, Wilson, or McPherson starting a game right now. But then again, you don’t need them to start a game right now because you’ve got eight guys in front of them. I could see two of these guys ready by mid-season, giving the Pirates ten starters to go to this year.
If your definition is limited to who is available on opening day, then you wouldn’t include these guys. But if you’re looking at the entire season, then you can include these guys as possibilities.
Realistically, when would you need Owens, Wilson, or McPherson? Three starting pitchers would have to go down before Burnett returns. Then you’d only need one of those guys. After Burnett returns, the Pirates would have to see four starting pitchers go down before you’d need one of those guys.
So I think it’s fair to call them depth. They’re not going to be ready until mid-season, but you probably aren’t going to run in to a situation where you need them until mid-season. So there’s no need to focus on their availability on opening day.
Lincoln could start a game right now. Martis, who may push one of the above mentioned guys from the article out of the rotation, could start right now. If all else fails, Locke could spot start too.
Plus on the ML level McCutchen/Leroux could give you a combined start. When Burnett comes back, Correia will be the spot starter/long man.
That’s depth.
Realistically Justin Wilson is not a starter at the ML level, but they will work him as one to help refine his command. This rotation is infintely less depressing than seeing Burris and other 30+ year old retreads clogging it up in the “in case of emergency break glass” scenario.
I don’t see Martis pushing one of these guys out of the AAA rotation. The only way I see him making the rotation is if Lincoln makes the major league bullpen.
Wow! when was the last time we could say that? I can’t recall. We have the winners of our last 3 MiLB pitching awards there.
And, as Tim mentions, they aren’t even our best pitching prospects.
If these guys can get into a pitching contest, the results may be consistend with the 4 from Altoona.
Not targeting you here but everyone always seems to forget that we also lost Scott Olsen to injury at the beginning of last season. I also believe Lincoln was battling injuries at the beginning of the season, if I am recalling correctly that s why he got absolutely no consideration for the #5 spot.
Very exciting to be at the point where everyday a guy with legitimate MLB potential takes the hill in AAA. Bradenton will still be the big focus with Cole, Taillon, Cain, ZVR, Dodson, but AAA will be right there too.