Prospect Watch: Tito Polo Shows Off His Skills in Bradenton Debut

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160623′,’alt’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Altoona won 9-6 on Thursday night, scoring in every inning from the third until the eighth. The offense collected 12 hits and six walks, with everyone in the starting lineup, including starting pitcher Cody Dickson, reaching base at least once. Kevin Newman, Harold Ramirez, Jose Osuna and Stetson Allie each collected two hits.

Newman is now hitting .333 since joining Altoona. He led off the game with a hustle double, and also drew a walk and scored two runs. Ramirez is now 21-for-44 in his last 12 games, boosting his average 31 points during that stretch. Osuna is 14-for-33 in his last nine games, though the power has disappeared since early in the season. He has two homers in his last 172 at-bats.

Cody Dickson was on a strong streak of starts before his last game when he allowed three runs and walked five batters in 5.1 innings. In his seven previous starts combined, he gave up five earned runs. On Thursday, he allowed four runs on seven hits and four walks in six innings. The lone bright spot was that he had an 8:3 GO/AO ratio, but the results were obviously not good. Miguel Rosario followed him and threw two perfect innings, striking out four batters. Since being promoted from Bradenton, he has allowed two hits over 6.1 shutout innings.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160623′,’bra’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

BRADENTON, Fla. – Tito Polo’s promotion to Bradenton became official today, and he made his debut at the new level, showing off why he got promoted. He’s been a great hitter this year in West Virginia, showing off some power, along with some speed and defense. Tonight he only went 1-for-5, but looked good, using his speed to create a lot of value.

Polo reached base for his first hit on an infield single, and stole second base for his second steal of the game. He previously stole second after reaching on an error on a bobble by the shortstop. He had 20 stolen bases in 30 attempts in West Virginia this year. He also came up with the tying run on third and two outs in the ninth inning, and had a well struck ball to right field which ultimately went for a fly out to end the game.

Defensively, he showed off some range, but the most impressive thing was a heads up play on a rundown. The Marauders got a runner between third and home, and after getting the out, they caught the other runner off second base. No infielder was near the bag, so the runner stayed off second a bit longer and didn’t rush back. Polo charged in from center field, took the throw, and almost made the tag. However, he tumbled over the runner and dropped the ball trying to make the catch and tag, missing out on a very heads up play.

“Got a little taste of everything tonight from him,” Bradenton Manager Michael Ryan said, after noting his skills in the game. Polo is expected to continue playing center field, and batting first or second, playing six days a week.

Tonight was the first time I saw JT Brubaker since he was moved up to West Virginia. Statistically, he had a good outing, with two runs on four hits and two walks, along with five strikeouts. He had a good start to the outing, but ran into some trouble with his command in the middle innings. Ryan noted that he hasn’t thrown for ten days, due to the FSL All-Star break, and thought he did well with that considered.

“I thought he pitched really well,” Ryan said. “I thought he kept us in the game and pitched out of some traffic. Limited some big innings that could have happened. I thought he did excellent.”

Ryan did note the command issues were due to the fastball being off, which affected his changeup, and made it so that he couldn’t locate either one. At the start of the outing, it looked like it might be favorable for him, as Brubaker is comfortable with the changeup, and was going up against a lefty-heavy lineup. However, that didn’t turn out to be the case.

“He probably should have used it a little bit more,” Ryan said of the changeup.

The Marauders ultimately lost due to poor defense. Connor Joe didn’t get an error, but didn’t have the best night at third base, with a wild throw and some poor awareness on a few plays. Joe did have a lot of hard hit contact, going 2-for-4 with a double on the night.

Junior Lopez had some of the best command I’ve seen from him, and pitched well, sitting around 93 MPH. However, he had two fielding errors which led to two runs on one hit in 1.2 innings.

Luis Heredia also had two fielding errors, putting runners on first, then letting them advance to third on wild pickoff throws. That allowed one run to score, which decided the game. Heredia was otherwise sitting 94-95 MPH with his sinker, and looked good outside of the poor pickoff throws.

Cole Tucker had a rough night at the plate, striking out three times and looking bad on some curveballs dropping out of the bottom of the zone.

Recently, Pablo Reyes and Colten Brewer have been listed on the Temporary Inactive List. I asked Ryan about their status, and he said that they weren’t living up to organizational policies and expectations.

“This organization, we’re all about doing the right thing,” Ryan said. “We’re all about becoming men. It’s two guys that have not lived up to those expectations, and knowing what a man should act like. The organization decided that they can learn somewhere else.”

That doesn’t provide any specifics, but it doesn’t look good for those two. They were both previously disciplined for undisclosed reasons. Brewer pitched an inning in relief on May 16th, but that was only out of necessity. He was originally scheduled to be removed from the rotation for a start as a punishment. Reyes was benched for a full week from June 4th-11th, and returned for three games after that, before this recent issue.

