Pittsburgh Pirates to Promote RHP Chad Kuhl, Will Start Sunday

The Pittsburgh Pirates needed a starter for Sunday’s against the Dodgers, and it appears they have their man in 23-year-old right-handed pitching prospect Chad Kuhl. 

Chad Kuhl is currently with the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park, and though no official announcement has been made by the team, it is being reported that he will make his Major League Debut tomorrow night against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw.

There has been talk lately that the Pirates should consider calling up Tyler Glasnow — their number one prospect according to Baseball America and just about everyone else — but they will instead opt for Kuhl, who is not one of Baseball America’s top-10 Pirates prospects.

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Kuhl is a 23-year-old righty who was drafted in the 9th round in 2013 out of the University of Delaware. And while he may not be one of the Pirates 10 best prospects, he has certainly performed better than your typical 9th rounder, pitching well at just about every stop, and moving up quickly. He had been spending a year at every level — Low-A ball in 2013 after being drafted, High-A ball in 2014, his first full season, Double-A last year, and then Triple-A for his first 14 starts of this year – before getting this call.

Kuhl has had a sub-3 ERA in three of his four stops, including this year in Triple-A, as he’s posted a 2.58 ERA in 76 2/3 innings for the Indianapolis Indians. However, his Fielding Independent Pitching has been consistently higher than his ERA throughout his minor league career, which has continued this year with his 3.89 FIP. This is primarily due to the fact that he doesn’t strike many hitters out, and as such likely relies on trying to induce weak contact. FIP is generally a better indicator of future performance than ERA, so that is something to keep an eye on.

That said, just as ERA is imperfect, so is FIP. There are some pitchers who are able to “beat” their FIP because of the kind of contact they give up, so this isn’t a guarantee. I can’t say Chad Kuhl will continue to be one of those pitchers — chances are he won’t — but it’s too early to tell either way.

Kuhl isn’t as exciting as Glasnow would be, but expect a guy who is going to go out and throw strikes (he is walking fewer than two batters per nine innings in Triple-A, and has been under 2.50 at every other level as well) and, if all goes right, keep the ball off the barrel enough to get weak contact and let his defense do their job.

Next: Can Taillon and Glasnow Play Savior?

Who knows though; he has already defied expectations at every level, so maybe that will continue in the big leagues.