Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Chad Kuhl was the first rookie up in the 2016 season. He saw the big leagues before top prospect Jameson Taillon and Tyler Glasnow. He also beat out other notable prospects who were further along like Trevor Williams and Steven Brault. Of the group, Kuhl was the lowest rated prospect, but made a more significant impact than Williams and Brault. In a way, this makes sense.
The former ninth-round pick had a career 2.75 earned run average in his minor league career. He finished his minor league career by posting a 2.