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Prospect Watch: Glasnow Finishes Strong, Harrison and Mercer Begin Rehab

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P2 Top 30

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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P2 Top Performers

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Indianapolis Indians Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes
INDIANAPOLIS- After walking three hitters in 3+ innings, it looked like Tyler Glasnow’s command issues from his previous start were going to continue.  However, Glasnow appeared to hit his groove shortly after and really settled in. Following that rough start, Glasnow retired eight of the final nine hitters that he faced. While he still saw plenty of runners on base, Glasnow was strong in pitching around them, giving up one run over six innings and getting the strikeouts that he needed. He threw 88 pitches in the game, 53 for strikes. In the first inning, he recorded the first pick-off of his career.

Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer played in their first contest each to kick off a Major League rehab assignment. Mercer went 0-for-3 with a pair of ground outs and a strikeout. Harrison picked up a sharp single the other way, but finished 1-for-4 on the night. In his other three at bats, Harrison grounded out twice and popped out.

Keon Broxton earned a seventh inning walk and scored the tying run in the contest to extend his on base streak to 34 games. He also walked in the 11th and scored the winning run. Willy Garcia and Josh Bell continued their recent hot stretches as well with multi-hit efforts each. Garcia picked up a pair of singles to extend his current nine-game hit streak. Bell added his first and second Triple-A doubles and he has a hit in five of his last six contests with three multi-hit efforts. The last of his three hits in this game was a walk-off double.

Brad Lincoln allowed three hits and two runs in relief of Glasnow, while Bobby LaFromboise worked a scoreless inning and Blake Wood struck out three in his two scoreless frames. Josh Wall worked a scoreless 11th, allowing just one hit. – Ryan Palencer

Altoona Curve Prospect Watch

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P2 Game NotesALTOONA- Rob Scahill made a rehab start for the Altoona Curve on Tuesday night. He worked out of the stretch for the whole outing. In three innings pitched, Scahill threw 34 pitches total, 21 of those for strikes.

In the first inning, Scahill allowed two singles to begin the game, both of which were hard hit to left-center field. After the first two hits, batters hit two more line drives right at middle infielders, and the second was turned into a double play at second base. Scahill threw 13 pitches in the first inning, nine of them for strikes.

In the second, Scahill pitched a 1-2-3 inning. He began by working a full count to the first batter only to get a comebacker to the mound for the 1-3 groundout. The second batter flew out to center field, and the third grounded out to the third baseman. In all, he threw seven strikes out of 11 pitches in the second.

In the third inning (his last), Scahill worked a full count to the lead-off batter again only to walk him in this instance. He then got next batter to check swing the first pitch, and Scahill turned a 1-6-3 double play to erase the lead-off walk. Lastly, he induced a groundout to shortstop for his last out.

Overall, Scahill looked a little shaky at the start, but he located his pitches well. His fastball sat between 92-94 MPH, the curveball was in the mid-70s, and his changeup/slider were in the mid-80s. Nothing too surprising to report concerning his speeds, only that his fastball velocity may have been down a tick for his averages this season.

Jason Creasy relieved Rob Scahill in the 4th inning, and immediately allowed a solo home run on his second pitch of the game. He settled down the rest of the 4th and the 5th inning, only to allow a walk, single, and double in the 6th. He then allowed a single, double, and homer in the 7th to total six earned runs given up in four innings. Creasy has not looked good since the beginning of July, boasting a 9.16 ERA since July 2nd.

Creasy walked three batters, and his walk numbers continue to be extremely inflated this season compared to his career numbers. Before tonight’s game, Creasy has a 3.27 BB/9 rate compared to 1.33 last year and 1.99 in 2013. Tonight’s outing will only inflate this years numbers more. Also, his strikeouts (4.12 K/9) are down compared to 2013 (7.98 K/9) and 2014 (6.05 K/9).

Brett McKinney entered the game in the 9th and was only able to get one out and allowed five runs. He now has a 10.18 ERA during his time in Double-A.

Jose Osuna hit his 6th Double-A home run (ten altogether in 2015 including Bradenton). Osuna is now hitting .304 in 60 games for Altoona this season. He also has looked extremely good defensively at first base sine Josh Bell’s promotion to Triple-A. He still has some room to grow and get stronger, so I’d only expect him to get better as he matures.

Barrett Barnes hit the ball extremely well on the night, with only one being labeled a hit after the center fielder got crossed up going backwards towards the wall. He’s only hitting .250 since his promotion to Double-A; however, the bat has looked very good. Max Moroff went 0-for-3 with two walks and is in danger of dropping below .300 with another bad game (batting .301 after tonight). – Sean McCool

Bradenton Marauders Prospect Watch

 

Bradenton was rained out. Doubleheader tomorrow.

West Virginia Power Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

 

The Power offense won this game, as they put together 15 hits, five extra-base hits and nine hits with runners in scoring position. Michael Suchy drove in three runs, connecting on his 29th double and ninth home run. He has driven in 64 runs, second most in the SAL. Jordan Luplow hit his third triple and drove in his 60th run. He had two hits and drew a walk. Coming into this game, both players ranked in the top five in the league in OPS.

Connor Joe had three hits and scored two runs. Elvis Escobar had three hits and also scored a run when he stole home. Taylor Gushue had two hits, giving him two hits in five of his last six games. Kevin Newman is 2-for-9 in his first two games with West Virginia, though he scored two runs on Monday and drove in two runs on Tuesday.

