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, 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 2016 prospect guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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2. Austin Meadows, CF, Altoona – [insert_php]
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3. Josh Bell, 1B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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4. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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5. Alen Hanson, 2B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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6. Harold Ramirez, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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7. Reese McGuire, C, Altoona -[insert_php]
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8. Elias Diaz, C, Pirates – Disabled List.
9. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List
10. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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11. Kevin Newman, SS, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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12. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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13. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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14. Stephen Tarpley, LHP, Bradenton – Extended Spring Training
15.Cole Tucker, SS, West Virginia – Disabled List
16. Chad Kuhl, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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17. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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18. Mitch Keller, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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19. Clay Holmes, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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20. Willy Garcia, OF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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21. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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22. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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23. Barrett Barnes, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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25. Gage Hinsz, RHP, – Extended Spring Training
26. Adrian Valerio, SS, – Extended Spring Training
27. Adam Frazier, INF/OF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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28. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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29. Jordan Luplow, OF/3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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30. JT Brubaker, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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Tyler Glasnow made his fourth start of the season on Tuesday afternoon. He came into the game with a 3.60 ERA over 15 innings, with 13 hits, six walks and 19 strikeouts. I’ll note that the game has a still camera from far behind home plate that made it tough to see location and movement, so we can go in another direction with this recap because the radar gun was in view the whole time. He threw 15 pitches in the first inning, 11 for strikes. His fastball was 94-97, hitting that higher mark five times. He threw three curves (77-80), all for strikes, and had two 90-91 MPH changes that were fouled off. Glasnow retired the side in order and got strikeouts swinging on 97 (FB) and 79 (CV). It was a very impressive inning.
In the second inning, Glasnow hit 98 MPH with his fastball once. He threw 16 pitches in this frame, ten for strikes. His change was used twice again, get a swing and miss once, and a foul the other time. He only threw two curves and both missed the zone. He picked up two more strikeouts and got a lazy fly to center field, retiring the first six batters he faced. The fact that he threw four changes in the first two innings is great, especially since they were all strikes. The issue seems to be the separation in speed. It wouldn’t be bad if he was sitting 97-98 MPH this inning, then a 90-92 change-up would be fine, but he had a couple 93-94 MPH fastballs this inning.
In the third inning, Glasnow didn’t have the velocity of the previous innings, but he still picked up two strikeouts. He threw 14 pitches, nine for strikes. The fastball was 92-94, hitting 96 once, which got the first batter looking for his fifth strikeout of the game. The second strikeout came on a swinging miss on an 80 MPH curve, the first curve he threw for a strike since the first inning. He threw two more change-ups. Through three innings, he allowed one single, no walks and had six strikeouts on 45 pitches, 30 for strikes.
The fourth was much like the first three innings. His pitch count was 15, with eight strikes. He walked one batter and missed the zone on six straight pitches. The fastball was 93-95 and he got two strikeouts. The first strikeout came on the batter looking at an 80 MPH curve. The second was 95 MPH swinging. He got the last out on an 89 MPH change-up, which was a ground out to shortstop. He threw the change four times total, also getting two foul balls to go with the grounder.
The fifth was nearly a six pitch inning, as Glasnow got a grounder to first, foul out to catcher and a grounder to shortstop that Gift Ngoepe couldn’t make the tough play on. He had to throw six more pitches to get out of the frame, ending the inning with a strikeout on a check swing from Jake Goebbert. The grounder to first base was on the only change he threw. The strikeout was on a curve, though he missed on his six previous curves.
For the first time, Glasnow worked into the sixth inning. He battled the first batter, using all of his pitches before finally striking him out on the ninth pitch, a 94 MPH fastball. The next batter grounded out on a change-up and Glasnow finished his day with a strikeout on a 79 MPH curve. He threw 87 pitches total, 56 for strikes. In six shutout innings, he allowed two hits, one walk, and struck out 11 batters.
