Let's keep on truckin' into the top half of this eagerly anticipated list. As always, check out the first post for methodology and eligibility rules.
#15 Cody Dickson, LHP (22), A/A+ -- The Pirates are unbelievably rich in pitching. Right-handed pitching. They are severely lacking in left-handers, now that Locke and Wilson are up in majors. Enter Cody Dickson via the 4th round of the 2013 draft. Dickson has good velocity for a lefty and good promise on his secondary pitches. He debuted with short-season Jamestown and had a fantastic campaign (2.37 ERA, 57 IP, 42 H, 24 BB, 59 K). It's entirely possible that Dickson could jump West Virginia and go to Bradenton for 2014, as Adrian Sampson did this past season. However, Bradenton's rotation is potentially crowded, so he and Buddy Borden could be forced to pitch in Low A for the first half of the season.
#14 Buddy Borden, RHP (22), A/A+ -- Aside from being right-handed, you can pretty much take the whole writeup from Dickson above and use it for Borden. Borden was a late signee as the Pirates were able to chase him down at the deadline when some other draftees looked like they weren't going to sign. Borden didn't pitch as much as Dickson, but his stats were very loud (1.08 ERA, 16 IP, 10 H, 5 BB, 23 K) and his arsenal is a half-tick better than Dickson. I hope that at least one of them jump to Bradenton to start 2014.
#13 Harold Ramirez, OF (19), A -- An embarrassment of riches. That's what the Pirates' organizational OF depth is, both at the major and minor levels. Which is a stark contrast from the Pirates just being an embarrassment in recent years. Ramirez was a big ticket International signing back in 2010 and has gone one rung at a time, making his full season debut in 2014 seem like a certainty. Ramirez had a great season, considering he was 18 against 21-23 year olds in the NYPL, and put up a .286/.354/.409 (763 OPS) with 5 HR and 23 SB's. The one thing I'm not wild about is his size at 5'-11'. Hopefully he can grow a couple of inches.
#12 Brandon Cumpton, RHP (25), AAA/MLB -- Cumpton is the forgotten man in Pirate discussions. No one talks about him as a prospect, no one talks about him as a potential candidate for the 2014 rotation. He's here because of his proximity to the majors and his demonstrated ability to pitch in the majors. Cumpton sure looks like a #4 starter that is ready to go, if needed (30 IP, 26 H, 5 BB, 22 K in MLB). His stuff is not overwhelming, but he showed a nice slider-fastball combo. Not a flashy prospect, but he's not high risk, either.
#11 Stolmy Pimentel, RHP (25), AAA/MLB -- Here's another guy not getting much burn. Pimentel had a fantastic 2013 in AAA (3.35 ERA, 169 IP, 150 H, 56 BB, 123 K) and got his feet wet with 9 bullpen innings in Pittsburgh. His ceiling, like Cumpton, is probably a 4th starter, but that has tremendous value nowadays. Of the two, I think Pimentel sees more time in 2014 in Pittsburgh, probably as a swingman out of the bullpen, because he is out of options and Cumpton still has an option.
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