If there is one thing the Pittsburgh Pirates have seemingly figured out, it’s pitching development. Many of their former top prospects have shown a ton of talent in the major leagues over the last few seasons, like Jared Jones, Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows, Bubba Chandler, and Mitch Keller. Even if Ben Cherington can’t take full credit for guys like Burrows, Ashcraft, and Keller, given that they were former Neal Huntington picks, they still did most of their development with the Bucs. Plus, the organization has found many diamond-in-the-rough relievers in recent years.
However, the Pirates can really put their pitching development to the test in a very outside-the-box way by signing former top international prospect Oscar Colas, and attempting to transition him to a pitcher.