MLB Pipeline posted an updated top 100 prospects list on Monday. The list reflects players graduating from the list, as well as some movement they felt necessary throughout the list. It’s a bit different than their complete re-rankings, but there is some movement involving players on the Pittsburgh Pirates.
When Pipeline released their new top 100 in late January, they had four Pirates players on the list. The order of those four players hasn’t changed. As you will see, some of the movement is related to players no longer eligible for the list, but there are some positive adjustments in the group as well.
Infielder Termarr Johnson moves from 26th on the original list, up to 22nd in the update. He’s been struggling early on this year, after a hamstring injury led to a late start to his season. He is currently batting .234/.357/.277 in 14 games.
His strikeouts are very high so far, plus he has made some errors. It feels like part of the problem is that the Pirates rushed him from his first game action at Pirate City after five missed weeks, into actual games.
Catcher Endy Rodriguez remains in the #2 spot among Pirates players. He moves from 55th up to 45th, moving slightly more than just a normal jump from players graduating. A total of seven players ahead of him in the January rankings, dropped below him in the update.
Rodriguez missed some time with a forearm injury, and he hasn’t done much since returning not long ago. He’s hitting .244/.352/.389 in 23 games, with an OPS that is 47 points below average for the league.
Catcher Henry Davis is third among Pirates. He went from ranking 57th to 48th. He had six players move from ahead of him in January, to behind him on the update.
Davis was named as our Batter of the Week for the second time in three weeks. He’s batting .308/.452/.648 through 25 games. That gives him the best OPS in the Eastern League.
The final player is pitcher Quinn Priester, who did not move up the list, despite graduations. He ranked 60th back in January. He now ranks 67th in the update.
Priester has a 5.40 ERA through seven starts, with 33 strikeouts and a 1.36 WHIP in 31.2 innings. The International League has a 4.99 ERA this year, 36 points ahead of last year’s rate. He has been much better in his last two starts.
