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 – Disabled List
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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Jameson Taillon made his third start of the season on Saturday afternoon. He worked all fastballs to the first batter, getting an easy grounder to second base. The next batter struck out look on the first curve of the game. Top Reds prospect Jesse Winker grounded out to shortstop on the first pitch he saw to end the inning. It was a quick eight pitch frame, six for strikes and seven were fastballs.
The second inning started with three straight high fastballs from Taillon, all out of the zone. The third one was fouled off, then the batter popped out to second base. Taillon was up again in the zone to the second hitter, getting him to strikeout on a 3-2 fastball. He broke off a couple terrific curves to the third hitter, before jamming him with a fastball, which resulted in a pop out to shallow right field. He threw 15 pitches, nine for strikes. It was a clean inning as far as damage, but he left a lot of pitches up early.
Before Taillon came out for the third inning, he batted for the first time since 2013 and grounded out to second base. On the pitching side, he started with a strikeout looking on a nice curve. He was still up in the zone in this at-bat and the following at-bat, which ended with a curve that got away from him, hitting the batter on the top of the helmet. The pitcher was up next and he bunted the runner up to second base. Taillon moved the runner up to third with a wild pitch on a curve in the dirt.
It didn’t matter though because Taillon froze the next hitter on a curve for the final out and his fourth strikeout. He threw 16 pitches, 11 for strikes. It’s hard to be too critical considering the circumstances and performance so far, but Taillon was up in the zone too much through three innings.
The fourth started with a grounder to shortstop, bringing up Jesse Winker with one out. He flew out to medium right field on a 3-2 pitch. The next batter grounded out to second base on a high fastball for an easy inning. Taillon was at 55 pitches at this point, with 38 going for strikes. He used the change-up twice in this inning with nice results, getting a swinging strike and a called strike. He also did a good job of keeping the ball down.
In the fifth, he struck out the first batter on a hanging curve. Taillon then got a ground out to first base, which Josh Bell made a nice play on to his right. The third hitter grounded out weakly to second base and Max Moroff made a great barehanded play for the out. It was a 13 pitch inning, eight for strikes.
The sixth started with a routine fly out to medium right field. The no-hitter was broken up by the opposing pitcher on a six-pitch at-bat. It was a grounder well placed between third base and shortstop. Taillon struck out the next hitter, getting him to chase a high fastball (which was the location called for). He ended the sixth and his game on an easy grounder back to him. He needed 20 pitches in this inning, giving him 88 for the day, 62 for strikes.
The stat line definitely makes this look like a great pitching performance. The only two runners were a hit batter and a soft grounder that found a hole. For the third game in a row, he didn’t walk a batter. He finished with six strikeouts, giving him 16 strikeouts over 16.1 innings, with a 1.65 ERA. Taillon threw some real nice curves, but the pitch looked better overall in his first two games. He didn’t have the best command of the fastball, leaving it up a lot.
Toledo had a better lineup facing Taillon in his first two starts, though his first start had a couple long-time MLB players who weren’t in there the second time. Louisville doesn’t have much of a lineup after Jesse Winker, so that could account for the better results without his pitches being on the entire game. That all being said, it’s important to remember that this is just his third game back and you should expect some bumps here and there, even if they didn’t cost him in this game.
Indianapolis won this game 1-0 and they were lucky to get that one run. Josh Bell singled in the fourth inning, then stole second base as Max Moroff struck out for the second out. That was followed by a routine fly ball to right field that became a difficult play when the right fielder lost it in the sun. It dropped right next to him for a double for Danny Ortiz. Indianapolis had a total of eight hits in the game, going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Josh Bell is starting to heat up at the plate. Besides his single, he also doubled off the wall in right/center field. He was hitting .233 coming into Friday’s game, but the two hits on Saturday and the cycle on Friday, now gives him a .308 average.
Jung-ho Kang played back-to-back games for the first time. He picked up a single off the left field wall in this game. He also grounded out twice and struck out. He is 1-for-15, with six strikeouts and three walks. He looked a little better this game than the first three rehab games. He wasn’t being fooled on off-speed pitches and didn’t swing and miss as much, so he could be knocking the rust off. The single was the first ball he has hit well, as the outs have been strikeouts, grounders and pop ups.
