The Pittsburgh Pirates have been going through some woes as of late, however there is still some hope that this team can make the Postseason after falling to third in the NL Central behind the Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals. That hope lies in the arms, and bats of the youngsters who have already made their MLB debuts, and those waiting to get the call.
The Pirates have already seen what a certain youngster can do, albeit a couple years after his expected arrival. Rookie pitcher Jameson Taillon made his major league debut against reigning National League champions, the New York Mets on June 8th 2016 pitching six innings, giving up six hits, three runs all three earned, two walks, while striking out three. Not a terrible major league debut, nothing to brag home about either though. Taillon’s best start (to this point) came in his next start, pitching against those same New York Mets pitching eight strong innings, giving up two hits, no runs, one walk, and five strikeouts and picking up his first major league win, oh and he had a no-hitter through six until outfielder Curtis Granderson broke it up with a single in the seventh inning. In Taillon’s two starts since that game he has gone 0-1 with an ERA of almost four.
The next young guy Pirates fans have been asking for all season is that of pitcher Chad Kuhl who made his major league debut Sunday June 26th against Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers, quite an opposition in your debut. Kuhl pitched five innings, while giving up four hits, three earned runs, walking four, and striking out five. Again this may not be a phenomenal debut by any means, but he did what was asked of him and picked up a win against a very tough Los Angeles team.
As stated before both Chad Kuhl and Jameson Taillon have made their MLB debuts this season, however there are still two prospects waiting to get the call and if the struggles continue with the current roster players we may see them sooner rather than later. One of those being first base prospect Josh Bell. Currently playing at Triple-A Indianapolis Bell has posted a .319 average on the season 11 home runs, 47 RBI’s, and getting on base at a .402 clip. Over his last 10 games he has gone 16 for 44 at the plate, and he could be exactly what the pirates need to get going. Current pirates first baseman John Jaso is hitting around .200, and getting on base at about .350 in the last 10 games. Jaso after being one of the Pirates better hitters to start the season has ultimately cooled down and that’s exactly what the Pirates didn’t need.
The last prospect Pirates fans are waiting on is 6’8” pitcher Tyler Glasnow. Glasnow has a 7-2 record with a 1.70 ERA at Triple-A Indianapolis. While those stats seem to be good enough to get the call up to the bigs, he has had command issues throughout his young career. In his last few starts he’s been throwing a little over half of his pitches for strikes, and even though the Pirates could use the pitching help I’m okay with him staying down at Triple-A to polish his game just a little more.
Every team has that one knock your socks off prospect that everyone is waiting on, but for the Pirates there’s three or four waiting in the wings for their shot at the big leagues. Whether it be someone I didn’t mention such as Alen Hanson, Austin Meadows, Elias Diaz, or Ke’Bryan Hayes the Pirates future is brighter than a lot of people may think.