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.
We’re working on a solution for the PHP stat codes not working in the app.
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 – [insert_php]
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15.Cole Tucker, SS, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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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, Altoona – [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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24. Trevor Williams, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List
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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Indianapolis dropped a 3-1 decision to Syracuse on Tuesday night, with Wilfredo Boscan taking the loss despite allowing one run over six innings. He gave up four singles, didn’t walk anyone and struck out four batters, lowering his ERA to 1.59 in the process. Boscan has allowed one run or less in five of his six starts and he has a 3:27 BB/SO ratio in 34 innings.
The offense put together ten hits, yet they managed just one run. That was because all ten hits were singles, they didn’t draw any walks, and they went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. The only run scored in the eighth, as Max Moroff drove home Josh Bell. Adam Frazier, Bell and Moroff each had two hits. Everyone in the starting lineup struck out once, then Willy Garcia made it ten strikeouts as a pinch-hitter in the ninth.
Jason Rogers has hits in seven of his last eight games. He now has a .340/.397/.585 slash line in 14 games.
Alen Hanson has played left field five games in a row, going 2-for-22 in those games. He has played six games total out there and handled all ten chances.
Cory Luebke couldn’t make it out of his only inning of work, running up his pitch count on a walk, a single and two strikeouts, surrendering one run.
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Quick analysis on Brandon Waddell’s start – Waddell basically had an easy seven inning outing. He worked both sides of the plate with precision and kept the ball down, getting a lot of grounders and soft contact. He lost his command for a couple batters in the fourth after a bunt hit, issuing a walk, throwing a wild pitch and giving up a single on a pitch over the middle of the plate. Other than that, he pounded the lower half of the strike zone going side-to-side. When the umpire wasn’t giving him the corner of the right side of the plate early on, he quickly adjusted and hit the left side (right-handed batter’s box side). Not much else to say besides he picked apart the Trenton lineup for seven innings. – John Dreker
ALTOONA – It was a spectacular pitching match-up on Tuesday night in Altoona, with lefty Brandon Waddell making his home debut for the Curve and lefty Dietrich Enns going for Trenton. Enns was named the Eastern League’s Pitcher of the Month for April as he went 3-0 with 25 strikeouts and a 0.00 ERA.
To add to John Dreker’s analysis of Waddell, you could say that he didn’t even deserve to have the one run against him tonight. In that fourth inning where he allowed the one earned run, Trenton’s Tyler Wade began the inning with a bunt single that Waddell couldn’t get out of his glove cleanly. That was followed up by a slow roller between second and third. With Tyler Austin batting, Waddell threw a ball that should’ve been stopped easily by Jin-De Jhang; however, the ball trickled underneath Jhang, and the runners moved up. Waddell then induced a grounder to the shortstop with the infield back that would’ve been a double play at the least but instead was a RBI groundout for Trenton.
The major factor in Waddell’s game today was the ability to get ground balls, getting 14 ground balls compared to only 3 fly balls. On the season, Waddell essentially has a 1:1 ground ball to fly ball ratio this season before tonight. He worked both inside and outside with the fastball and may have been the benefactor of some generous calls on the inside corner in the beginning and towards the end of his outing. The fastball touched 93 MPH on a few occasions, including his last pitch of the outing – a strikeout looking. Both Cora and Waddell noted his ability to work extremely fast on the mound to not only get in a rhythm himself, but also for his defense behind him.
Waddell worked with all five of his pitches tonight: four-seamer, two-seamer, slider, changeup, and curveball (sparingly). He said that his goal is to “be able to pretty much use any pitch with any count”, and he was able to accomplish that tonight. The four-seamer was being used primarily when pitching inside to the heavily right-handed loaded Trenton lineup.
Edgar Santana made his Double-A debut tonight in relief of Waddell after being promoted this afternoon, and he looked as advertised. He arrived in Altoona from Bradenton this afternoon and didn’t miss a beat, recording a strikeout and one walk without allowing a hit in two innings.
After the game, manager Joey Cora expressed his gratitude for the new pitchers from Bradenton.
“I was telling [Pitching Coach Justin] Meccage,” Cora said emphatically, ‘where have these guys been?’ They showed up with a lot of poise and threw a lot of strikes, which is something we’ve been talking about all year.”
