Prospect Predictions

1. Breakout player – Zack Dodson (he pitched well last year but broke his hand (which is much better than elbow problems etc)

2. Falter – Mcpherson (I think he will still pitch ok but not quite to his “prospect rankings”)

3. Rebound candidate – Rudy Owens

4. 1st Year pro – Dickerson (I think Cole and Bell will do well and keep their high prospect ranking but Dickerson will just smash the ball and rise quickly)

5. Hitter of the Year – Dickerson, Pitcher of the Year – Taillon

1. Breakout: Zac Fuesser. Liked him since I saw him live (once). Has some ability, if he limits HRs I think he’s on the come. Concerned about loss of velocity late last year.

2. Falter: Cole. The situation, though not necessarily the pitcher, reminds me of Kris Benson. He’ll probably be good, but not match his pedigree. See Benson’s 1997.

3. Rebound: Gift Ngoepe.

4. 1st year pro: Bell. Never seen him play, but he’s supposed to be pretty OK I guess. Of guys that only played ss/rookie ball last year, I like Ozuna and Schwind.

5. H/POY: Adalberto Santos/Taillon. Santos will be slightly overage at AA and has always hit and has a good eye. I think he’ll split the year between AA and AAA and rake in both spots. Taillon should be in position to get the innings necessary to win this award. I expect he’ll spend the whole year in Bradenton but will appear ready to move up as the season goes on.

Which prospect do you think will have a breakout year?

Jose Osuna – he has good protection on his side (in Jose Bell) which him ample opportunity to hit some monster HRs for West Virginia. His patience is good even on GCL levels. Hopefully he can handle 1st base well.

Which prospect will falter?

Stetson Allie. Unless he finds even improved command you might as well give him a bat and learn to DH.

Which prospect who faltered last year will rebound the most?

Rudy Owens – I think his shoulder problems are behind him and he can be the next in line to be a servicable major league starter down the road.

Which 1st year pro will have the best season?

Dickerson will have a strong year in Bradenton. He can flat out rake. It wouldn’t surprise me if he surpasses Curry in Altoona at some point.

Who wins the Pirates minor league pitcher and hitter of the year awards?
MLP – Gerrit Cole will be solid in his first month at Bradenton, then the next four at Altoona, at finally the final month at Indy.

MLH – Josh Bell, his power and patience are the real deal. The big question is if he’ll spend the entire season in WV or advance to Bradenton.

Which prospect do you think will have a breakout year?
Stetson Allie
Which prospect will falter?
Matt Curry
Which prospect who faltered last year will rebound the most?
Tony Sanchez
Which 1st year pro will have the best season?
Gerrit Cole
Who wins the Pirates minor league pitcher and hitter of the year awards?
Nick Kingham, Jarek Cunningham

1) I think ZVR is the breakout player this year. He pitched better in the 2nd half and his traditional numbers didn’t line up with his peripherals. Maybe it’s more that I hope he does than I think he does…
2) Grossman will falter. Although it’s understandable, I think the hamate injury saps his power and trying to make the difficult jump to AA with a drain on your power when you already don’t have a ton is a bad combo. The walks will still be there but I wouldn’t be stunned to see a Sanchez circa 2011-esque line.
3) Sanchez will rebound. Just like a power outage from Grossman could be understood, I link Sanchez’ struggles to his weight loss. I think he hits just fine and is in Pittsburgh by September
4) Josh Bell will rake this year in WV IMO
5) Starling Marte and Jameson Taillon. Marte will keep on hitting and his lack of walks combined with a productive OF in Pittsburgh will keep him in Indy most of the year. JT will use his curve more in Bradenton and it will make his numbers really jump off the stat sheet.

Which prospect do you think will have a breakout year? ZVR

Which prospect will falter? Kyle McPherson

Which prospect who faltered last year will rebound the most? Sanchez

Which 1st year pro will have the best season? Cole

Who wins the Pirates minor league pitcher and hitter of the year awards? Cole and Bell

I figure I’ll give a more obvious choice followed by a sleeper so its not so boring…

Breakout- Gorkys Hernandez, Jordy Mercer (don’t know how much either are still considered prospects, but I think Gorkys finally puts all his tools together, and somewhat lives up to his early hype while I think Mercer has a decent shot at developing into a legit shortstop that we’ve been needing.)

