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, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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3. Josh Bell, 1B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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4. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Pirates – In the Majors
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, Altoona – [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, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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16. Chad Kuhl, RHP, Pirates – In the Majors
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 – [insert_php]
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25. Gage Hinsz, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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26. Adrian Valerio, SS – Bristol – [insert_php]
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27. Adam Frazier, INF/OF, Pirates – In the Majors
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, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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Steven Brault made his second appearance for Indianapolis since returning from the hamstring injury that knocked him out of action in early May. He threw four shutout innings for Morgantown in a rehab start and was going to pitch there again until Chad Kuhl was called up the majors, which sent Brault to Indianapolis sooner. He allowed two runs over 3.1 innings in his first start back in Triple-A, and he was still on a limited pitch count on Thursday night.
Brault started out with a little bit of command issues early, hitting JaCoby Jones on an inside fastball, then just missing off the plate a couple times in a walk to Casey McGehee. He got out of the first without any issues, then was in command of the game until the end of the fifth. Brault allowed two singles in the second, but both were routine grounders under normal circumstances. Unfortunately for him and every other Indianapolis pitcher this year, they have employed an extreme shift, which has resulted in some softly hit ground balls going untouched through the infield. Brault got out of the inning without any further damage.
In the third, he worked around a soft line drive single to center field from McGehee, picking up two strikeouts and a weak pop up, which could have ended up badly due to the extreme shift. The ball was hit about 15 feet back of where a second baseman normally stands, but with the shift, Alen Hanson had to go a long way and Josh Bell ran a long way and they collided. Bell was down for about 30 seconds, while Hanson was down for over a minute, but both stayed in the game. It was just a pop up a second baseman would drift back on for an easy catch, but the shift made it a tough player for both players and almost ended up really bad for two prospects.
In the fourth, Brault got two strikeouts and a line out to right field for a very quick inning. The fifth started with a strikeout, then what was an easy fly ball that Austin Meadows first broke back on, then froze, before starting to come in, with the ball landing about ten feet in front of him. That was the last hit Brault allowed and only the McGehee liner was a legit hit. The inning didn’t end quietly, as Brault picked-off the runner before hitting a batter and issuing a walk. The last out was a towering drive to the left field warning track from McGehee, which didn’t miss going out by much. That gave him five shutout innings and ended his night.
From the second until two outs in the fifth, Brault basically looked great. He was spotting his pitches well, doing a great job of hitting the corners, using both sides of the plate. He was using all of his offerings and mixing speeds to keep batters guessing. His second hit-by-pitch was on two strikes, and he even got a check swing, as the breaking ball hit the back foot of righty, so it wasn’t really a bad pitch. He had six strikeouts, and a lot of soft contact. Brault threw 72 pitches, 47 for strikes.
Indianapolis broke this game open in the seventh, scoring eight runs for the 11-1 victory. Pedro Florimon ended up having the big day by driving in five runs, with four of them coming on a seventh inning grand slam. Josh Bell hit his 12th home run, a towering opposite field shot to left field. He also added his 19th double and drove in three runs, while scoring twice. Bell is hitting .327, only trailing Adam Frazier in the International League batting race. Frazier has enough plate appearances to remain atop the leaderboard for at least another few weeks in case he remains in the majors the entire time.
Max Moroff hit his 13th double, extending his on base streak to 17 games. Austin Meadows had two hits, including his second homer since joining Indianapolis. He has 37 extra-base hits this season.
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Tyler Eppler was named an All-Star on Thursday afternoon, then went out and threw six shutout innings. This is the first time all season that Eppler has kept the opponents off the board and he did it by limiting Bowie to four hits and one walk, while striking out six and posting a 6:1 GO/AO ratio. The six strikeouts tie a career-high, which he has now accomplished four times. The GO/AO ratio is a good sign, as Eppler has been a fly ball pitcher and it has got him into some trouble this season. Miguel Rosario gave up a run in two innings and Brett McKinney allowed one run in the ninth to close out the 6-2 victory.
Altoona had 12 hits in the game, including four doubles. They had a ton of runners in scoring position, going 3-for-18 in those situations, so they really didn’t do a good job of getting timely hits despite the win. Harold Ramirez went 3-for-5 and drove in two runs. He collected his 14th double and finished the game with a .300 average. Kevin Newman went 1-for-3 with a walk, two runs, a stolen base and an RBI. He is hitting .302 in his first ten games. Eric Wood had a double, a walk, a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base.
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Bradenton lost 3-2 on Thursday, but the big story was the pitching of Yeudy Garcia for a second straight game. All season he has been putting up a strong ERA and high strikeout rate despite a WHIP that rated near the bottom in the league. He also had control issues and/or high pitch counts every game. Last week, he had his first game in which he kept the pitch count low, threw a lot of strikes and went a season-long seven innings. In this game he went 6.1 innings and gave up one earned run on six hits and no walks, throwing 62 of his 90 pitches for strikes. Garcia picked up exactly six strikeouts for the tenth time this season, surpassing that total just once when he had nine in his last game. He now has a 2.17 ERA and 81 strikeouts in 70.2 innings
On offense, six players each had one hit. Chase Simpson and Elvis Escobar both had a single and a walk. Jerrick Suiter hit his tenth double and Jordan Luplow hit his 14th double. Suiter and Simpson each had an RBI, while Luplow and Kevin Kramer scored the runs. Tanner Anderson made his Bradenton debut and threw 2.2 scoreless innings.
