Pittsburgh Pirates outfield prospect Barrett Barnes has been promoted to the Bradenton Marauders. On Tuesday I wrote about how Barnes could possibly be moved up after coming off the disabled list. He hasn’t played above West Virginia, which is where he started the year before going down with a hamstring injury. Barnes is expected to play center field.
The promotion is a bit aggressive in the sense that Barnes has struggled at the plate in West Virginia when he’s been healthy. However, some of those struggles could be due to the fact that he hasn’t had consistent playing time, due to multiple hamstring injuries. He entered the year as one of our top 20 prospects, but dropped off the list due to the injury problems. Barnes still has a lot of upside, and is still in the top 30. If he stays healthy and hits well in Bradenton, he could revive his prospect status. He still has a lot of upside with the bat, and his ability to play well in center field adds a lot of prospect value if the hitting skills translate over to the field.