Anderson Feliz had himself a game to remember tonight with a single, two doubles, and a triple. The doubles weren’t cheap with both going deep to the left center gap. The triple came in the first inning with the right fielder making a bad decision to dive for a ball, and the ball got past him to the wall. He also beat out an infield single in the 8th inning. Feliz has been extremely steady for the Curve so far this year after being signed from independent baseball last year. He is now hitting .299 with a .786 OPS on the year. Feliz also made a very nice defensive play in the second inning, gathering a hard hit grounder up the middle and making a great throw to first for the out.
Jose Osuna had the hardest hit ball off of the bat tonight for the Curve in what looked like a sure home run off of the bat. The ball seemed to explode off of Osuna’s bat, and even he admittedly thought the ball was out. Harold Ramirez, Jin-De Jhang, and Chris Diaz also had multi-hit nights for the Curve, with Jhang having three singles. His average is up to .311 on the season. – Sean McCool
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Stephen Tarpley made his season debut on Tuesday and allowed two runs (one earned) over four innings, giving up two hits and two walks, with three strikeouts. Tarpley missed the start of the season due to an oblique injury suffered near the end of Spring Training. He has been in Extended Spring Training building up his pitch count, going five innings in his last two starts.
Tarpley cruised through the first inning with three ground ball outs. In the second, he got a strikeout to start the frame, then a Connor Joe error allowed a runner to get to second base. That was followed by the only two walks from Tarpley, which loaded the bases. A sacrifice fly brought home an unearned run and a soft liner to shortstop ended the inning. The third was a 1-2-3 innings, with a strikeout, a ground out and a fly out.
In the fourth, he allowed a lead-off double. That was followed by two outs, before a single brought home the second run for Ft Myers. That runner was picked-off to end the inning. Tarpley worked hard in the second inning, so with his pitch count at 67 already, that ended his night early. He had a 6:2 GO/AO ratio and he threw 40 strikes.
Bradenton won this game 6-2 behind a big day from the bats. They had 13 hits, with Michael Suchy collecting the difference-maker. He hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning, his first homer of the season. He also had an RBI single in the third inning.
Kevin Kramer had three hits for the second time this season. He has two hits or more in seven of his last 11 games. Jordan Luplow had two hits and drove in two runs. Chase Simpson had two hits, including his fourth double. Elvis Escobar had two hits, scored three runs and stole two bases, giving him four swipes on the season.
Luis Heredia threw a scoreless inning, giving him an 0.57 ERA in 15.2 innings this season. He had a strikeout, a walk and two ground outs.
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CHARLESTON, WV – Sometimes controlling the bleeding is all it takes to win. In the fourth inning, Power pitcher Logan Sendelbach was able to do just that, whereas opposing pitcher Andrew Lee was not. Sendelbach allowed a walk, a pair of singles, and a sacrifice fly in a wild half inning that also featured a reversed call on a crucial double play. The Power batters fared better as they loaded the bases on an error and two walks. Christian Kelley unloaded them with a double to right to make the score 3-1.
Tonight was a return to form for Sendelbach, who gave up seven runs in his last start. He struck out a career-high six batters in his six innings, and while his stuff didn’t look too impressive, it was effective. His GO/AO ratio ended at 10:3 for the night, a result of his reliance on his sinking fastball and tailing slider.
Billy Roth, in his second relief appearance, was not as lucky; a bobble by shortstop Cole Tucker allowed an unearned run to cross the plate in the top of the eighth. The next Suns batter skied a flyball to center field for a sacrifice to tie the game. In the ninth, Roth got a little help from Kelley, who caught his eighth prospective base-stealer this year. Despite his struggles, Roth earned his first win of his career on a walk-off RBI single by Alfredo Reyes in the bottom of the ninth, bringing Roth’s win-loss record to 1-13.
Christian Kelley has now reached base in eight consecutive games and in sixteen of his twenty-one games so far this season. He has been the preferred starter over John Bormann, due to Kelley’s prowess behind the plate, but now it seems his offense is coming around. Over the last ten games, his stat line is .250/.400/.286. Now, those don’t seem like much, but they’re a vast improvement over the stat line from the first ten games of the year: .128/.186/.153.
Lastly, Ke’Bryan Hayes, whose offensive abilities seem to pop up in every Prospect Watch, had the opportunity to showcase another side of his game. Hayes ended the seventh and eighth innings with spectacular defensive plays at third. For the first, he elevated and snagged a ball that seemed destined to line into the corner for a double, and for the second, he reached low across his body to pick a liner just before it hit the dirt. It’s nice to see a young talent comfortable in all areas of his game. – Abigail Miskowiec