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CHARLESTON, WV – One may ask, when the Power RBI leaders Carlos Munoz and Ke’Bryan Hayes ride the bench, who’s going to step up? Look no further than Mitchell Tolman, the relatively small utility infielder who has quietly climbed to near top of the Power roster in many offensive categories – including batting average, on-base percentage, RBI, home runs, hits, and walks
Tolman launched a first inning solo homer to start the Power scoring and then continued the offensive assault of the Columbia Fireflies in his second at-bat. In the third inning, Tolman grounded into what seemed to be an inning-ending double play, but the Firefly second baseman threw the ball into left field, allowing the Power to take the lead 3-1.
Meanwhile, on the mound, Bret Helton scattered four hits in his six innings of work. Batting against Bret Helton tends to be a feast or famine affair. In Helton’s five losses, opposing batters are slugging .427, but in his four wins, including tonight, opponents are slugging a mere .227, including Dash Winningham’s solo shot this evening.
Helton exited the game with a narrow 3-2 lead, but Tolman wouldn’t let that stand long. In the bottom of the sixth, he crushed another homer to the same spot as the first, tying him with Ke’Bryan Hayes for second among active Power players with six on the year.
Tolman didn’t expect his first multi-homer professional game. “I was trying not to think about my first home run, honestly,” said Tolman. “Usually that’s when they come, when you’re not trying to hit them.”
Lest you should think Tolman is merely an offensive prospect, he participated in all three inning-ending double plays turned in the game. In total, Tolman had six assists and two putouts. For those of you keeping track at home, that means Tolman contributed 100 percent of the Power offense and 30 percent of the defense.
Sean Keselica earned a two-inning hold and struggled uncharacteristically with his control. Keselica allowed two walks, raising his season total to seven in 23 innings. Julio Eusebio relieved Keselica and earned his team-leading sixth save of the season. – Abigail Miskowiec
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Morgantown faced Batavia for four games this week and lost three of them, including a 4-3 defeat on Thursday night. That happened despite Batavia coming into the series with a 1-9 record on the season. The Black Bears have lost seven of their last eight games to fall to 7-7 on the year. Sixth round draft pick Cam Vieaux started this one, coming off four no-hit innings last time out. He was still on a limited pitch count in that game, but he was up to 75 pitches in this outing and still only went four innings. Vieaux gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks, with three strikeouts.
Christian Mota followed Vieaux and also allowed two runs with only one being earned. Morgantown committed four errors and if affected all three pitchers. Neil Kozikowski didn’t allow any runs, but his outing was extended by one batter due to a Will Craig error. Otherwise, Kozikowski retired every other batter he faced in his two innings.
Kevin Mahala led the offense with two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Will Craig had a single and his first stolen base. He is hitting .158/.340/.211 in 11 games. Morgantown had just five hits and Albert Baur’s fourth double of the season was the only extra-base hit.
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Bristol is having trouble with Burlington these last couple days, giving up a lot of runs on Wednesday night and getting shutout on Thursday. The Pirates had seven hits and three walks, but all of the hits were singles and lead-off hitter Victor Fernandez was picked-off twice, so they didn’t have many chances with runners in scoring position. Fernandez had three of the seven hits to give him a .517 average early on. Michael de la Cruz batted behind Fernandez and went 2-for-3 with a walk. The rest of the lineup went 2-for-22 in the game.
Ike Schlabach made his second start and ran into trouble in the third and fourth innings, allowing two runs in each frame. One of the runs was unearned, though it came from his own error on a pick-off throw. Schlabach walked four batters and gave up four hits, including a home run. The 19-year-old lefty had a much better go in his first game, allowing three runs over five innings, with only one walk and a high ground ball rate. He GO/AO ratio was 2:4 in this game.
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The GCL Pirates lost 7-3 to the Tigers West on Thursday, as five errors led to five unearned runs. Starter Brian Sousa was really hurt by the defense, but he was also a bit wild. In his 4.1 innings, he allowed six runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks. He had some success with his sinker, getting a 6:2 GO/AO ratio and five strikeouts. Sousa has a 1.93 ERA in his first two starts.
On offense, Edison Lantigua went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI. He’s hitting .435 in six games and has already collected three hits in a game three times this season. That’s a hit total he didn’t reach once last year in the GCL. Yondry Contreras went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a HBP. He has a 1.063 OPS in his first five games. Mikell Granberry had an RBI double and Nelson Jorge hit his second homer, which is two more than he had in his first two seasons of pro ball.
Victor Ngoepe had a tough game, going 0-for-4 and committing three errors. His fellow South African Vince Deyzel pitched two innings for the first time as a pro, allowing a run on a solo homer, while also striking out four batters.
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The DSL Pirates lost a tough one on Thursday, coming back to tie the game after a 12-6 deficit, only to lose 15-12 to the Yankees1. Rudy Guzman tied the score in the top of the seventh with a grand slam. Three innings earlier, shortstop Rodolfo Castro hit the first home run of the season (this was game 23) for the Pirates. This was a wild game that included 11 walks, six wild pitches, four errors and seven hit batters.
Starter Adonis Pichardo gave up six runs (five earned) in his five innings. The bright side to his outing was no walks and a 7:1 GO/AO ratio, otherwise he had trouble just like every other pitcher in the game. Wilmer Contreras started the sixth and gave up six runs while recording just one out. He was followed by Armando Bustamante, who “only” gave up two runs in his inning of work, yet he got saddled with the loss.
Guzman led the offense with three hits, including the grand slam. He scored twice and drove in five runs total. Castro had just the one homer, but it was a three-run shot. Eddy Vizcaino, Cristopher Perez and Francisco Mepris each had two hits. Yair Babilonia reached base on a walk and two hit-by-pitches, coming around to score each time. The Pirates dropped to 7-16 on the season.