Lousiville finished with one hit in the game and their only runner after Taillon left was on a walk. Jorge Rondon threw two scoreless, followed by Trey Haley for the save.
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ALTOONA -Jason Creasy worked six innings for the Curve and did not walk a batter this afternoon in Altoona. He pitched inside and out to both sides, working on hitting his spots with the fastball. He scattered eight hits throughout the game, but he was able to escape by only allowing one run in the 4th inning when Richmond scattered a double, single, infield popup single (Edwin Espinal called off Jose Osuna at the mound, and the ball fell between them), and sacrifice fly to score.
His best pitch was his curveball, dropping the velocity down to 76 MPH at times. He used both the curveball and fastball to induce strikeouts. Creasy worked mostly in the upper 80s with the fastball topping out between 90-92 MPH. The problem with Creasy is that he pitches to a lot of contact, and there were a number of occasions when that contact resulted in a deep fly ball. It was almost like playing with fire. The command has been there for Creasy (he threw 60 strikes and only 28 balls), but batters have been making good contact against him. It did not come back to bite him today, as he ended up with a pretty good day, but it is something to keep an eye on in the future.
In the top of the 4th inning, Barrett Barnes saved a home run from Richmond’s Ricky Oropesa. He tracked the ball back to the wall and time his jump perfectly to save the ball from going over the fence. It was an extremely nice play by the outfielder, who has hit poorly so far this season and could use some motivation from his play in the field. Barnes added two more hits today.
Jose Osuna seems to be finding his rhythm after a slow start to the season. He added two hits today and just missed on a first pitch swinging flyout in the 5th inning. The cold weather to begin the season definitely had an effect on Osuna, as he has gotten better as the weather has gotten nicer. Not only with the bat, Osuna showed a great glove at first base in the second inning, diving hard to the his right to catch and take away a line drive single. He shows quickness in spurts even though he has never been known to be the fleetest on his feet. He also made a fine catch at the fence down the first base line in foul territory going backwards and reaching his glove towards the stands.
Stetson Allie launched his second home run of the season in the 6th inning, driving a down-the-middle mistake over the center field wall to the PNG Park scoreboard. Allie had three RBIs today, two from the home run and another from a groundout in the 4th. The approach at the plate seems to have gotten better some, but – as I noted last night – the swing still seems loopy at times. He has a ton of power in that bat, so he just needs to continue to improve the approach.
Montana DuRapau picked up a tidy save for his fourth of the season. Interestingly enough, Jhondaniel Medina worked the 8th inning for the Curve while DuRapau came out for the 9th. DuRapau has practically dominated at every level he has pitched, and his 2016 season has started pretty well, as well. – Sean McCool
Live Recap From Wilbur Miller
Jason Creasy had a solid start as Altoona edged Richmond, 4-3. Creasy gave up one run over six innings on eight hits. The hit total is a little misleading, as two hits were strictly defensive miscues. One was a double play grounder dropped by Erich Weiss that was inexplicably ruled a hit. Another was a pop up that fell untouched on the mound when third baseman Edwin Espinal called everybody off and then misjudged it. The latter “hit” loaded the bases with one out and set up a sacrifice fly.
Creasy generally did a good job of working around the corners with his upper-80s fastball. He relied a lot also on a decent curve and a few changeups. Creasy mostly keeps the ball down, but his stuff is marginal and hitters are able to drive the ball against him fairly often. Harold Ramirez ran down two long drives at the center field fence and Barrett Barnes pulled a HR back from over the left field fence. Jose Osuna had two nice plays at first, snaring a liner with a diving, backhand grab and reaching into the stands for a foul pop after a long run. Creasy helped himself by not walking anybody. He doesn’t miss many bats, but he did strike out four.
Altoona took the lead in the fourth. The Curve tied the game when Stetson Allie grounded into a force play with one out and runners on first and third, just beating the relay at first. Singles by Barrett Barnes and Jin-De Jhang then got Allie home. In the sixth, Allie padded the lead with a two-run HR to center, his second HR of the year.
