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First Pitch: Notes on the Top Pirates Prospects of the Decade, Austin Hendrick, and a Q&A

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Today’s notes:

**John Dreker did a top ten prospects of the decade list yesterday, combining some of the best players who we’ve covered on this site. You can check out the list here.

My thought? That is a very good list. It’s topped by the highest paid pitcher in the game, includes two potential top of the rotation pitchers in the middle of the list, and some average or better starters at the bottom.

The most frustrating thing about this is that all of these players were either drafted, signed, or in the case of Starling Marte, almost fully developed under Huntington. I’ve made the argument that Huntington wasn’t bad at drafting, but that the Pirates were bad at development under Huntington, especially in the upper levels.

It makes you think what this list might have been like if the Pirates got more out of their top guys while they were in Pittsburgh. The Pirates were supposed to contend with a combination of Cole, Taillon, Meadows, Marte, Glasnow, Bell, Polanco, and others during the 2016-19 seasons.

They traded the best of those guys away, and the returns on those deals haven’t been good. The guys who have remained haven’t lived up to their expectations, while the guys leaving are starting to reach their upsides.

If there’s one hope I have, it’s that Ben Cherington can fix this issue, and get better results out of the next batch of prospects. Especially since seven of those top ten prospects are still in the system, and have still yet to reach their upside (or are just about to break into the majors for their first attempt).

**Baseball America has the Pirates taking Austin Hendrick in the first round in their latest mock draft. I’m already looking forward to following Hendrick on PBN. It would be even more fun following his entire career in Pittsburgh.

**John Dreker will have a live prospect Q&A later this afternoon.

SONG OF THE DAY

One of my favorite PTM songs. I love the message in this. Regardless of beliefs, it’s important to have faith in yourself.

DAILY QUIZ


RANDOM STUFF OF THE DAY

Adding a new section to First Pitch with some random stuff. Today is the Morbius trailer, which I am very much looking forward to. After watching this several times, I flipped on the 90s animated Spider-Man cartoons and watched the Morbius episodes.

Those were some of my favorite episodes of that cartoon when I was growing up. Mysterio was one of my favorite bad guys in the video games. I’m glad to see they’re digging deeper into the Spider-Man rogues gallery for bad guys, rather than just the Green Goblin each time.

With Marvel releasing Blade, and with Morbius connected to the MCU Spider-Man, I want to see a future Blade vs Morbius movie. There are also rumors that Marvel will introduce Dracula as a character in another movie. And they’ve got a Moon Knight series coming up, which could introduce werewolves to the MCU.

Things are about to get weird in the 20s.

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

By John Dreker

Seven former Pittsburgh Pirates players have been born on this date as well as a manager who never played for the team, but he did go on to have his jersey retired by the Pirates. Before getting to those players, there’s a current player celebrating a birthday. Reliever Dovydas Neverauskas turns 27 today.

Steve Cooke, pitcher for the 1992-97 Pirates. He was a 35th round draft pick by the Pirates in 1989, but he didn’t sign until right before the deadline in 1990, back when teams could draft and follow players. It took him just over two seasons to work his way up from low-A ball to the majors, where he made his debut in late July 1992. He went 2-0, 3.52 in 11 games, all as a reliever, earning a job for the 1993 season. As a starter that first full year, he went 10-10, 3.89 in 32 games, pitching 210.2 innings with 132 strikeouts. He struggled during the strike-shortened 1994 season, going 4-11, 5.02, then missed the entire 1995 seasons and half of 1996 due to shoulder surgery. Recovered and back in the rotation for 1997 he made 32 starts, going 9-15, 4.30 before being released following the season. He signed with the Reds, made one start then missed the rest of the season with elbow problems. He pitched until 2000 in the minors

Joe Redfield, third baseman for the 1991 Pirates. He was drafted by the Mets in 1982, taking until June 4,1988 to make his major league debut with the Angels. He played just one game before returning to the minors. After spending the next two full seasons in the minors, the Pirates signed him as a free agent in December of 1990. They called him up to the majors in the middle of June and in 11 games he hit .111 with four walks. He returned to Triple-A in early July to finish the season. The Pirates resigned him for the 1992 season, which was his last year in pro ball. He played for six organizations in his 11 year career, which included the 1987 season when he .321 with 30 homers and 108 RBIs for Midland (Angels Double-A) of the Texas League.