The “learn somewhere else” was vague, and I don’t think it necessarily means outside of the organization with another team. It could just mean away from Bradenton or at home. But with the roster crunch on this team, if you’re in this situation, you’re unlikely to be in the organization’s plans. Ryan said that he wasn’t sure on the return for either player, but said he was only thinking about the rest of the week. – Tim Williams

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160623′,’wva’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

West Virginia got great pitching from Logan Sendelbach, but the offense and bullpen let them down in a 3-2 loss to Asheville. This game was the start of the second half, as the Power gets a clean slate and a second shot at a playoff spot. Logan Sendelbach went seven innings in this game, allowing one run on six hits and a walk. He struck out seven batters, tying his career-high, which he has now done four times this season. He threw 53 of his 85 pitches for strikes and had a 5:1 GO/AO ratio. The only run scored on a solo homer in the sixth inning.

Tanner Anderson followed Sendelbach and gave up two runs in the eighth inning. He came into the game with a 1.79 ERA and just one run allowed over his last 15.1 innings. Anderson is usually extremely efficient with his pitches, but it took 30 pitches just to get out of his only inning.

On offense, Ryan Nagle and Logan Hill each drove in runs in the second inning. Nagle was the only Power player with two hits, while Hill collected his third double since joining West Virginia.

The ninth inning saw Carlos Munoz collect a one-out single, only to leave for pinch-runner Logan Ratledge, who was thrown out stealing. Then Danny Arribas walked, went to second on a wild pitch, then was thrown out at the plate on a Ryan Nagle single, which ended the game.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160623′,’wev’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

James Marvel’s season debut five days ago couldn’t have gone any better. He threw six shutout innings, getting a lot of grounders, picked up five strikeouts, and he was very efficient with his pitch count. He allowed three base runners the entire game, two hits and a hit batter. His second game couldn’t have gone much worse than it did. He went 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits, two walks and three hit batters, with no strikeouts. Marvel threw 72 pitches, with just 38 going for strikes. Except for a 6:3 GO/AO ratio, this game was the exact opposite from the opener. In fact, the first four batters all reached base, which was one runner more than he allowed in the first game.

Morgantown lost this game 10-4 and ran out an interesting group of pitchers. Neil Kozikowski followed Marvel and threw 1.1 scoreless frames. He was followed by the 6’8″ Adrian Grullon, who just returned this year after missing most of 2014 and all of 2015 due to Tommy John surgery. He had a tough inning, giving up three runs. He was followed by Billy Roth, who allowed three runs in his two innings. While Kozikowski is the only pitcher who had some success, all four pitchers have potential.

On offense, Will Craig had two hits and he was also hit by a pitch for the fifth time. His first inning single was just well-placed, getting between two diving infielders. He doubled next time up though, nearly hitting the ball out. Craig drove in two runs. Jordan George, Albert Baur and Ty Moore each had two hits.

Tyler Leffler had a hit, a HBP, and scored two runs. He was slated to start at Bristol, but injuries to Trae Arbet and Kevin Mahala got him promoted up a level before he played his first pro game.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160623′,’bri’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Bristol had their season opener suspended after three innings due to rain. The will resume the game tomorrow, then play a seven inning contest afterwards for the regularly scheduled game. Before the rain, Nestor Oronel threw three shutout innings, Raul Siri hit a double and Adrian Valerio had a walk and a stolen base. Full recap following the completion tomorrow. Check out our season preview here.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160623′,’pir’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

The GCL Pirates begin their season tomorrow at noon. The season preview will be posted in the morning.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160623′,’dpi’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

The DSL Pirates lost 5-3 to the Mets1 on Thursday, with two costly errors in the fourth inning accounting for the difference. Starter Roger Santana went four innings and gave up four runs on seven hits and two walks, though three of those runs were unearned. He had four strikeouts and a 7:1 GO/AO ratio. In 17.2 innings this season, he has a 1.53 ERA and 19 strikeouts. Kleiner Machado threw two scoreless innings, though he did walk four batters. Armando Bustamante allowed one run over two innings, the first run he has given up this season.

The Pirates scored a run in the second on a triple by Cristopher Perez, followed by a wild pitch. In the fifth, they were helped by two errors and a wild pitch, which led to two runs. Perez scored again without a hit, this time coming home on an errant pick-off throw. A Kevin Sanchez single brought home the third and final run for the Pirates. The team had just one base runner in the last four innings, getting a walk from Kyle Simmons. Jeremias Portorreal is 3-for-32 in his last nine games, with all three hits coming in the same game.