This was basically the best Glasnow has ever looked because he got great results with all three pitches. The usage of and success of his change-up makes this game stand out above anything I’ve seen from him. The fastball hit 97-98 early, but it was still just as effective in the 93-95 MPH range. The change-up was sitting 90-91, but came in anywhere from 87-92. You want to see it in the 88-89 range from him for the ideal minimum separation, but he threw 12 of 15 changes for strikes and there wasn’t anything hit hard off the pitch. His curve could have been sharper. He threw 22 total, ten for strikes, with five of them being used for strikeouts. He just lost feel for the pitch twice for short times, but the difference was that he had a second pitch to go to this game.
If Glasnow can show that this game wasn’t a fluke by repeating his success with the change-up in 2-3 more starts, he should be ready to move to the next level. The fact that this is the best I’ve seen from it, means that might be easier said then done, but it’s a huge step in the right direction. Easily the best we’ve seen from his this year and a very encouraging sign.
Indianapolis broke this game open in the ninth inning against former Pirate Kyle McPherson. They hit four homers in the inning, the first home runs of the season from Pedro Florimon, Willy Garcia, Alen Hanson and Jung-ho Kang. McPherson has made five appearances this year and he has been roughed up in three of them. Before the ninth however, the offense was sloppy.
Indianapolis was thrown on stealing four times, with Adam Frazier being caught at third base and during an attempted steal of home. Hanson was also thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double, though he may have been safe of the play. Kang had the worst one, hitting a dribbler just off the plate and never leaving the batter’s box during a 2-5-3 double play. He thought it was foul, but it’s still a play you need to run out since it was quickly called fair. They were also 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position before Garcia hit his homer with a runner on second.
Josh Bell went 0-for-4 for a second straight day, but did manage a walk to keep his on-base streak alive at 17 games. He was the only Indianapolis player without a hit. Hanson went 3-for-4 with a homer and he dropped down a sacrifice bunt. He is hitting .368 through 13 games. Kang had two hits in this game, collecting a line drive single to right field in the first inning to go along with the homer. He is 3-for-20 in six rehab games.
Trey Haley threw the ninth inning and looked very impressive, pounding the strike zone with a 96-98 MPH fastball and his low-80’s curve. In seven appearances, he has allowed two runs over eight innings, with five hits, three walks and four strikeouts.
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ALTOONA – The air must’ve been thin on Tuesday evening in Altoona, as the Curve touched up Erie starter Brennan Smith for three home runs and five runs total in 2.1 IP. Smith has not been good for Erie, and he finished the game with a 14.79 ERA after his short outing (just to give you an idea of who the Curve offense was up against). Edwin Espinal started the fun with a line drive home run to the left field bleachers in the 2nd inning. That ball left the stadium in a hurry and was extremely hard off of his bat. Eric Wood followed that up two batters later with a blast over the Budweiser Party Deck and left field bleachers.
In the 3rd, Jose Osuna hit a two run homer, again over the left field bleachers (almost hitting an unsuspecting patron), which was his fourth home run of the season. Osuna also walked twice after walking twice on Monday night, as well.
Defensively, Eric Wood made a beautiful play at third base in the 2nd inning by fielding a ball deep towards the outfield grass. He then looked to slip and fall backwards while making a terrific throw to first base to still record the out. In the 4th, Edwin Espinal made a bad decision by trying to run down a runner picked off by Cody Dickson, and the runner outran him to second base.
On Austin Meadows Watch™ today, the glasses he donned yesterday at the plate in his season debut were gone, seemingly since they were fogging up on him last night. He told us that the Pirates made the decision on him wearing them, so they must have decided they weren’t necessary anymore. Meadows did say that he has no lasting repercussions from the injury, so he must not be worried about the eye anymore. Meadows proceeded to go 2-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts in the game, with a lead-off double to the right field wall showing quite the strength.
Edwin Espinal finished a triple shy of the cycle. He doubled on a line drive to center field in the 3rd inning after his home run in the second.
