Keith Law posted his list of the best prospects at each position (subscription required) on Thursday. He went ten deep for most spots, extending it to 15 for both outfield and shortstop, while going to 20 for starting pitchers. Except for relief pitchers, the Pirates had one player on each of the other seven lists.
For catchers, Reese McGuire is ranked seventh. Only four catchers made the top 100 for Law.
Josh Bell is the third best first baseman. He has been ranked both first and second on other lists.
Alen Hanson is fourth among second baseman. Law only put two second baseman in his top 100.
Despite being ranked 23rd overall, Kevin Newman ranks tenth for shortstops. The reason Law went to 15 for shortstops, is that the position is loaded in the minors. He has the 15th best shortstop ranked 55th in his top 100.
Ke’Bryan Hayes is fourth for third baseman and he just missed the top 100. Despite only three third basemen ranking in the top 100, Law likes the depth of the position, so fourth overall is a strong spot for Hayes.
Austin Meadows is third for outfielders. Because he didn’t break this category up into individual outfield spots, the 15th ranked outfielder is 58th on the top 100, making it a very strong group.
Finally, Tyler Glasnow is third for starting pitchers, and second among right-handed pitchers. You can tell from this group going to 20 spots, that it’s very deep. Law has either shortstops, outfielders or starting pitchers in 50 of his top 59 spots, with Josh Bell (#56) being one of the nine exceptions.
The Pirates didn’t have any relievers in the top ten, though none of the relievers even made Law’s top 100, or his “just missed” list.
Baseball America Starts Their Prospect Rankings
Baseball America has started their list of the best at each position, posting three spots on Tuesday. Not sure when the other spots are going up, so I’m adding the published ones here.
For catchers, they have Reese McGuire seventh and Elias Diaz ninth in their top 20. Same spot as Law for McGuire, but BA got Diaz into their top ten.
For right-handed pitchers, they have Tyler Glasnow third and Jameson Taillon 30th. Those were the only two in the top 100.
No left-handed pitchers from the Pirates made their top 25.
