The Pirates Prospects 2016 Prospect Guide is now on sale. The book features prospect reports on everyone in the system, the 2016 top 50 prospects, and the most comprehensive coverage of the Pirates’ farm system that you can find. Subscribers to the site get free and discounted books, with Top Prospect subscribers getting the 2016 book for free, and Annual subscribers getting $10 off. Both levels of subscribers can also get the book for just $5. Details on all three promotions can be found on the products page, and you can subscribe to the site or upgrade your current plan on the subscriptions page.
While the top 50 prospects are exclusive to the book, we will be releasing the top 20 prospects over the next few weeks. The reports will only be available to site subscribers, including those with a monthly plan. You can subscribe here, and if you like these reports, be sure to purchase your copy of the book on the products page of the site to get much more analysis on every player in the system.
To recap the countdown so far:
20. Willy Garcia, RF
19. Clay Holmes, RHP
18. Mitch Keller, RHP
17. Max Moroff, 2B
16. Chad Kuhl, RHP
15. Cole Tucker, SS
14. Stephen Tarpley, LHP
13. Steven Brault, LHP
12. Yeudy Garcia, RHP
11. Kevin Newman, SS
10. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B
9. Nick Kingham, RHP
8. Elias Diaz, C
We continue the countdown with the number 7 prospect, Reese McGuire.
7. Reese McGuire, C
McGuire is the best defensive catcher in the Pirates’ system, and might even be the best defensive catcher in all of minor league baseball. The only problem so far is that his offense hasn’t caught up, at least not on the stat sheets.
Defensively, McGuire does great work communicating with his pitching staff and knowing their tendencies, while also showing a lot of skills with his receiving and blocking. The receiving skills display a quiet glove and good framing, allowing him to get extra strikes. He excels at blocking, which gives pitchers confidence to throw any pitch they want, even low in the dirt. His arm might be the best in the system, or at least good enough to challenge Elias Diaz, but what makes it play up is his quick transition and release. He can catch the ball, stand, and fire a perfect strike with a pop time consistently in the 1.8-1.9 range, all in one fluid motion. Sometimes he even fires a strike from his knees down to second, showing plus arm strength.
The problem with his game at the moment is his offense. That’s a common thing for strong defensive catchers in the lower levels, as they have to spend so much time on their defense. There are some positive signs here that point to future hitting ability. McGuire rarely strikes out, making good contact, and driving the ball hard to the gaps. He impressed with his solid contact in the AFL, even though the results didn’t show up in the stat line.
The Pirates will have an interesting decision to make in 2016. McGuire has good hitting tools, but they haven’t consistently carried over to the games. His numbers don’t indicate that he’s ready for Double-A, but the Pirates would be blocking catchers below him by keeping him back in Bradenton. They could give him an aggressive push and hope that the offensive tools finally click and lead to on-field results. He will make the majors based on his defense alone, and has the offensive upside to be anywhere from a guy who can hit enough to be a strong defensive starter, all the way to a two-way catcher who would rate as an All-Star and Gold Glove candidate.
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