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 – 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, Bradenton -[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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Indianapolis has off today.
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Analysis for Clay Holmes – Holmes looked good early in this game, hitting 96 multiple times on the gun with fastballs down in the zone. He also hit 96 in his last start, so he has stepped up his velocity recently. His curve also had nice break to it today, though he was mostly missing just off the plate with it. Holmes did a good job of pitching inside, which has been something he has done all year. He didn’t go to the changeup often, but did get a lefty to swing and miss well out in front of one pitch. So at times, all *three of his pitches looked really good. He also has a two-seam fastball he doesn’t use often, only starting to throw it this season.
His problems came from two long innings, with one extended due to a bloop single over the infield on a nice fastball that he jammed the batter on. The other inning was extended with a swinging bunt for a 20 foot single. By the time the fourth inning started, he looked gassed and was leaving everything up in the zone. He ended both the fourth and fifth quickly, striking out the last batter each inning (his last pitch was 95), but Akron was making a lot of hard contact. On the positive side for Holmes, Akron is the best team in the league and their hitters have the second highest OPS, so it wasn’t an easy opponent. – John Dreker
ALTOONA – The offense came out flying in the first inning against Akron, the Eastern League’s best team. Harold Ramirez led off the game with a line drive double down the left field line, followed by a hard hit single by Erich Weiss and a walk by Austin Meadows. Jose Osuna came up next in the cleanup spot and almost launched a ball over the right field wall, instead hitting the wall and strolling in for a two-RBI double. Reese McGuire would hit an opposite field sacrifice fly to score Meadows at third base in the next at-bat.
Akron pitcher Adam Plutko would quiet Curve hitters over the next four innings, but Austin Meadows led off the sixth inning with a triple over the center fielder’s head, and he would later come around to score on a ground out.
Curve batters came up large again in the seventh inning, with Harold Ramirez leading off the inning with a walk, then he moved to second on a nicely executed sacrifice bunt by Erich Weiss. Austin Meadows lined a single to center field to score Ramirez, then Jose Osuna blasted another shot to the left-center gap for a triple. Osuna would later come in to score on a wild pitch.
The top four batters in the Curve lineup – Ramirez, Weiss, Meadows, and Osuna – carried their share of the work tonight, going a combined 8-for-13 with four extra base hits. Jose Osuna was particularly impressive tonight, as he finished a home run short of the cycle. His hits in the first and seventh innings were blasts to the outfield. It was also extremely refreshing to watch a player run so hard around the bases to get to third on his triple. Osuna hustles every time he takes the field, and it was on display tonight. He finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Austin Meadows seemed to exercise some demons tonight as he went 2-for-3, scored three runs, and and put together some very good at-bats.
On tonight’s starter, Pitching Coach Justin Meccage said that it looked like Clay Holmes was just trying to do a little bit too much when getting to two strikes, as he was able to get to two strikes on 13 of 23 batters faced yet only struck out four. His curveball and fastball weren’t as good as his last outing, but he was still able to remain around the zone most of the night.
Holmes continues to use the two-seam fastball as a situational pitch, and he threw 10-12 of them tonight. His main focus tonight was trying to work extension side of the plate – away to right handers and in to left handers. He was able to hit his spot on select occasions, but he ran into trouble when he left the ball out over the plate.
Regular starter Cody Dickson pitched one inning of relief after Clay Holmes finished five innings. Dickson did not have a good inning, throwing 26 pitches and allowing two earned runs, but those two runs scored on a fly ball that barely left the infield with the infielders in. Dickson was just getting work in because of the messed up rotation schedule from rain over the weekend. Dickson is still slated to start on Friday.
Jared Lakind, Brett McKinney, and Montana DuRapau combined to face only one over the minimum in their three innings of relief. McKinney worked around a one out double by inducing two straight ground outs to end his inning of work. Minus an outing in early May where he allowed four earned runs in two innings of work, McKinney has only allowed three earned runs in 18.1 IP this season.
DuRapau earned his ninth save of the season by throwing nine strikes in 12 pitches in the ninth inning. He looked crisp, located extremely well, and utilized his fastball to get batters out. DuRapau is similar to McKinney where it was one bad outing that inflates his numbers (even though they still look great), but he has only allowed one run in his last nine innings of work. – Sean McCool
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BRADENTON – The Marauders lost 5-1 to Dunedin tonight, despite what was looking like a great outing from Austin Coley. The right-hander cruised through six innings, giving up just one run, which came in the fourth inning. He worked quickly, and was efficient, looking like he could go out for a seventh inning. However, that turned out to be a mistake, as he started getting hit in the seventh, and ended up giving up two more runs.
One of the runs came as a result of an error by Connor Joe, who couldn’t handle a quick scoop and throw on what would have been a close play at first base. One of the runs was given up after Miguel Rosario took over, with Rosario struggling in his 1.2 innings, giving up two runs of his own on a walk and three hits.
Overall, Coley looked good, outside of that seventh inning. His sinker was mostly sitting around 90 MPH, and he was commanding all of his pitches, while also showing good break on his curveball. He got off to a rough start this year, giving up nine earned runs in eight innings over his first two starts. He’s done better since then, including four earned runs in 25.1 innings over his last four starts.
Bradenton Manager Michael Ryan credited Coley’s recent success with knowing how to pitch.
“He knows how to mix speeds very well, and throw it in any count,” Ryan said. “He doesn’t get into a pattern. That’s just what he does, and he’s always in every game. I think that’s what he’s been improving with this year. He gives us a chance every night.”
Ryan also noted that the curveball has been much better lately. Tonight, he was dropping the pitch in for called third strikes, and getting a few swings on the pitch.
“I think his breaking ball shape is really good, and I think that might be the difference,” Ryan said. “He’s throwing it for strikes now, and before he wasn’t.”
The Bradenton offense couldn’t score many runs tonight. Kevin Newman got a hit, obviously. He turned on a double and pulled it to the wall in left field, stretching the play out with his speed. If there’s a chance to go for two, Newman is going to take it, and with his speed, it would take a perfect throw to get him.
Taylor Gushue had the biggest night, picking up three hits, including his third homer of the year, which was the only run of the night. Connor Joe continued hitting well, going 2-for-4. Michael Suchy also had three hits, and Pablo Reyes picked up two. However, the team left nine runners on base, and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, failing to capitalize on any of their chances.
Reyes had a nice relay in the eighth inning on a throw from Michael Suchy with a runner trying to advance to third. The throw from Suchy was high, so Reyes jumped up and grabbed it out of the air. While coming down, he turned to the bag, and fired off a throw right when he landed, showing pure arm strength by making the throw without leverage. The throw was also surprisingly on target, and got the runner out.
Luis Heredia came on in the ninth inning, and actually gave up a run, which has been a rare occurrence this year. Heredia got two quick outs on eight pitches, then gave up a solo home run, which was his first of the year, and only his second earned run of the season. Heredia has looked good since moving to the bullpen, and converting to a sinkerball pitcher, with his fastball coming in at 93-94 MPH tonight.
[He’s] keeping the ball down, locating when he wants,” Ryan said of Heredia’s success. “He’s doing really good. I think giving up the home run tonight was a good thing for him. Sometimes players think that because they’re having so much success, they’re invincible. It’s a good thing. He knows he still needs to work. The home run was a good pitch. Just got to make it a little bit better, and that’s good for him.”
The Marauders hit the road tomorrow for three games. Yeudy Garcia will make the start. He was originally scheduled for tonight, but was moved back a day for extra rest, since his last few outings had high pitch counts. – Tim Williams
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JT Brubaker has not pitched anything like last year with Morgantown, where he got terrific results after being drafted in the sixth round. He did that last season by keeping the ball down in the zone, getting grounders and displaying strong control. We looked into his struggles recently, and Brubaker said that his issues have been with his mechanics. I’ve had two looks at him recently and he was up in the zone with his fastball both games, then relied heavily on his off-speed pitches with some success. In each game though, batters stopped chasing his off-speed pitches and then nothing went right for Brubaker.
On Monday night, Brubaker didn’t even get a chance to go to his off-speed pitches often, getting knocked out after two innings. He gave up six runs on six hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. Three of the runs were unearned, but that was due to an error by Brubaker, so he “earned” those runs. He threw 58 total pitches, 41 for strikes. Control obviously wasn’t the issue with that ball/strike count, it was his command of the fastball. It led to two homers, which has been a huge problem this year. In 73.1 innings in 2015, Brubaker gave up three homers. In 45.1 this season, he has already allowed nine homers. The walks are also way up, with 20 this season, as opposed to just 12 last year. The velocity on all of his pitches are right where they were last year, so the stuff is still there, he just needs to figure out his mechanics in a hurry.
The Power lost this game 10-2 and really spread out their scoring. Tito Polo hit a home run with one out in the first inning for the first run, then Christian Kelley hit a ground rule double with two outs in the ninth to bring home Logan Hill with the second run. Polo had a real nice at-bat late, battling with the pitcher for eight pitches before putting a single between third base and shortstop. He was also hit by a pitch earlier in the game on the left wrist and was down in a lot of pain, but (obviously) stayed in the game. He followed the HBP with his 12th stolen base.
Just an update on Polo. I talked to him after the game and he said the hand is really sore now, and there is swelling, so I’d be surprised if he played tomorrow. We will let you know if there are any other updates over the next couple days. They are on the road now, so it might take a day or two to find anything out.
Ke’Bryan Hayes had a tough game, striking out three times and popping out to first base in his other at-bat. The Power struck out 11 times in the game. Ryan Nagle had two hits, while Danny Arribas collected the other hit.
Sean Keselica made his season debut and gave the Power four innings of work, throwing 77 pitches total. They went to infielder Logan Ratledge for the last two innings to save the bullpen.
