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
10. Gage Hinsz, RHP
We continue the countdown with the number 3 prospect, Tyler Glasnow.
3. Tyler Glasnow, RHP
The Pirates were expecting Glasnow to come up and help the rotation in the second half of 2016, to the point where they let his potential arrival impact their offseason plan. That didn’t work out, as Glasnow had a difficult year where he didn’t trust his changeup, had continued control issues with his fastball, and saw poor command of his curveball. He only ended up pitching 23.1 MLB innings, most at the end of the season.
Glasnow still has the highest ceiling of any pitcher in the system, and arguably one of the highest ceilings of any pitcher in baseball. The 2016 season raised some concerns about how close he could actually get to that ceiling. He’s far from being a bust, and still projects to be a very good MLB starter, but it might be difficult for him to reach that high ceiling with all of his current issues.
There is some hope that he is headed in the right direction. Glasnow worked at the end of the year on shortening his stride a bit, which he feels will help get his command back, especially with the curve. He’s throwing the changeup more in flat grounds, but it remains to be seen how he will use it in games. He also is adding a two-seamer, which he threw before in high school. That should help him when the fastball and curveball aren’t working, since this year shows he sorely needs a third pitch.
Glasnow will get another shot at Pittsburgh in 2017, although he might have to spend some time in Triple-A to show he’s made improvements. He could still end up an impact starter, with number three upside or better. We’ve got him as a strong #3, but his ceiling is still around a 7.5, which is just shy of being an elite talent. The changes he makes going forward will determine how close he actually gets to that ceiling.
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