The Pirates entered the year with a rotation and a lineup full of prospects in Indianapolis this year. Some of those guys were being counted on to emerge and give the team a mid-season boost. Others were there to provide depth, if and when it was needed. In some cases, you almost didn’t want to see those guys getting a call to the majors, just because of what it meant.
Take the rotation, for example. At the start of the year, the rotation was Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, Jon Niese, Jeff Locke, and Juan Nicasio. The mid-season callups were expected to be Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon.