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.
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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 – disabled list
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 – Josh Bell got some early work this afternoon on his defense and his hitting from the right side. Early work is a regular thing for the Indians, and all minor league teams in the system, but today was a bit different, as a few coordinators were in town. Pirates Infield Coordinator Gary Green and Indianapolis Manager Dean Treanor worked with Bell at first base, while Pirates Hitting Coordinator Larry Sutton and Indianapolis Hitting Coach Butch Wynegar spent time with Bell during batting practice on his swing from the right side.
All of the work paid off, as Bell had a great game on both sides of the ball.
I’ve been seeing some good results from Bell this week from the right side, with a swing that looks much smoother than he’s shown in previous years, and some hard hit balls. Despite this success, Bell felt a need to get out and work on the swing more, including a conversation and additional instruction with Wynegar and Sutton after his first of two batting practice sessions. Tonight, facing a left-handed starter, he homered in the fourth inning, and hit a double in the sixth inning, leading to the first two runs for Indianapolis on the night. The home run was the first one he hit from the right side since June 10, 2014 in Bradenton.
“The early hitting today, where he jumped in there, that’s a good sign for me, because he wanted to go in there and get some extra swings,” Treanor said before the game. “Trying to be as comfortable as he can at the plate. I thought he had a real good day the last couple of days, and swung the bat really well yesterday, so he wants to keep that going.”
In the eighth inning, Bell kept it going ripping a line drive single up the middle while batting left-handed, almost taking the opposing pitcher’s head off. That opposing pitcher was Diego Moreno, who you might remember as one of the prospects traded for A.J. Burnett. Bell then took second with some smart base running, after an error on the relay throw resulted in the ball getting away from the second baseman and rolling away from any fielder. After a Willy Garcia walk, Pedro Florimon came up big with a bases loaded triple, giving Indianapolis some insurance.
Bell not only provided the offense tonight with his three hits, but had some nice defense, including starting a 3-6-3 double play. Bell stepped up and fielded a hard chopper, made a strong and accurate throw to second, and then completed the play at first. The latter part was the most impressive thing, as he took command of a crowded situation where the second baseman and pitcher were both emerging on the bag, with the runner getting close as well. During his work with Green and Treanor, Bell spent a lot of time working on holding a runner at first, knowing when to move off the bag in that situation, and making the throw to second. It paid off on that play in the fifth inning, erasing a leadoff walk by John Kuchno.
“From where he started a year and a half ago, to where he is today, he’s making some really nice strides,” Green said after the morning workouts.
Kyle Lobstein got the start, replacing Wilfredo Boscan in the rotation after Boscan got called up to Pittsburgh. Lobstein was making his first appearance since being sent down earlier in the week, and was on a 50 pitch limit, due to the time he spent in the bullpen in the big leagues this year. He went a bit beyond that, needing 57 pitches to record four shutout innings, with no walks, two hits allowed, and one strikeout.
John Kuchno was the planned long reliever, and pitched two innings after Lobstein left the game. Kuchno’s first inning was scoreless, but he gave up a run in his second inning, after a one out double and a two out single. Jorge Rondon then threw two shutout innings, giving up only a leadoff double in the eighth. Curtis Partch came on in the ninth inning to close things out and give Indianapolis a 5-1 win.
Other Notes
**It’s nothing new to say that Gift Ngoepe is the best defensive shortstop in the system, but it’s always fun watching him in action. He’s got great hands, speed, range, and a strong arm, and overall he makes everything look easy. He had one play where he ranged far on a hard hit grounder up the middle, making the play look easy. He had another play where he was blocked by Max Moroff, who tried to field a grounder to his left. Moroff missed the play, but Ngoepe backed him up, and made a strong throw from deep in the hole to get the out. Here is a photo of the range he showed on the first play.
Gift Ngoepe showing off his range tonight on a hard hit ball back up the middle. #Pirates best defensive SS. pic.twitter.com/VRjK7Ur42C
— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsP2) May 20, 2016
**Adam Frazier is a smart hitter, showing a good ability to hit the ball where it is pitched. Twice this week I’ve seen him take a low outside pitch and slice it down the left field line for an opposite field hit. He did that tonight to start off a rally in the eighth inning, which eventually ended with Pedro Florimon’s bases loaded triple. – Tim Williams
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ALTOONA – Besides a stretch where he walked three in a four batter stretch, David Whitehead was efficient, threw strikes, and controlled the opposing lineup in his five innings of work. He faced 21 batters, and he threw 41 strikes and 36 balls.