Terry Forster, relief pitcher for the 1977 Pirates. Forster played six seasons for the Chicago White Sox before they traded him in December 1976 along with Goose Gossage to the Pirates in exchange for Richie Zisk. Forster went 6-4, 4.43 in 33 games (six starts) during his only season with the Pirates. He was granted free agency after the season and signed a five-year contract with the Dodgers. Terry pitched in the majors until 1986, finishing his career in the minors the following year. In 16 big league seasons, he went 54-65, 3.23 in 614 career games with 127 career saves.

Hank Gornicki, pitcher for the Pirates from 1942-43 and 1946. He made his pro debut in 1936, but didn’t make his big league debut until age 30, pitching a total of five games between stops with the Cardinals and Cubs in 1941. He was taken by the Pirates off waivers in December of 1941 and made their Opening Day roster in 1942. He went 5-6, 2.57 in 25 games that year, 14 as a starter, pitching a total of 112 innings. The next year he went 9-13, 3.98 in 42 games, 18 as a starter. He then served in WWII before returning to baseball during the 1946 season. In seven games for the Pirates that year, he posted a 3.55 ERA in 12.2 innings. He finished his career in the minors in 1947.

Billy Meyer, manager for the Pirates from 1948 until 1952. He was a catcher in the majors for three seasons between 1913 and 1917, but spent the majority of his playing days in the minors where he played from 1910 until 1928. He began as a player-manager in 1925 and would go on to manage for 20 seasons before the Pirates gave him his first Major League managerial job. He took over a Pittsburgh club that went 62-92 in 1947 and led them to a 21-game turnaround the following year. That resulted in a fourth place finish, but just 8.5 games back in the standings. The turnaround was short-lived and the Pirates were much worse by the end of his tenure, going just 42-112 in 1952, his last season at the helm. He was a very popular manager, especially with the media. He became a scout for the Pirates until a stroke in 1955 left him unable to return to baseball. The Pirates retired his #1 uniform number in 1954. He finished with a 317-452 record in the majors as a manager, all spent with the Pirates.

John Shovlin, infielder for the Pirates in 1911. He started his minor league career in 1910, playing for a team in Erie, Pa before the Pirates bought his contract in June 1911. He lasted just two games, one as a pinch-hitter and one as a pinch-runner, before the Pirates sent him to the minors. He struck out in his only at bat with Pittsburgh. It took eight years in the minors before he got another chance in the majors with the St Louis Browns. He played 16 games with them between the 1919-20 seasons. He didn’t play any pro ball again until the 1928 season when he returned to play for a team in Binghamton, NY for four more seasons.

Art Madison, infielder for the 1899 Pirates. He was one of the four players sent to Louisville in the Honus Wagner trade following the 1899 season. Madison made his Major League debut with the Phillies in 1895 and in 11 games he hit .353 with eight RBIs and four stolen bases. Despite the brief success, he spent the next three full seasons in the minors. He signed with the Pirates for the 1899 season and in 42 games he hit .271 with 19 RBIs playing 19 games at 2B and 15 at shortstop. Madison was involved in the Wagner trade in December of 1899, going to Louisville in the deal. The Louisville team folded shortly after the deal and in March his contract was returned to the Pirates. Just six days later the Pirates sold him to Indianapolis of the American League, a minor league at the time. He played six more seasons in the minors before ending his playing career.

John Newell, third baseman for the 1891 Pirates. He started his pro career in the minors in 1889 playing for four different teams before the Pirates bought his contract from Portland of the New England League in July of 1891. He made his major league debut on July 22nd and ten days later he played his last Major League game. The local newspaper said that Newell looked like a ballplayer and could handle himself in the field, though he made a lot of high throws. In five games for the Pirates he hit .111 with two RBIs and made two errors in 13 total chances. Less than a month later he was released and sent back to the minors. Newell bounced around the minors for seven more seasons including the 1896 season in which he hit .413 with 74 stolen bases for Wilmington of the Atlantic League. He and Joe Redfield (mentioned above) both went 2-for-18 at the plate while with the Pirates.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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