Will The Pittsburgh Pirates Still Be Able to Rely On Minor League Pitching Depth?

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a well of pitching talent to draw from at Triple-A Indianapolis in 2016. Will that pool be replenished for 2017?

It’s no secret that the Pittsburgh Pirates had to dip into their reserve of pitching talent in 2016. Whether it was due to ineffectiveness from Juan Nicasio or Ryan Vogelsong, or due to injury in the case of Gerrit Cole, the club drew upon its considerable stockpile of pitching depth to get by.

With some major cogs of that depth having graduated – or on the cusp of graduating – to roles with the big club, what would the pitching depth on deck look like? And can it be as relied upon as 2016’s reserves?

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The Obvious One Is An Obvious Domino

Much of what will be written in this post will be predicated on what the Pittsburgh Pirates will decide to do with Tyler Glasnow.

Should Glasnow continue to make considerable strides toward a reliable delivery that can help his offspeed pitches, then the club’s hand may be forced into having him travel north with the team out of Spring Training. Though the team’s experience with riding the hot hand with Nicasio may play a factor in their decision making, general manager Neal Huntington, pitching coach Ray Searage and other Pirates evaluators will have a much better handle on if Glasnow’s performance can continue into the season than they did with Nicasio. That is simply an obvious benefit of having the tall right-hander in the system for five years.

Glasnow will serve as a domino that will shape the rest of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting pitching depth. Once thought to be on the outside looking in, Steven Brault and Trevor Williams have both shown well in their limited Grapefruit League action to date. You can throw Drew Hutchison in with that assessment as well, though he has the added benefit of having a robust Major League resume to draw on.

Once thought to be a lock, Chad Kuhl also may be bumped should Glasnow be chosen for a starting rotation spot, should Williams Brault or Hutchison out-perform him.

All of this is to be taken with a heaping of salt – none of these pitchers listed has pitched more than three innings to this point – but the losers of this knock-down, drag-out fight for the final two spots in the rotation will serve as the frontline staring pitching depth that every club desires.

And that is a good thing, because as far as pitching depth goes, you can do a lot worse than what the Pittsburgh Pirates will assemble at Triple-A Indianpolis. While it’s very unlikely that this crop can replicate the remarkable season that the Indians’ starters put up in 2016, all are talented enough to be back-end starting pitchers at minimum, with Glasnow of course having a higher ceiling.

The Kingham Factor

The most intriguing arm in the Pittsburgh Pirates staring depth pool will undoubtedly be Nick Kingham.

While Jameson Taillon gets the “spotlight” for having a tough time getting to the major leagues after repeated injury setbacks, Kingham has also been snakebitten. Thought by many to have the ability to make his major league debut before Taillon and others, Kingham is finally healthy again and figures to start the year at Indianapolis after building his arm back up at several stops in 2016.

We recently talked to Nick Kingham about his recovery and more. Click HERE for the full interview; or grab a listen to the audio below.

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Kingham – voted to have the best control in the entire Pittsburgh Pirates system by Baseball America – still needs innings, but if he shows to be sturdy enough, his presence at Triple-A could present another Taillon-like dilemma for Neal Huntington.

If Kingham is pitching well at Indianapolis when summer is fully here, one wonders how Neal Huntington would be able to resist bringing him to the majors for a shot in the arm should the team’s starting pitching ship be leaky. Unless the rotation’s front-end completely falls apart – Gerrit Cole, Ivan Nova and Taillon – the need won’t be as great, but if the talent and results are there, the temptation will be.

Once he has accumulated the right number of innings – whatever that figure may be – expect Kingham to be the ‘first man up’ even though others such as Brault or Williams already have major league experience.

Others Of Note

Brandon Cumpton, Angel Sanchez and Casey Sadler are all on the rehab path from Tommy John surgery, and will likely not be a realistic option at any point in 2017 for the Pittsburgh Pirates to draw on, whether relief or for spot starts.

That leaves us with Double-A pitchers such as Tyler Eppler and Clay Holmes. Both have intrigue swirling about their persons, with Holmes drawing the most heat in spite of walking 4-plus batters per nine last season. Eppler does not have much strikeout ability to speak of – but showed decent control in 27 starts with the Curve.

Though Holmes in particular is intriguing, if the Pittsburgh Pirates need to draw on either’s services, then their rotation would likely be in serious trouble, if not completely in shambles.

There is a clear dropoff from Brault, Williams, Hutchison et. al. to the next tier of Pirates’ minor league starting pitching depth . However, that first tier is as good as many other teams in terms of bodies for spot starts, injury fill-ins, etc.

While the pitching talent at Indianapolis will not be as robust as it was in 2016, the Pittsburgh Pirates should feel comfortable drawing upon it if when the need arises.

Photo credit – Tom Hagerty – Flickr Creative Commons