The Pittsburgh Pirates are a team that must live and die by its prospects. In a new series, PBD will project each of the team’s Top 20 prospects in 2017.
Welcome to a new recurring series here at Pirates Breakdown in which we count down and project the 2017 seasons for each of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Top 20 prospects, ranked as per MLB Pipeline.
Today we look at the club’s #14 overall prospect – LHP Steven Brault.
A quick note – MLB Pipeline and other prospect sites use a general term of “rookie eligibility” to determine if a play should still be listed as a prospect. Brault obviously spent time with the Pittsburgh Pirates last year, but is still considered a prospect.
MLB Pipeline uses the following criteria:
To be eligible for a list, a player must have rookie eligibility. To qualify for rookie status, a player must not have exceeded 130 at-bats or 50 innings pitched in the Major Leagues.
Prospect Primer
Brault was originally drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 11th round of the 2013 MLB amateur draft. He was then shipped to Pittsburgh in a deal that involved Travis Snider heading to Baltimore.
Brault has done a nice job in the Pirates system and most will recognize the name as he spent time in the majors last season. Brault pitched 33.1 innings in Pittsburgh, to be exact. He made seven starts, and struggled overall, posting a 4.86 ERA/5.07 FIP/1.86 WHIP. But that small smattering does not necessarily preclude him from future success.
Let’s take a look at what makes Brault an attractive piece going forward.
Strengths
While it may not have looked this way when Brault came up to the majors, one of his major strengths throughout his career had been his control. Known for having pin point precision at the minor league level, especially with his fastball, Brault’s struggles in the majors can be attributed to an adjustment period of sorts.
That period was borne out through the free pass. In Brault’s minor league career he has pitched 420.1 innings while only giving up 117 walks. While in Pittsburgh, he dished out 17 walks over 33.1 innings. That is over 1 batter walked per every 2 innings.
That number would have to come down drastically to be an average MLB starter. Provided the Pittsburgh Pirates don’t make any further major moves, Brault will battle for the fifth starter job this spring, it will be interesting to see what his control looks like in March.
Another strength in Brault’s arsenal is his ability to strike out batters. In reference to Brault’s minor league career, he has 373 strikeouts in the 420.1 innings mentioned above. In 2016 alone, he racked up 10.22 strikeouts per nine.
Though it did not play in his first go-round in the majors, Brault uses deception along with a fastball that does have sinking action. It will be interesting to see what tinkering Ray Searage and company may implement with Brault based off of those 33.1 major league innings.
Areas of Improvement
As already mentioned above, Brault will have to work on his control at the major league level. The reason that this is important leads to a number of reasons, some more obvious than others.
The first and most obvious reason is that walking batters on a consistent basis leads to trouble for any pitcher. But, perhaps another reason that Brault must emphasize control is that his fastball is major league average in terms of velocity.
Brault is not going to blow anyone away with the velocity on his fastball, and he needs to maximize its effectiveness via control coupled with movement. There were times last year when a hitter would look puzzled on a strike three call against Brault, even at the major league level.
One start that should stick out in all Pittsburgh Pirates fans minds is his first start against the St. Louis Cardinals. Brault highlighted on that night what he could be to the Pirates rotation, if he has his stuff working.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dnRwFy3oC4
Where He Starts 2017
When looking at Brault, there are some moving parts to his future. The Pittsburgh Pirates have been linked to other starters around the league. While these are only rumors at this point, if a trade actually did occur it would drastically change Brault’s trajectory. If nothing does happen in the coming months, it is likely that Brault will start the season as the Pittsburgh Pirates #5 starter.
Where He Ends 2017
Brault has a lot of potential. If Brault is able to assume that #5 starter role in Pittsburgh and pitch well, he may hold that position in the rotation.
While Brault’s ceiling may be capped due to his fastball velocity and average off-speed pitches when graded out by scouts, he could still have a nice career. Having been compared to pitchers such as Wade Miley in terms of potential production, Brault’s path should be an interesting one to follow.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
