A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. Note that this list doesn’t include players currently in the majors. 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 (Nick Kingham, Jacob Taylor), 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 30 active prospects on the list. Rankings are from the mid-season update, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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2. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List
3. Austin Meadows, CF, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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4. Josh Bell, 1B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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5. Alen Hanson, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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6. Reese McGuire, C, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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7. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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8. Harold Ramirez, OF, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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9. Cole Tucker, SS, West Virginia – Disabled List
10. Kevin Newman, SS, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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11. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, GCL -[insert_php]
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12. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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13. Clay Holmes, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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14. Stephen Tarpley, LHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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15. Max Moroff, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php]
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16. Barrett Barnes, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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17. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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18. Trey Supak, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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19. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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20. Adam Frazier, SS, Altoona -[insert_php]
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21. Willy Garcia, OF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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22. Steven Brault, LHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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23. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Morgantown -[insert_php]
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24. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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25. Adrian Valerio, SS, GCL -[insert_php]
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26. Connor Joe, 1B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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27. John Holdzkom, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List
28. Jordan Luplow, 3B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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29. Casey Hughston, OF, Morgantown -[insert_php]
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30. Billy Roth, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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Game was postponed due to rain. They will play a doubleheader tomorrow.
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ALTOONA– Steven Brault turned in another solid outing for the Curve. Even though it seemed obvious he did not have his best stuff throughout the night, he was still able to get timely outs and limit damage. He did scatter seven hits through 6.1 innings, with all singles except for a triple down the right field line in the 5th. He also struck out five batters compared to only one walk, and he has a 69:16 SO:BB ratio since joining the Curve. In Brault’s last seven starts for Altoona, he has turned in a 6-0 record with a 1.25 ERA. In his only non-decision, Brault handed the Curve a lead after seven innings, and Jhondaniel Medina lost the game in the 9th.
During a scary moment in the 3rd inning, Brault was hit in his left (throwing) arm by a line drive. His initial reaction did not look good, as Brault threw his glove to the ground and grabbed his arm. After a few moments with the trainer and throwing two pitches, he declared himself healthy enough to continue on. He allowed a single to the next batter but struck out the final two batters to end the inning. There shouldn’t be any worry that the injury is more than a bruise, and it hit him directly on his left biceps.
Even after being hit, Brault still showed a consistent velocity, between 90-91 on his fastball and down to around 80 with his curveball. He continues to work extremely well on the inside to both sides of the plate, using location as his keep component to success.
The Curve were able to score six runs in the second inning. It began with the Curve doing an extremely good job manufacturing a run. Barrett Barnes began with a double down the left field line, followed by a great bunt by Mel Rojas Jr. past the pitcher to the third baseman. The third baseman’s only play was to first so the runner moved over easily (Rojas made it to first on an E5). Lastly, Jacob Stallings drove a fly ball to opposite/right field for the easy sacrifice, which allowed Rojas Jr. to move to second as well. The second inning continued with a couple of 2-run scoring doubles by Jose Osuna and Jon Schwind.
Adam Frazier and Barrett Barnes were the only Curve players to record multiple hits this evening, with Barnes blasting a solo shot over the left field bleachers in the 8th inning. Finally, Adam Frazier has qualified for the batting race, and he leads the league in batting at .322. Max Moroff comes in at seventh in the league with a .300 batting average, but he was only able to record one at-bat tonight, a strikeout, combined with three walks.- Sean McCool
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Bradenton bats didn’t show up in this game, as the Marauders lost 1-0 and hurt their slim playoff hopes. They came into today four games back and they now have 15 games left, although six are against first place Palm Beach. Felipe Gonzalez threw five shutout innings, his longest outing without allowing a run this season. He’s been used as a spot starter, long and short relief, racking up 88.2 innings over 35 appearances. Dovydas Neverauskas threw two shutout innings and he hasn’t allowed an earned run in 25.1 innings, covering 13 appearances, dating back to early July.
The offense had just three hits, all singles. Justin Maffei had one of those hits and he drew the only walk. Austin Meadows picked up his 140th base hit. Chris Diaz collected the other single. Harold Ramirez went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. His average has dropped 20 points in the last seven games. Reese McGuire went 0-for-3 and he’s now 5-for-35 in his last 11 games.
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Stephen Tarpley finally has enough innings to qualify for the league leaders after tonight, but he saw his season ERA go up 43 points in this game. For just the third time all season, he gave up more than two earned runs in a game, reaching a season high of six runs in this outing. About the only good thing that came from this outing was his zero walks and eight strikeouts. He went 5.1 innings, breaking a streak of six straight starts of at least six innings. The ten hits allowed ties a career high and the homer he surrendered was just the second of the season.
Elvis Escobar and Pablo Reyes provided almost all the offense in this game. Both drove in two runs and Reyes scored twice. Escobar raised his average to .301 with two doubles, giving him 25 on the year. He also drew a walk, but negated that with his 21st caught stealing of the season. He has eight multi-hit games in his last 14 contests. Escobar also picked up an outfield assist. Reyes stole his 22nd base on the year and he hit his 19th double. He is 14-for-33 in his last ten games. Taylor Gushue hit his 14th double. Kevin Newman went 0-for-5, giving him a .220 average in his first nine games with West Virginia.