Cody Dickson only made it 4+ innings before being pulled. While watching behind home plate, it didn’t look like Dickson was getting the movement out of his breaking pitches that he needs to be successful, and the fastball was up in the zone. His lone strikeout was with the curveball – a 77 MPH ball chased in the dirt. Control out of the zone wasn’t Dickson problem tonight; rather, he missed his location in the zone and allowed batters to touch him up. The one good play that Dickson made was a defensive cover, when he sprinted to cover first after Edwin Espinal missed on a dive and second baseman Anderson Feliz ended up making the play. Dickson made the catch on the run at the bag to record the out (on a slow baserunner at that, but it was still a good play). His curveball sat between 75 – 77 MPH, changeup in the mid-80s, and fastball looked a little slow tonight in the upper 80s and low 90s.
Frank Duncan relieved Dickson after allowed two singles in the 5th and held the two runners he inherited from Dickson. Duncan was the unsung hero of the night by settling things and shutting down Erie’s offense. He went on to throw four more scoreless innings in relief, only allowing three hits total and striking out three. Duncan used his sinker to get nine ground balls compared to five fly balls, and he had clean frames in the 6th, 7th, and 9th innings.
The Curve have been using Duncan to piggyback off of Cody Dickson’s starts since he made his Double-A debut on April 16th, as Dickson has struggled to go deep in his starts. He has only allowed one run in his 11.2 IP in those three appearances. He has mainly been used as a starter before this season, so he would be the best option for Altoona if the need arises for him to start again. – Sean McCool
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Yeudy Garcia had a horrible start on Tuesday night due to poor command. His command has been off all season, though it looked like he made good progress in his last start. It didn’t carry over into this game. Garcia recorded just one out from the five batters he faced and he went deep in the count to each hitter. He allowed a long double, a walk and hit a batter, giving up three runs (one earned).
Garcia threw 29 pitches, 15 for strikes. He was hurt by a catching error on first baseman Jerrick Suiter, which allowed two unearned runs to score. Even if Suiter caught the ball, it still would have ended the night for Garcia, as it was on the last pitch he threw and he was one short of his pitch limit. Once they reach that limit in an inning, their night is done, though they can finish the batter they are on. Garcia has a 5.40 ERA this season, with 18 hits and ten walks in 13.1 innings.
Bradenton lost this game 4-3 and all the scoring was done by the top of the 3rd inning. Henry Hirsch followed Garcia and picked up the loss. He was wild in his 2.1 innings, issuing four walks. Edgar Santana followed and threw 3.1 shutout innings, continuing his impressive campaign. He’s up to 16.1 shutout frames, allowing eight hits, no walks, and he has 14 strikeouts, to go along with a 2.00 GO/AO ratio. Nick Neumann threw shutout ball over the last three innings.
The Marauders had five hits in this game, all doubles. Kevin Newman hit his fourth double, while Michael Suchy had his third, Kevin Kramer and Connor Joe hit their second and Jerrick Suiter hit his first. Joe drew the only Bradenton walk. The team struck out nine times and Palm Beach pitchers retired 14 in a row to end the game.
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West Virginia was suspended in the third inning due to rain. They will finish the game tomorrow as part of a doubleheader. Here is a recap of the first three innings:
CHARLESTON, WV – West Virginia had a rough night tonight, going down 3-0 early after a few poor defensive plays in the second inning. The game was then suspended in the bottom of the third inning after heavy rain and a few lightning strikes. The game will be resumed tomorrow at 10:35 AM, picking up in the bottom of the third with one on and no outs for the Power.
Two of the three errors tonight came before the rain. The first error was actually a tough play for Mitchell Tolman, as he tried to field a hard liner to second that was hooking away from him, and short hopped his glove. He knocked it down, and it bounced away from him, but he couldn’t make the play. It was a difficult play to make, and the error was a tough call. The next error was just a bad play by Alfredo Reyes. He was fed a throw by Carlos Munoz, but tried to turn a double play before receiving the ball and dropped the throw, missing the out. These two plays helped lead to a two-run inning.
Dario Agrazal was getting hit hard at times, with the liner to Tolman, a fly ball double in the first, and a line drive double in the third that brought in the third run. He did get a few ground ball outs, showing good sink at times with his fastball. He also ended the second inning with a good curve that got a swinging strikeout with runners at second and third. I’ll be covering the double-header tomorrow. This game will be completed first, playing the full nine innings. Mitch Keller takes the mound after that, pitching in a seven inning game. – Tim Williams
