On Wednesday morning, MLB.com came out with their list of the top ten outfield prospects and Gregory Polanco ranked third overall, while Austin Meadows was ninth on the list. It was the only position that the Pirates had more than one player make the MLB top ten list.
During the regular season, Polanco split the year between Bradenton and Altoona, ending up with Indianapolis for the final two regular season games and the playoffs. He finished with a .285/.356/.434 slash line in 127 games, hitting 30 doubles, 12 homers and stealing 38 bases. He then went to the Dominican Winter League, where he won the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards. Polanco is currently playing in the DWL finals, where he homered last night.
Austin Meadows was drafted in the first round by the Pirates this year, ninth overall. He played 43 games in the GCL after signing, hitting .294 with a .918 OPS. Meadows was promoted to Jamestown and put up a 1.519 OPS in five regular season games, then hit .364 in the playoffs.
There wasn’t a big difference between the two in the scouting rankings. On the 20-80 scale, Polanco was given an overall score of 65, while Meadows came in just five points lower. In fact, every player ranked from 4-10, was rated 60 overall.
The Pirates had a total of five player make the top ten lists. Alen Hanson was named eighth best shortstop. Jameson Taillon was named fifth best right-handed pitcher and Reese McGuire was the seventh best catching prospect. Tyler Glasnow just missed the top ten for right-handed pitchers.
On Thursday, MLB.com will release it’s list of the top 100 prospects in baseball. The Pirates should be well represented.
