There has been a lot of talk the last few years about the depth that the Pittsburgh Pirates have collected in their minor league system.
“Depth” in a farm system is typically where you have a lot of future potential MLB players. The depth mostly comes from guys who aren’t MLB starting prospects now, but who could each see improvements in their game. The benefit of depth is that you’re more likely to see a 40-grade prospect break out when you’ve got so many of them.
It seems like the Pirates have been taking an approach the last few years where they’ve thrown 40-grade MLB players into starting roles in the majors, hoping that some of those guys would develop into starters.