Can top prospects provide immediate help to Pittsburgh Pirates this season?

Should we expect top prospects Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon to provide immediate help to the Pittsburgh Pirates this season?

The Pirates’ starting rotation isn’t in great shape at the moment. For as good as the offense has been so far, the pitching has been that bad. Gerrit Cole and Francisco Liriano should recover, but if Jon Niese, Juan Nicasio, and Jeff Locke struggle for the majority of the season, that shouldn’t surprise anyone. The main reason why these three guys are even in the starting rotation is because the team is waiting on prized pitching prospects Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon to be ready for the majors. Both are expected to make the jump to the big league club at some point this season, likely in June, and the fate of the team will be greatly influenced by these two. But can Glasnow and Taillon provide immediate help for the Pirates this season? Should we even expect them to?

The truth is, most prospects don’t come up and light the world on fire. The jump from Triple-A to the majors is a significant one, and even top prospects experience growing pains. Sure, some set the world on fire, but, for the most part, prospects don’t deliver in the season they’re called up. However, Glasnow and Taillon have the potential to do some great things this season if and when they are called up.

So far this year, both are off to the best starts of their minor league careers. In six starts, Glasnow has a 1.64 ERA with 48 strikeouts and just 13 walks in 33 innings. His biggest issue coming into this season was control and his changeup; his control has certainly improved, as his 3.5 BB/9 would be tied for the lowest single-season mark of his career. Taillon, who hadn’t pitched competitively since 2013, is surprising many with his performance so far, despite his stature as a former top draft pick. In six starts this season, Taillon has pitched to a comparable 1.69 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 37.1 innings of work. What stands out about Taillon so far, however, outside of his ERA, is that he’s only issued four walks. That’s good for a remarkable 1.0 BB/9. While he doesn’t strike out as many batters as Glasnow does, his still-high strikeout rate, coupled with his ability to limit walks, makes him dangerous for batters when he’s on the mound.

Despite these scorching hot starts from both pitchers, we need to temper our expectations. If both struggle this season when called up, that should not be cause for concern. And the Pirates should not be counting on the success of those two this season to help propel the Pirates to a fourth straight playoff berth. No playoff contender should count on prospects. Any benefit seen from them is a bonus.

But that’s not to say they can’t do it. Gerrit Cole came up and pitched to a 3.22 ERA in 19 starts in 2013, then held a 2.45 ERA in two postseason starts against the Cardinals. Noah Syndergaard was called up last season and had a 3.24 ERA in 24 starts, then pitched to a 3.32 ERA in three starts for the Mets in the postseason. The Mets also received help last year from Steven Matz, who had a 2.27 ERA in six regular season starts, then a 3.68 ERA in three postseason starts.

On the other hand, top Rockies’ prospect Jon Gray had a 5.53 ERA in nine starts last season after being called up pitching most of his games at Coors Field. Henry Owens had a 4.57 ERA in 11 starts for the Red Sox after his call-up last season. And in the same year as Cole was called up, so was Orioles’ top prospect Kevin Gausman, who didn’t fare as well as Cole, pitching to a 5.66 ERA in 47.2 innings of work.

We’ve seen David Price get called up in 2008 and help propel the Rays to the World Series. We also saw arguably the greatest active pitcher in baseball in Clayton Kershaw struggle in his first season in that same year with a 4.26 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. And we all know what he’s done since then.

The point is that no one should expect either Tyler Glasnow or Jameson Taillon to light the world on fire and be the answer to the Pirates’ rotation problems. Obviously we don’t want to see either struggle, but this season should be looked at as an adjustment period for both. We know the Pirates have the potential for a formidable rotation in the future. But hey, could Glasnow or Taillon be that much worse than Jeff Locke?

Keep your hopes high, but temper your expectations.

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