TOP OF THE SYSTEM
A look at how the current top 20 prospects did today. Note that this list doesn’t include players currently in the majors (Stolmy Pimentel #13). If a player is in the majors, he will be removed, everyone below him will be shifted up a spot, and a new player will be added to the bottom of the list. If a player is out for the season (Jameson Taillon #2, Clay Holmes #12), he will be removed and everyone below him will move up a spot. Removing these guys doesn’t mean they have lost prospect status. It is just an attempt to get 20 active prospects on the list. Rankings are from the 2014 Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Gregory Polanco, CF, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, 2B, 2 BB
2. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Bradenton – 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 0 HR
3. Austin Meadows, CF, West Virginia – Disabled List (4/22 Update)
4. Alen Hanson, SS, Altoona – 0-for-4
5. Nick Kingham, RHP, Altoona – DNP
6. Reese McGuire, C, West Virginia – 1-for-4
7. Josh Bell, RF, Bradenton – 2-for-4
8. Luis Heredia, RHP, West Virginia Power – Disabled List (4/22 Update)
9. Harold Ramirez, OF, West Virginia – Disabled List (4/14 Update)
10. Tony Sanchez, C, Indianapolis – 0-for-4, BB
11. Andrew Lambo, OF, Indianapolis – 2-for-4, 2B, BB
12. Joely Rodriguez, LHP, Altoona – 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
13. Blake Taylor, LHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
14. Cody Dickson, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
15. Barrett Barnes, CF, West Virginia – Disabled List (4/14 Update)
16. JaCoby Jones, SS, West Virginia – 2-for-5, 2B
17. Michael De La Cruz, OF, Extended Spring Training – DNP
18. Wyatt Mathisen, 3B, West Virginia – 2-for-4
19. Jin-De Jhang, C, Bradenton – DNP
20. Casey Sadler, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
ORDER YOUR 2014 PROSPECT GUIDE
The 2014 Prospect Guide is now available, and is the perfect resource to follow the minor league system during the 2014 season. You can order your copy on the products page of the site.
DAILY SUMMARY
Top Hitter: Eric Wood, 3B – 2-for-3, HR
Home Runs: Matt Hague (3), Eric Wood (1)
AAA: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
Result: Toledo 7, Indianapolis 6
Starting Pitcher: Jake Brigham, RHP – 6.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 1 HR
Top Hitter: Matt Hague, 3B – 1-for-5, HR
Other Notable Performers:
Gregory Polanco, RF – 1-for-3, 2B, 2 BB
Andrew Lambo, DH – 2-for-4, 2B, BB
Game Notes: Matt Hague picked up his second homer of the year, hitting a three run shot with two outs in the fourth inning. Gregory Polanco continued his hitting, going 1-for-3 with two walks. He has shown very few weaknesses with his game, although one area of struggles has been his base running. Polanco was caught stealing tonight, making him 4-for-8 in stolen bases. The caught stealing was a result of a pick off, and Polanco has had at least three of those in the young season. It does show that Polanco is still human, and still has a few things to iron out, despite being off the charts with his bat. Andrew Lambo went 2-for-4 with his seventh double of the year. Phil Irwin gave up one earned run on five hits in 3.2 innings in relief.
AA: ALTOONA CURVE
Result: Altoona 5, Akron 3
Starting Pitcher: Joely Rodriguez, LHP – 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Top Hitter: Gift Ngoepe, 2B – 1-for-3, 2B, BB, SB
Other Notable Performers:
Mel Rojas, CF – 1-for-4, 3B
Game Notes: Joely Rodriguez went six innings, giving up one earned runs with no walks. Rodriguez hasn’t had the best start to his Double-A career, struggling in his last two outings. He gave up two runs in six innings in his first start, but combined for eight earned runs in 7.1 innings over the next two outings. This was a much better result. He could use more strikeouts going forward, as he only has a 6:6 K/BB ratio in 19.1 innings. Gift Ngoepe picked up his fifth double of the year and stole his first base of the year. Stetson Allie went 0-for-3, breaking his streak of homering in three straight games.
A+: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
Result: St. Lucie 13, Bradenton 4
Starting Pitcher: Tyler Glasnow, RHP – 5.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 0 HR
Top Hitter: Eric Wood, 3B – 2-for-3, HR
Other Notable Performers:
Max Moroff, 2B – 2-for-3, 2 SB
Josh Bell, DH – 2-for-4
Jonathan Schwind, LF – 2-for-4, SB
Game Notes: Tyler Glasnow made his 2014 debut, and his High-A debut, throwing five shutout innings and striking out six. Glasnow did walk three batters, but only gave up two hits. Last year he dominated in Low-A, with a ton of strikeouts, and not a lot of hits, but also too many walks. As he moves up, it is going to be harder to be successful with the walks, as the hits will come against upper level hitters. Eric Wood hit his first homer of the year. The third baseman is off to a good start, going 8-for-21 with two doubles and a homer. Josh Bell, Max Moroff, and Jonathan Schwind also had two hits each.
A: WEST VIRGINIA POWER
Result: Hagerstown 7, West Virginia 5
Starting Pitcher: Justin Topa, RHP – 5.2 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR
Top Hitter: JaCoby Jones, SS – 2-for-5, 2B
Other Notable Performers:
Erich Weiss, 2B – 2-for-5
Wyatt Mathisen, 3B – 2-for-4
Reese McGuire, DH – 1-for-4
Game Notes: Justin Topa got the start today, taking the spot of the injured Luis Heredia. Topa was a 17th round pick last year out of college, and has a fastball that tops out at 95-96 MPH. If he has a future in the majors, it will be as a reliever, but he’s getting a shot as a long-reliever/additional starter for now. Tonight he was hurt by the long ball, with three of his four runs coming off home runs. JaCoby Jones had his second straight multi-hit day. Erich Weiss also had his second straight day with two hits.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Glad to see Wood, Weiss, Allie, Sampson, and Jones off to good starts this season. Hopefully Glasnow, Bell, Reese, and Wyatt can do the same.
Not liking the issues with Meadows…reminding me of Barnes too much.
Tim, is there a question of the training staff in WV that Meadows, Barnes, AND Ramirez are all dealing with hamstring issues? Or is just plain old bad luck?
Meadows hurt his in FL, Barnes has a history of them, and Ramirez hurt his after a couple of days in WV so it’s not the WV training staff
Barnes issues kind of remind me of what Jose Reyes struggled with as a prospect and as he was getting to the big leagues but he’s obviously overcome them so lets hope Barnes can too
Let’s say (optimistically…very) that Allie is maturing and playing at his potential with decent pitch recog. Any chance he’d get an end of year push to Indy with a similar end of year cup o’joe at the end of 2015? He could start 2016 in AAA and up to MLB in June.
That timeline would allow him to get his feet under him at AAA w/ a taste of the bigs, just as Ike is ready to leave via FA.