Pittsburgh Pirates invite notable minor leaguers to Spring Training

The Pittsburgh Pirates confirmed today that they have extended non-roster Spring Training invites to the following players:

Steven Brault, Adam Frazier, Dan Gamache, Chad Kuhl, Reese McGuire, Jacob Stallings, and Trevor Williams.

These are some fairly notable prospects and while none of them outside of maybe Trevor Williams have a great chance to make the team out of Spring Training, it is an indication that the Pirates are very high on these players. The Pirates have used Spring Training to get looks at players before their call-ups, as Starling Marte was invited to Spring Training in 2011 and Gregory Polanco was invited in 2013 and 2014.

Steven Brault is a bit surprising as he only pitched as high as Double-A Altoona last year, but this could be seen as a reward for his tremendous 2015 season. His first year in the Pirates’ organization saw him put up a 2.43 ERA with a 1.118 WHIP. He, along with Stephen Tarpley, were acquired from the Baltimore Orioles in the Travis Snider trade and both had very good debut campaigns in the Pirates’ organization.

Reese McGuire is obviously a notable prospect as by most accounts he will be the catcher of the future for the Pirates. He didn’t have the greatest of seasons for the Bradenton Marauders, but he has more than made up for it with a very good Arizona Fall League season. In 14 games for the Glendale Desert Dogs, McGuire hit .294/.379/.412/.791 with a home run and six RBIs.

Trevor Williams is the player that could find himself pitching out of the bullpen for the Pirates on Opening Day as he was stellar between Double-A and Triple-A for the Miami Marlins in 2015. He put a 3.85 ERA in 131 innings and a 1.405 WHIP. He was picked up by the Pirates in October and many experts believe he was compensation for the Marlins hiring away Jim Benedict from the Pirates, as Williams was a high prospect and the Marlins second round pick in 2013.

Minor leaguers getting non-roster invites to Spring Training isn’t exactly earth shattering news, but it is a reminder that we are not that far away from pitchers and catchers reporting to Bradenton and any reminder that baseball season isn’t far away is a good thing.

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