Super two: Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon are ruling Triple-A

As of this writing, the Pittsburgh Pirates trail first-place Chicago by eight games in the N.L. Central. The division is probably a lost cause, because the Cubs are clearly the most powerful collection of humans ever assembled for a common purpose. But a postseason berth is very much in play for Pittsburgh, as the Bucs are only 1.5 games out of a wild card spot.

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We mention the Pirates' playoff positioning not because anyone around here has a rooting interest in the team, but because some of us have fantasy investments in two of the club's top prospects, right-handed starters Tyler Glasnow and Jameson Taillon. Both pitchers entered the year ranked among baseball's top minor league arms according to pretty much every source for such ranks. Here's how the duo has performed this season at Triple-A Indianapolis:

Glasnow – 6 G, 33.0 IP, 13 BB, 48 Ks, 1.64 ERA, 1.77 FIP, 1.03 WHIP
Taillon – 6 G, 37.1 IP, 4 BB, 32 Ks, 1.69 ERA, 2.14 FIP, 0.78 WHIP

Badasses, basically. Both of them. It probably won't surprise you to learn that Glasnow leads his level in strikeouts and in K-percentage (37.5). He and Taillon have been ridiculous. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh's big league rotation currently includes this pair of sketchy left-handed veterans:

Jonathon Niese – 7 G, 40.0 IP, 15 BB, 29 Ks, 5.63 ERA, 6.24 FIP, 1.60 WHIP
Jeff Locke – 6 G, 32.2 IP, 19 BB, 22 Ks, 4.68 ERA, 4.69 FIP, 1.68 WHIP

Without question, the two prospects have been facing a very different level of competition than the vets, so it's not fair to make a direct stat-for-stat comparison. Also, the Bucs have won six games and lost seven with Locke and Niese on the hill — not good, yet not completely disastrous. Almost tolerable.

Still, it remains awfully tough to believe that Glasnow — a 6-foot-8 flamethrower with knee-buckling curve — wouldn't be a substantial upgrade over a low-velo starter with a WHIP north of 1.60. Taillon is two years older than Glasnow, but he was sidelined by health issues in 2014 (Tommy John) and 2015 (hernia surgery). He, too, has excellent fastball velocity, as well as MLB-ready secondary pitches and stellar control. It's entirely possible that Taillon could be the first of these two elite prospects to arrive in the bigs, though workload and stamina are concerns following the long layoff. In any case, both of these guys can very clearly help the cause of a team that's lurking just outside the postseason picture.

So why, exactly, are they still pitching in Indy? When will Taillon and Glasnow arrive in the majors?

As most of you know, the answer has only a little to do with player development and readiness, and a lot to do with service time, dollars, arbitration and other weeds into which we're not gonna wander. Here's a link to an explanation of the super-two rules, if you're interested. For business-of-baseball reasons (rather than on-field reasons), it's likely we won't see these guys for a month, probably not until mid-to-late-June. And this happens every year, somewhere. It's more a baseball problem than a Pirates problem; we're not here to assign blame.

Instead, our very simple purpose today is to issue a last call on these guys for fantasy purposes. Glasnow is still available in 60 percent of Yahoo leagues; Taillon is un-owned in 95 percent. One or both will be pitching for Pittsburgh very soon, and they will be fantasy relevant. It's tough to imagine Glasnow not delivering a K per inning in the N.L., along with useful ratios. Glasnow struck out 136 batters in 109.1 innings last season, 157 in 124.1 frames the year before, 164 in 111.1 inn—

Well, you get it. He's dominant. Taillon, too. You want 'em. Get 'em now, while they're cheap.