Decisions Down the Road & Notes as the Bucs Head to Cincy

Interesting times for the Pirates as Austin Meadows has started off like a firecracker and Nick Kingham has shown he can hold his own in the bigs. As of now, Meadows will stay up as long as Starling is out (assuming everyone remains healthy) and The King is again minor league depth.

Interesting because there will be some decisions to made, if not by the deadline then surely during the winter. Assuming Austin gets in a full season and doesn't backtrack, that leaves the Pirates with four starting outfielders. Corey Dickerson, 28, was brought in as Meadows' placeholder, but has played like an All-Star, and his second half will be telling - he had a big dive in production over the dog days last year, but if he stays consistent, the Pirates may eventually have some coin-flipping between him and maybe, though not likely, 26-year-old Gregory Polanco. The Pirates control Dickerson through 2019 and Polanco through 2021.

Corey D...hello, goodbye? (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Kingham is part of a decision tree the Bucs will have fill in. Like several guys, he's a competent back ender, and his ERA of 3.44 (FIP 2.77) and 21 K in 18 IP are pretty nice numbers. The Pirates have to decide the future of Chad Kuhl, who's been prone to stretches of dominance with bursts of self immolation. There's also the case of Tyler Glasnow, who has great stuff and actually hasn't been bad overall. He's given up 15 runs in 22-2/3 IP but 10 them came in two terrible outings lasting 1-2/3 frames. Without those two appearances, his ERA is 2.14 and he has a gaudy 12 K/nine innings. For now, the Pirates seem content to stash him away in the deep recesses of the pen, but that can't last. Ivan Nova is far from indispensable, too.

A wild card in the deck is Jung-Ho Kang and he's still very much an unknown, playing Florida baseball right now.

We don't expect to see any movement except internal until the deadline, when it will be determined if Pittsburgh is a seller or buyer.

Jordy's in his walk year (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

The winter will bring its own challenges. Jordy is in his walk year and theyll listen for J-Hayoffers  (2019-20 are option years), so the middle infield may get a shakedown. Kevin Kramer and Kevin Newman are both playing second at Indy. Pablo Reyes is the SS, with Cole Tucker at Altoona. Whether the Pirates consider them ready will become clear in the winter. The corners are set, with K'Bryan Hayes at Altoona (he'll be at Indy at latest by next year) and Joey O the backups. Freeser and S-Rod will struggle to find a spot in 2019. And Chris Bostick may push Adam Frazier, so the bench dynamic could be entirely different next season. The Pirates have been transitioning since 2016; 2019 may be the final big wave.

Notes:

• Felipe Vazquez turned his ankle slightly yesterday, but thinks it'll be fine for the upcoming Reds series.
• 1B Will Craig of Altoona has picked it up after a slow start and was chosen on this week's MLB Pipeline Prospects of the Week team.
• Out of 15 third baseman selected in the Top Ten of the draft since 1987, most have been money. But not all; Pedro Alvarez ended up 12th of the group by WAR (6.8) per Matt Eddy of Baseball America. And two of those beneath him are recent picks -  Colin Moran is just starting his MLB career and Nick Senzel was expected to be called up by the Reds but has a shoulder injury, so neither has had an opp to stack up WAR yet.