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Brandon Waddell made his third pro start and it didn’t go as well as the other two outings, but there were a couple good things to take away. He gave up three runs over four innings, allowing a solo run in each of his last three frames. Waddell gave up four hits and walked two, plus he threw a wild pitch. The good parts to his game were his four strikeouts and seven ground ball outs. That’s a nice continuation of his first two games in which he had seven strikeouts in seven innings and posted a 3.00 GO/AO ratio. The Pirates’ fifth round pick from this year got a late start due to leading his team to the College World Series title. After taking a break for two weeks before signing, he had to build his innings back up, so he should be able to go five innings next time out.
While one early draft pick had an off-night, another had his best game as a pro. Second round pick Kevin Kramer had four hits and scored three runs. He raised his average 17 points in this game to .278, and he picked up his second triple. He has now reached base in 12 straight games. All-Star Danny Arribas had two hits and drove in two runs. Catcher Christian Kelley has been on a nice streak recently, after starting the season very slow. He extended his hit streak to six games, going 2-for-2 with a walk and an RBI in this contest.
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Bill Roth gave up three earned runs on 11 hits in his last outing, so Thursday night ended up being a nice bounce back performance for him. In five innings of work, he allowed one run on five hits and a walk, striking out four batters. Roth has shown a very nice improvement in his command over last season with Bristol. In 45 innings last year, he issued 33 walks. He now has 44.1 innings and his walk in this game was his 16th of the season, cutting his walk rate in half. That has led to more innings this year per outing, as he made 11 starts and three relief outings to get to where he is in ten starts this year. Roth also allowed seven homers last season and just two so far this year.
Bristol lost 5-1 with the only run coming from a solo homer from Carlos Munoz, his tenth of the season. He’s 3-for-22 in his last seven games, so that homer could possibly help him get out of his recent slide. Munoz broke up a no-hitter with one out in the seventh with that homer. Erik Lunde had the only other hit for Bristol, picking up an eighth inning single. In that eighth inning, the Pirates saw Lunde get erased on a double play, then Henrry Rosario was thrown out stealing after reaching on a hit-by-pitch.
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The GCL Pirates are crawling to the finish line this season, now 2-9 in their last 11 games after briefly holding(tied) the top spot in their division. It looked like playoffs were possible, but they have now dropped six back with ten left in their schedule. They have two doubleheaders over the next two days, so they could be eliminated by Saturday. The Pirates lost 1-0 in Thursday’s game, getting some decent pitching and no offense. They had four hits and one walk, plus two runners were erased on the bases.
Ke’Bryan Hayes had a single in four trips to the plate. He also stole his seventh base of the year. His .343 average has him one point behind the league leader. Victor Fernandez had a single and stole his 15th base. Sam Kennelly and Eric Thomas had the other two hits, both singles.
The Pirates got some good news in this game, as Michael de la Cruz was in the lineup. He was removed early from Tuesday’s game due to a hamstring tweak, then he sat out on Wednesday. With the season ending next Saturday, it was good to see him return to the lineup quickly. He didn’t have a great game, going 0-for-3 with three strikeouts, but he walked once and had an outfield assist.
Shane Kemp started the game and allowed one run over five innings, giving up seven hits and a walk, while striking out three batters. He had a 3:6 GO/AO ratio, which is something you don’t like to see. Nick Hutchings came in next for his third appearance this year and threw three scoreless innings. The 19-year-old from Australia missed most of the season due to a shoulder injury suffered last fall during the instructional league.
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The DSL Pirates lost 10-5 on Thursday, as their season has just two games left. Starter Argenis Romano was just one start removed from his best career outing, allowing two hits over five shutout innings back on August 8th. This game was probably his worst, with seven earned runs over four innings. He finished his rookie season with a 4.99 ERA in 57.2 innings, making eight starts and seven relief appearances.
Reliever Julian Villamar made his last outing count, with five strikeouts over three innings. He gave up two runs, but both were unearned. He finishes with a 3.95 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 41 innings. The control looks bad with 38 walks and five hit batters, but it’s an improvement over last year when he walked 29 in 26 innings and hit six batters. Not only was that area slightly improved, he knocked 113 points off his BAA from last year, going from .302 down to .189 this season. Finally, he finished the year without allowing a home run. He throws hard(sits mid-90’s) and has a plus curve that breaks hard when it’s on, so if he can continue to improve his control, you could have a strong bullpen arm down the line.
Catcher Gabriel Brito continues to hit well, which is a great sign for a team sorely lacking in legit prospects. He has reached base in 16 straight games, raising his batting average up to .297, while posting an .837 OPS. Jeremias Portorreal has had a tough second season in the DSL, though he was on a streak of drawing walks during the middle of the year that helped his overall numbers. He is batting .220 on the season after collecting his seventh double and seventh triple in this game. Huascar Fuentes hit his sixth homer and Jesus Ronco, the only fourth year player on the team, hit his first pro homer.
There is a strong chance Ronco’s career ends on Saturday, as four years is the limit in the league and he’s never shown any signs of being a prospect. A couple years ago, the Pirates brought over catcher Carlos Marquez to be the 3rd/4th catcher in the GCL, but teams usually don’t go through the trouble of getting visas for bench players, who have little chance of making is past the GCL.
