The Pirates Prospects 2017 Prospect Guide is now available for pre-sales. The book will be released the week before Spring Training, and we are currently in the process of making the final changes with editing and formatting.
The book features prospect reports on everyone in the system, the 2017 top 50 prospects, and the most comprehensive coverage of the Pirates’ farm system that you can find. Subscribers to the site get discounted books, with Top Prospect subscribers getting $10 off, and Annual subscribers getting $5 off. The eBook will be released when the book is released, and will also come with discounts. Details on the promotions can be found on the products page, and you can subscribe to the site or upgrade your current plan on the subscriptions page.
While the top 50 prospects are exclusive to the book, we will be releasing the top 20 prospects over the next few weeks as a countdown to the start of Spring Training, and to give a preview of the release of the book. We will be wrapping up on Monday, February 13th. The reports will only be available to site subscribers, including those with a monthly plan. You can subscribe here, and if you like these reports, be sure to purchase your copy of the book on the products page of the site to get much more analysis on every player in the system.
To recap the countdown so far:
20. Alen Hanson, 2B
17. Elias Diaz, C
16. Max Kranick, RHP
13. Clay Holmes, RHP
We continue the countdown with the number 10 prospect, Gage Hinsz.
10. Gage Hinsz, RHP
Hinsz has always been a step behind Mitch Keller, and fortunately that trend continued even in Keller’s breakout season. While Keller was getting the headlines and the attention as one of the game’s top prospects, Hinsz was also making good progress and keeping up the pace, emerging as another young guy to watch in the lower levels.
One big change this year was added fastball velocity for Hinsz. He was 90-92, touching 93 last year with Bristol, and jumped up to 92-95 MPH a year later in West Virginia, with good downward plane. The velocity came from Hinsz doing a better job getting stronger and incorporating his lower half in his delivery. He also showed better command of his stuff this year after making an adjustment to his delivery to stay back longer, which prevented him from flying open. That change was made in 2015, and he continued adjusting the approach, focusing this year on being more in line with the plate.
The small changes to his delivery not only helped the fastball, but they helped the secondary stuff. Hinsz saw his curveball improve, getting plus ratings from some scouts during Extended Spring Training. He also found a grip he was comfortable with for the changeup, and the delivery adjustment allowed better command and led to him trusting the pitch more. He was getting a lot of swings and misses with the pitch by the end of the year, and started using it more than his curveball in some starts. The change sits 81-84 MPH, giving good velocity separation from the fastball.
Hinsz still needs to know when to switch to the changeup, which will come with time. He also had issues with his release point on the curveball after the mechanical adjustments this year, but started getting that back at the end of the year. Just like Keller, his fastball was so good that he could dominate with just that pitch, and had to force himself to work on the other pitches, which slowed the development of each.
There could still be more to come from Hinsz, and hopefully he continues adding velocity and continues refining the secondary stuff, keeping pace with Keller. Right now he projects a step below, topping out as a number three starter, although there’s room for him to go higher in the future.
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