Of all the semi-propsects acquired by Neal Huntington in his “Vets for Quantity” swaps over the past couple years, Brett Lorin stands out as a guy that might be ticketed for a little more. He was a fifth round pick by the Mariners in 2008 and in his first full season last summer, he piled up 8.5 K/9 and 2.6 BB/9 to provide some very nice depth to his 2.20 ERA over 123 across the Pirates and Mariners Single-A affiliates.
He’s a huge guy (6’7″) that had a short college career due to a transfer, and so there’s a nice chance for improvement. He’s certainly worth keeping an eye on as he moves through the lower parts of the Pirates’ system.
July 2010 update: He had off-season hip surgery, which kept him out until very recently. He’s made a few rehab starts with GCL Bradenton and an appearance with West Virginia, but he’s 23 this year and was excellent at the Single-A level, so I’m hoping the Pirates get him into Advanced-A with FSL Bradenton as soon as possible so we can get a better read on him. As mentioned above, I’m really intrigued by this guy and think he might turn into something down the road, but we have to get him on the field to know for sure. July 2010 rank: 9
January 2011 update: Unfortunately 2010 is going down as a lost season for Lorin. He only threw 48 2/3 innings thanks to the above-mentioned hip injury and he never got above Single-A West Virginia, which isn’t good for a 23-year old. He wasn’t great in West Virginia either; he didn’t quite match what he did at the same level in 2009. Some of that is because of a high home run rate, but if he hasn’t made some real progress by mid-season he’s going to cease being a prospect. January 2011 rank: 15
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