Starter Alex McRae gave up four runs on ten hits over six innings. That has been fairly typical of his season, as he came into this game with a 5.07 ERA and a .281 BAA. He did excel in one area, getting 12 ground ball outs.

West Virginia Black Bears Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

JT Brubaker came into Tuesday night with four straight shutout appearances, which covered 21 innings. He could not keep that impressive streak going, as he allowed two runs in the second and another two in the fourth. He did not have good control in this game and got hit hard when he did throw strikes. Brubaker allowed seven hits in his four innings and only 36 of his 69 pitches went for strikes. Eric Dorsch had an impressive relief outing, throwing three perfect innings.

On offense, Morgantown had seven singles, two walks and 12 strikeouts. Logan Hill had two hits and scored a run. He has a ten-game hit streak and a 14-game on base streak. Hill stole his ninth base of the season. Ty Moore had a single, walked and scored a run, while Casey Hughston and Ryan Nagle each went 1-for-4 with an RBI. Mitchell Tolman is 15-for-35(.429) in his last nine games. He’s been hitting in the lead-off spot since Kevin Newman was promoted.

 

Bristol Pirates Prospect Watch1

Bristol had a doubleheader rained out on Tuesday. They will play a doubleheader Wednesday.

 

GCL Pirates Prospect Watch
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P2 Game Notes

Game One: The Pirates started 19th round draft pick Ike Schlabach in this game, making his pro debut. He was just the second high school player taken by the Pirates in this year’s draft, with the first being first round pick Ke’Bryan Hayes. Schlabach is a tall, 18-year-old lefty, who touches low 90’s with his fastball and has plenty of room to fill out, so there is huge potential upside. He has been throwing on the side since signing, and a couple weeks ago they didn’t know if he would see any game action until the Fall Instructional League.

Schlabach’s on a very limited pitch count now and went two innings in his debut, giving up one hit and an unearned run. The hit was a single from the first batter, who moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on a throwing error from catcher Yoel Gonzalez. Schlabach retired the last five batters on two strikeouts, two ground outs and line out to second base.

Adrian Valerio seems to be getting back on track. He was hitting well at the beginning of the year, then fell into a bad slump for three weeks. He hit .091 during a 20-game stretch, which was actually helped out a few days ago when he picked up a hit in a suspended game from earlier in the season. Counting the suspended game, he has reached base in five straight games, after a single and a walk in this contest.

Edison Lantigua has also been in a slump, but his has been over the whole season. He was named one of the top 20 prospects from the DSL/VSL last year and we named him the top prospect on the 2014 DSL team after receiving great scouting reports, plus his strong stats at an early age. He hit a second inning homer in this game, his second round-tripper of the season. Through 23 games, he’s hitting .200 and has drawn just two walks. The low average/stats could be in part due to a thumb injury that sidelined him earlier, but the plate patience needs to improve.

Ke’Bryan Hayes reached base for the 11th straight game with a first inning single. Victor Fernandez stole two bases, making him 11-for-11 in steals this year. He had the only multi-hit game for the Pirates in this contest. Christian Mota allowed three runs in the sixth to take the 4-3 loss. Stephan Meyer threw two shutout innings in his third game for the GCL. This year’s 18th round pick missed a full month with a back injury.

Game Two: It didn’t take long for the two aforementioned streaks to get extended, with Adrian Valerio hitting his eighth double of the season in the first, followed by a Ke’Bryan Hayes walk. Hayes stole his sixth base and finished the day with a .367 average, which leads the GCL. He started the day with the highest OPS in the league, but by the end of the doubleheader he fell behind Cesar Diaz, a player that is four years older than Hayes. Victor Fernandez and Edison Lantigua hit back-to-back doubles in the fourth inning for the Pirates’ only run. The double from Fernandez was his eighth of the year.

Nestor Oronel started and breezed through the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth and fifth. He allowed three runs over 4.1 innings. The 18-year-old lefty has a 4.56 ERA in 25.2 innings this season. Luis Benitez had three hits, though two were infield singles and he was thrown out stealing twice.

DSL Pirates Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

The DSL Pirates won 5-4 on Tuesday behind some strong starting pitching from 17-year-old lefty Domingo Robles. He has been pitching well lately, throwing nine innings without an earned run over his last two starts. He didn’t throw shutout ball in this game, but he limited the Rangers to two runs. Robles struck out five batters, tying his career high.

We have talked a lot about Julian Villamar recently because he is an overpowering reliever when he is on, which he has been a lot recently. Unfortunately, he also has major control issues and they showed up in this game. He faced five batters and walked four of them. He has shown improvements over last year, but he still has a long way to go.

The offense put together 11 hits, with Rudy Guzman collecting two singles and a double. He scored twice and stole a base. Guzman is only in the DSL due to visa issues, otherwise he could be as high as West Virginia by now. He’s a talented outfielder, but he has no identification or records from when he was young, so he hasn’t been allowed to go to the U.S. the last two years.

Shortstop Kyle Simmons had two hits and scored two runs. The 18-year-old from the Bahamas went 2-for-16 in his first five games before Tuesday. He was signed on July 2nd, which is rare for a July 2nd signing to make his debut the same year he signs. Most sign contracts that begin the following season and the spend time before that training in the Dominican academy.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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