Creasy was followed for an inning each by lefty Jared Lakind, Jhondaniel Medina and closer Montana DuRapau. Lakind looked good in his inning, except for some shaky command. He threw a low-90s fastball, a fairly tight curve and a change that got some swings and misses from right-handed hitters. Lakind walked the first hitter he faced, then got a strikeout and popup before allowing a pair of weak singles. One was a swinging bunt, the other a ball on which Lakind jammed the hitter, only to have him fist the ball over the infield for an RBI single.
Medina and DuRapau both threw with less velocity than I’ve seen before from them. Medina mainly relies on changing speeds a lot. Today he was mainly between the mid-80s and about 90. His command is below average and he got a couple pitches up in the zone, resulting in a HR and a long fly to center. DuRapau managed to hold the 4-3 lead. He alternated between the mid-80s, which I think was his cutter, and about 90. He was wild at first and fell behind the leadoff batter, 3-0, but he recovered for a 1-2-3 inning, although two of the balls were hit moderately hard.
Allie finished 1-for-4 with three RBIs, Osuna 2-for-4 and Barnes 2-for-3. Harold Ramirez went 1-for-4. That consisted of three routine grounders, one of which sneaked through the middle for a hit, and a popup. I’ve seen Ramirez three times this year and he’s seldom made hard contact.
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Bradenton did a great job getting on base during Saturday night’s game, leading to a 9-4 victory. The Marauders had nine walks and nine hits, with five of those being extra-base hits. They were led by Pablo Reyes, who had three doubles and drove in three runs. He had two doubles coming into the game. Chase Simpson tripled and Taylor Gushue hit a two-run shot in the fifth inning, his second homer of the season. Gushue is hitting .349 through 12 games.
Brandon Waddell pitched well for the fourth time in four starts. He allowed one run over seven innings, surrendering three hits and no walks, while striking out six batters. Waddell has been efficient with his pitch count this season and that allowed him to go seven in this game. He threw 86 pitches, 55 for strikes. He also did a great job of keeping the ball down, posting an 11:4 GO/AO ratio. Waddell has a 1.17 ERA in 23 innings and he has allowed just 13 base runners.
Kevin Newman had his nine-game hit streak snapped, though he did reach base via a walk. He has reached base at least once in 14 of his 15 games. Jordan Luplow had a single, two walks and his second stolen base. Kevin Kramer walked twice and scored a run. Michael Suchy had a walk, single and scored twice.
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West Virginia won 5-1 on Saturday night behind the pitching of Logan Sendelbach and homers from three different players. Sendelbach looked real good in this game, working with mostly fastballs, he did a good job of keeping the ball down and getting ground balls. His biggest issue last year in Bristol was flattening out his fastball, leaving it up in the zone. One of the few times he got the ball up was the first pitch of the second inning and a belt high fastball was crushed for a homer. He doesn’t throw hard, usually sitting in the 88-89 MPH range, so he relies on location and pitching to contact. He allowed six hits, though at least three were just grounders through the infield.
Sendelbach struck out four batters, getting one chasing on a nice slider that broke away from the hitter out of the zone. There weren’t many off-speed pitches in this game though, so he’s in the process of working heavily on fastball command, which is the first step Pirates go through with pitchers. Compared to where he was late last year, this outing looked like a big step in the right direction. He threw a total of 75 pitches, with 50 going for strikes. Sendelbach had an 8:4 GO/AO ratio. He now has 1.71 ERA in 21 innings.
On offense, Danny Arribas homered for the third time, while Mitchell Tolman and Alfredo Reyes each hit their first homer of the season. Reyes hit a two-run shot in the eighth inning, which was followed by the pitcher throwing at Tito Polo. The benches cleared and Lexington’s pitcher and manager were both ejected. Ke’Bryan Hayes had an RBI single in the ninth inning, then stole his first base of the season. He is hitting .393 through 14 games. Besides the homer, Tolman drew a walk and scored another run. He also started a really nice 4-6-3 double play on a slowly hit ball.
