Taillon and Cole Named Top 10 Pitching Prospects

Posted by on January 16, 2012 | 3 Comments

Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com has released his list of the top ten right handed pitching prospects in baseball, and two Pittsburgh Pirates made the list. Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole both ended up in the rankings, with Taillon finishing in third and Cole finishing sixth. The Pirates were one of two teams with two pitchers on the list. Arizona had Trevor Bauer (4th) and Archie Bradley (9th). Last year the Pirates only had Taillon on the list, with the right hander ranking sixth overall.

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About Tim Williams

Tim is the owner and editor in chief of Pirates Prospects. He started the site in January 2009, and turned it into his full time job during the 2011 season. Prior to starting Pirates Prospects, Tim worked with AccuScore.com, providing MLB, NHL, and NFL coverage to various national media outlets, including ESPN Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Sports, and the Wall Street Journal. He also writes the annual Prospect Guide, which is sold through the site. Tim moved to Bradenton in 2013, and will be providing live coverage all year of the Bradenton Marauders, GCL Pirates, instructs, mini camp, Spring Training, and lunches at Mixon's Fruit Farms.
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3 Responses

  1. Anonymous
    January 16, 2012 at 8:40 pm

    Tim, do you find it concerning that Cole is ranked behind both Bauer and Bundy, or do you think that once Cole makes his debut for Bradenton, he will be regarded more highly (if he has much success)?

    • Vince Riedy
      January 16, 2012 at 9:54 pm

      It’s an opinion by one person I would not worry about it.

    • Tim Williams
      Twitter:

      January 17, 2012 at 2:55 am

      The MLB.com rankings tend to rate players lower if they haven’t played a game yet. This happened with Alvarez, Taillon, and now Cole. Alvarez didn’t even make their top 50 before his pro debut. Taillon was 18th overall last year, when BP had him 8th, BA had him 11th. Taillon shot up to the top 10 by the time the mid-season rankings came out, and it wasn’t totally because some players no longer qualified. He didn’t really do anything in his pro debut to change his scouting report, for better or worse, so there’s no reason for the big move.