Falter- Robbie Grossman, Starling Marte (think they both overachieved last year, and should’ve been dealt this offseason at their peak value; more so Grossman than Marte, but Marte still has alot to prove IMO.)

Rebound- Zack Von Rosenburg, Stetson Allie (Both had alot of hype and neither lived up to any expectations, but I think both bounce back strong especially ZVR. His last couple outings of last year were very promising.)

1st year pro- Josh Bell, Alex Dickerson (easy choices here. Both should destroy the ball wherever they start next year. I think we have a switch hitting Jason Heyward in Bell, and is my new favorite Pirate.)

hitter of the year- Josh Bell, Ramon Cabrera?

pitcher of the year- Jameson Taillon, ZVR?

Breakout- Dickerson
Falter- Grossman
Rebound- Sanchez
1st year- Cole
POY- Taillon
HOY- Marte

Breakout – Nick Kingham. He had a good year last year, but will be very good at WV this year.

Falter – Jose Osuna. He will have a big jump in competition. I think he is no where near as dominate this year.

Rebound – Rudy Owens. He was injured last year and had historically bad control. Control returns and so do his good results. ZVR is a close second.

1st Year – Candon Myles. Aggressive attitude, plus speed, plus not starting too high equals a good year for Candon.

Pitcher of the Year – Nick Kingham. I think both Cole and Taillon will do well, but well both jump levels in the middle of the year. It is hard to win pitcher of the year when you are jumping levels.

Hitter of the Year – Brock Holt. I think Holt repeats AA, so I think he will be dealing with a level he can handle. Dickerson is my second choice, but it will be his longest season ever, so I think he falters a bit late.

Breakout – Drew Maggi. No one’s talking about him, but he showed excellent plate discipline last year, has a shot to stick at SS, and is heading to McKechnie next year. He’s going to see his stock climb dramatically this season.

Falter – Robbie Grossman. He’ll struggle with the jump to AA and the hamate injury. Fellow Bradenton hitters Gonzalez and Cabrera will falter too, though they don’t have as far to drop.

Rebound – ZVR. I don’t think there are a lot of good choices for this category, honestly. It seems like with the guys who faltered last year (Owens, Sanchez, ZVR, Allie) people are still holding out faith for various reasons. I think all four will perform better next year, but I don’t think their stock will rise all that much.

Best Debut – Well, I think the best players will have the best debuts – Cole, Bell, Dickerson, and Holmes, probably in that order. Outside of the seven-figure talents, I think Jake Burnette probably has the best debut.

Pitcher of the Year – Cole

Hitter of the Year – Bell

Breakout
Jarek Cunningham – If he can stay healthy, I think he’ll post ‘acceptable’ walk and strikeout rates and continue to crush the ball
Dilson Herrera – A more under the radar pick. I think he’ll come stateside and rake and possibly even make it as far as WV.

Falter
Kyle McPherson – I’m just not that big a believer and I think he’ll go the way of Rudy Owens
Zach Von Rosenberg – Looking up, plenty of people see him as a breakout candidate. I’d agree if there was a decent indication that he will add velocity to his fastball. Otherwise, I could see his mediocre stuff getting hit hard in the FSL.

Rebound
Tony Sanchez – I think he’ll have a bounce back year if he can stay healthy. The recent injury raises mild concerns, but no more than that. Even during Sanchez’s poor year last year, he maintained a strong BB rate and he still has his defense to fall back on.

1st Year Pro
Gerrit Cole – I’ll just go with the obvious. Cole will dominate.

Minor League
Hitter – Jarek Cunningham
Pitcher - Gerrit Cole

Which prospect do you think will have a breakout year?
Zack Dodson – Had a good year last year, but I think he will really emerge as one of the better pitching prospects in the system in 2012. Been overshadowed by other pitchers in his class (Cain, ZVR) but I think he could turn out to be the best of the bunch.

Which prospect will falter?
Jarek Cunningham – Good power, but SO/BB rate was alarming at HIgh A, and it will only get tougher at Altoona.

Which prospect who faltered last year will rebound the most?
Tony Sanchez – Don’t think he ever really was comfortable last season with injuries and everything else that went on . I think he still has all the tools to be above average catcher.

Which 1st year pro will have the best season?
Gerrit Cole. Also, Making the move to the U.S. I think Dilson Hererra is a guy to watch.

Who wins the Pirates minor league pitcher and hitter of the year awards?
Jameson Taillon, Jose Ozuna