On the verge of being removed from the rotation after being ineffective, Whitehead needed a start like tonight. In his last four starts, he had an 11.15 ERA and a 7:20 strikeout-to-walk ratio in those starts. Tonight, he only struck out one player – the player after his three walks in the third inning – but he kept his pitch count down and was able to give the Curve five innings. He has not gone over the five inning mark yet this season.
Curve relievers pitched four scoreless innings, with Dovydas Neverauskas throwing the sixth and seventh inning without allowing a hit. Neverauskas hasn’t allowed a run in 13.2 innings. He allowed six runs in his first four appearances this season, but he has since recovered to only allow one run in his last 11 appearances. Josh Smith and Montana DuRapau combined to throw two more scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth to complete the save. Altogether, the only hit that the relievers allowed was a ball lost in the lights by Austin Meadows in the ninth inning off of DuRapau.
The Curve pitching staff recorded its second shutout of the season, with the first coming on April 17th in Richmond.
Barrett Barnes easily was the Curve’s best player at the plate tonight – going 2-for-3 with an RBI HBP, single, and an 2-RBI double. Barnes’ double in the second inning was a drive over the center fielder’s head. The single was also hit extremely hard to center field. In his third at-bat, Barnes grounded out into a double play, but he hit the ball on the head right at the player. Barnes began the season on a 2-for-26 slump, but he has since hit .313. His ISO in that stretch is over .130, as he has been able to recover some of that gap-to-gap power that he showed in the past.
Edwin Espinal and Harold Ramirez were the other Curve players to record multiple hits on the night. Ramirez’s bat really seems to be coming around, with even his outs being hit hard. He turned a little much on one ball that would have easily cleared the fence, but it instead went just foul of the left field pole. Ramirez’s double was a line drive to center field that he hustled hard around first and made it to second on a throw that was slightly off line. Ramirez is now on a 10-game hitting streak, with 18 hits in 43 at-bats (.418 AVG).
Austin Meadows went 0-for-4 tonight, and his batting average fell to .192; however, his at-bats looked good, and he made two line drive outs.
The Curve won the game 8-0, with six of those runs coming in the eighth inning when they sent 11 batters to the plate. They walked five times and had one HBP in the inning, and they simply trotted across the plate on four of those runs. – Sean McCool
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Bradenton went down 4-0 early and ended up winning 5-4 in the bottom of the tenth on a bases loaded wild pitch. Stephen Tarpley made his third start and he’s still shaking off some rust from his late start to the season due to an oblique strain. He gave up two homers, leading to four runs on four hits and three walks in four innings. Tarpley had six strikeouts in this game and a 3:3 GO/AO ratio. He threw 78 pitches, 44 for strikes. He now had a 4.50 ERA in 14 innings.
Tate Scioneaux, Nick Neumann and Luis Heredia combined to throw six shutout innings to help the Marauders to the win. Heredia had another fine outing, getting a strikeout and two ground outs in his only inning of work. It took just ten pitches. He has an 0.46 ERA this season, allowing one earned run in 19.2 innings.
On offense, Kevin Newman had two hits and two walks. He had a double, drove in a run and scored a run. He now has a .364 average and a 14:9 BB/SO ratio on the season. That might actually improve soon because it includes two strikeouts from last night in a game that is currently suspended and might not be finished because the two teams don’t meet again in the first half. If the game has no playoff implications as the first half ends next month, then it won’t be finished and the stats won’t count. On the downside, Newman homered last night, so that too would be lost.
Kevin Kramer had two hits in this game, including his fourth double. He also drove in two runs. Connor Joe had two hits, including his seventh double. He scored the winning run on the tenth inning wild pitch. Elvis Escobar had two hits and a walk. Michael Suchy had two walks and scored two runs.
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West Virginia was postponed due to rain. They will play a doubleheader Saturday.
