Prospect Watch: Locke and Glasnow Pitch Well; Three Hits For Polanco

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 – 3-for-4, BB, SB

2. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Bradenton – 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 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 – 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 0 HR

6. Reese McGuire, C, West Virginia – 1-for-4

7. Josh Bell, RF, Bradenton – 1-for-4

8. Luis Heredia, RHP, West Virginia Power – Disabled List (4/22 Update)

9. Harold Ramirez, OF, West Virginia – 1-for-4

10. Andrew Lambo, OF, Indianapolis – Disabled List (5/7 Update)

11. Joely Rodriguez, LHP, Altoona – DNP

12. Blake Taylor, LHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP

13. Cody Dickson, LHP, West Virginia – 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 0 HR

14. Barrett Barnes, CF, West Virginia – Disabled List (4/14 Update)

15. JaCoby Jones, SS, West Virginia – 0-for-4

16. Michael De La Cruz, OF, Extended Spring Training – DNP

17. Wyatt Mathisen, 3B, West Virginia – 1-for-4

18. Jin-De Jhang, C, Bradenton – DNP

19. Brandon Cumpton, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

20. Casey Sadler, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

 

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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 Pitcher: Jeff Locke, LHP – 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 0 HR

Top Hitter: Chris Dickerson, CF – 3-for-4, HR

Home Runs: Chris Dickerson (3)

 

AAA: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS    

Box Score

Result: Indianapolis 6, Pawtucket 5

Starting Pitcher: Jeff Locke, LHP – 7.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 0 HR

Top Hitter: Chris Dickerson, CF – 3-for-4, HR

Other Notable Performers:

Gregory Polanco, RF – 3-for-4, BB, SB

Chris McGuiness, 1B – 2-for-4, BB

Game Notes: Jeff Locke pitched a gem tonight, throwing seven shutout innings, with one hit allowed, three walks, and five strikeouts. In his two starts since returning to the minors, he has given up two earned runs in 14 innings of work, along with seven hits, five walks, and ten strikeouts. Indianapolis won in walk off fashion after a three run ninth inning. Gregory Polanco and Chris Dickerson each had RBI singles, and Indianapolis won on a Chris McGuiness single to score Polanco.

 

AA: ALTOONA CURVE

Box Score

Result: Richmond 2, Altoona 1

Starting Pitcher: Nick Kingham, RHP – 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, 0 HR

Top Hitter: Drew Maggi, 2B – 2-for-3, 2B

Other Notable Performers:

Keon Broxton, LF – 1-for-4, 2B

Game Notes: The skidding Curve dropped their 3rd in a row tonight, with a 2-1 loss to Richmond. Top prospects Nick Kingham and Kyle Crick toed the rubber for the Curve and Flying Squirrels. The game lived up to the pitching duel that it was headlined to be.

Kingham maintained 90-92 MPH for almost his entire 6 IP, dropping down into the high 80’s for a handful of pitches in the 6th. He did continue to struggle with his command early surrendering his 3 unintentional walks in the first 3 innings. Kingham changed gears after the 3rd however, generating 5 of his 9 groundouts, as well as 2 of his 4 strikeouts for the night in innings 4 through 6. The only runs Kingham allowed were generated from an Angel Villalona single in the 3rd that scored 2.

The Altoona offense looked completely different from their last outing against Crick. Baseball America’s #33 prospect only allowed 3 Curve hitters to reach base, in the form of a Drew Maggi single, a Justin Howard single, and a walk to pinch hitter Willy Garcia. Keon Broxton contributed an RBI double in the 7th after Crick’s departure, and Drew Maggi collected 3 bases on 2 hits, but not much more of note happened tonight for the Curve offense. – John Kokales

 

A+: BRADENTON MARAUDERS   

Box Score

Result: Dunedin 3, Bradenton 2

Starting Pitcher: Tyler Glasnow, RHP – 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 0 HR

Top Hitter: Raul Fortunato, LF – 1-for-3, SB

Other Notable Performers:

Max Moroff, 2B – 1-for-4, 2B

Game Notes: Tyler Glasnow had a much better start compared to his last time out. He still worked heavy with the fastball, throwing it in 66 of his 83 pitches. His control was a little bit better, especially early in the game. In previous outings, Glasnow has struggled with his control early in the game. He had some control problems in the middle innings, but his early work was dominant — working fast with a 93-96 MPH fastball, and getting quick outs. Last time I saw him, he allowed six stolen bases. Tonight he did a better job in that regard, going 1-for-2 in the stolen base department. That could just be because Dunedin wasn’t running as much, so I wouldn’t chalk it up to him fixing the problem just yet. The one run Glasnow allowed was due to what should have been ruled an error on third baseman Eric Wood.

Josh Bell’s swing looks bad from the right side. He often looks off balanced and awkward, almost like he’s just learning how to swing a bat from that side of the plate. He had a few nice swings tonight, but the majority of them were the cringe-worthy type. His one hit was an infield single, and was a questionable call at first base. That extended his hitting streak to ten games. He did hit a hard line drive to the shortstop on one of his nicer swings of the night. He’s got a .603 OPS against left-handers this year, and the swing from the right side does a good job of explaining why.

 

A: WEST VIRGINIA POWER   

Box Score

Result: Augusta 2, West Virginia 1

Starting Pitcher: Cody Dickson, LHP – 5.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 0 HR

Top Hitter: Reese McGuire, DH – 1-for-4

Other Notable Performers:

Harold Ramirez, RF – 1-for-4

Wyatt Mathisen, 3B – 1-for-4

Game Notes: The West Virginia offense didn’t do much tonight, getting just five hits, and all of them singles. Reese McGuire picked up a hit, extending his hitting streak to nine games. Harold Ramirez extended his hitting streak to six games, getting a hit in each of his games since returning from the disabled list. Wyatt Mathisen continued a hot month of May, in which he is hitting for a .300/.354/.517 line in 60 at-bats. Cody Dickson continued his struggles with the walks, and now has 16 walks in 38.1 innings this year.

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.

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Lee Young

I wonder how long they’re going to let Bell swing RH? It may be time to hit LHPs as a LHB?

John Dreker

Tim did a good job of describing what I saw last year from Bell. Here was my write-up, along with the opinions of three other people in the press box who seemed to question whether he had ever hit right-handed before http://18.206.184.11/2013/08/prospect-notebook-can-josh-bell-be-a-future-power-hitter-in-the-majors.html

leowalter

Kingham did pitch exactly as you have it here Tim. I thought the first 3 innings his command was as shaky as the first 2 home starts of his I saw,but then he looked like a different pitcher after that. If Cunningham had made a play in that 2 run inning,he might have even got out of that,though his 2 BB helped load the bases. Kingham just doesn’t look as consistent with his command yet this season as he did when he came up last year.

leowalter

Sorry,I didn’t realize he was covering it in person. At least I didn’t see anything different than John did !

leowalter

I see. Thanks for pointing that out.

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