Prospect Watch: Stephen Tarpley Struggles With His Fastball Control

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Altoona is on their All-Star break until Thursday.

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BRADENTON, Fla. – The Marauders dropped a 6-4 decision to Brevard County tonight, with two rough innings from Stephen Tarpley being enough offense for the Manatees. Tarpley went six innings, giving up six runs on five hits and four walks, while striking out six. His fastball command was off tonight, which hasn’t been the case in recent starts. He was sitting 91-93 MPH with the pitch, but had a lot of movement and was making a few mistakes.

In the second inning, he was hurt by his defense, and his control. He gave up a leadoff single, and the runner moved to second base when Taylor Gushue allowed a passed ball. This came after Gushue missed 3-4 balls during warm-ups. Gushue hasn’t had this problem before, and didn’t have it the rest of the night. Tarpley’s pitches were moving so much that it was difficult for him to catch the fastball. After Tarpley walked the second batter, Gushue missed another one, allowing runners to move to second and third with no outs. Two batters later, Tarpley left a pitch up that was crushed for a three run homer.

The other three runs came in the fifth inning. Tarpley issued a leadoff walk, followed by two singles. After a strikeout, he gave up a double, bringing in two runs. The Marauders got the second out at home on a fielder’s choice by Kevin Kramer. However, they botched a double steal, where they picked the runner off first, caught him in a rundown, then tried to get the runner at third by throwing behind him. He was able to score, with not enough time to make the throw home, and the runner from first reached second. Tarpley got out of the inning with a groundout.

Aside from the control issues, Tarpley displayed a good changeup and a good slider, which was getting the bulk of the strikeouts. He’s had some control problems in his recent starts, but nothing as bad as tonight. Bradenton Pitching Coach Jeff Johnson said that tonight was a good learning experience for him, as the opponents made him pay for his mistakes, rather than Tarpley getting away with them, which has happened in some recent outings. Johnson also praised Tarpley’s slider, saying it has been his most improved pitch this year, and could be an above-average pitch one day in the majors.

Tito Polo had two doubles, while Michael Suchy went 1-for-3 with a double. Connor Joe had a few hard hit balls, but only picked up a single. He also had a nice play, ranging far into foul territory in the outfield on a ball that kept drifting back, finally making an over-the-shoulder catch. This came a few plays after he booted a hard grounder that ate him up. So he made up for the earlier play.

Connor Joe ranges far to the outfield in foul territory to make an over the shoulder catch for @The_Marauders. pic.twitter.com/Twx1wYTTRJ

— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsP2) July 11, 2016

When I talked to Bradenton Manager Michael Ryan on Sunday afternoon, he said that one of the things Cole Tucker was working on was his range to his left. Today he had a nice play in the top of the ninth, making a diving stop on a hard grounder over the middle with one out and a runner at first. He flipped the ball from the ground to Kevin Kramer, who turned and fired to first to complete the highlight reel play and get out of the inning. – Tim Williams

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West Virginia has off on Monday.

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Morgantown lost 6-1 to Hudson Valley on Monday night. Sixth round pick Cam Vieaux made his fifth start and allowed three runs on three hits, one walk and two hit batters over five innings. He had just one strikeout and a 7:5 GO/AO ratio, with 50 of his 78 pitches going for strikes. He now has a 3.92 ERA in 20.2 innings. Vieaux was followed by Juan Paula who allowed three runs before he could get through an inning of work. Brandon Bingel closed out the game with 2.1 scoreless innings.

The offense didn’t pick up a hit until the fourth inning when third round pick Stephen Alemais singled, then stole second base and moved to third on an errant throw. Will Craig flew out to center field to strand Alemais and end the inning. Their next hit wasn’t until Alemais batted again in the seventh. He picked up a single, then eventually scored the lone Morgantown run on an Albert Baur sacrifice fly. Will Craig singled and walked. He is hitting .175 through 19 games.

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Bristol lost 5-1 on Monday night, as starter Ike Schlabach allowed four runs on seven hits and one walk over five innings. He had four strikeouts and a 4:4 GO/AO ratio. Schlabach was coming off his best career outing last time out, when he gave up one run over six innings. He was followed by David Whitehead, who threw two scoreless innings and struck out four batters.

The offense scored their lone run in the second inning. Huascar Fuentes singled with one out, then moved to second base on a Deybi Garcia double. That was followed by a wild pitch that scored Fuentes. In the eighth inning, a lead-off single by Sam Kennelly was followed by a double from Daniel Cucjen. That was followed by two strikeouts and a pop out, stranding both runners. Fuentes had two hits. Michael de la Cruz singled and stole his fourth base.

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The GCL Pirates had two games on Monday, though one was just the completion of an earlier game this season. The earlier game ended fairly quickly, resuming with two outs in the bottom of the eighth with a 2-2 tie, and ending in the bottom of the tenth with a walk-off fielder’s choice. Luis Benitez was hit by a pitch with one out. He went to second base on a wild pitch, then moved to third on a stolen base. Paul Brands was up and he hit one back to the pitcher, who threw home too late to get Benitez. Non-drafted signing Evan Piechota made his pro debut and threw two shutout innings for the win. Before the rain halted the game two weeks ago, starter Miguel Hernandez threw five innings without an earned run. Nelson Jorge hit his first homer, and Felix Vinicio had three hits, including a double.

GAME TWO: In Monday’s regular scheduled game, the Pirates got on the board early with a grand slam from Mikell Granberry, his first home run of the season. He would add a sacrifice fly in the second inning and an RBI double in the eighth inning.

Granberry was excited about the homer afterwards, and he even guessed wrong on the pitch, “First of my career. It was a 2-2 fastball in and I was guessing changeup because he got me to swing and miss at that pitch twice.”

Starter Argenis Romano had a tough game, but the offense picked him up early. Romano allowed three runs on five hits, a walk and a hit batter in four innings. He had four strikeouts and a 6:2 GO/AO ratio. Ivan Cespedes followed him with three shutout innings, then hard-throwing Julian Villamar had an odd shutout inning. He walked three batters and struck out three batters. Vince Deyzel finished it off with a scoreless ninth.

Edison Lantigua began the game on the bench, but still ended up with three hits, including two triples. He also drove in two runs and scored twice. Lantigua replaced Felix Vinicio after he was hit by a pitch on the foot and couldn’t walk an inning later. It was one of six hit batters in the game. Melvin Jimenez played his first game since June 24th when he suffered a hamstring injury. He had three singles, scored twice and drove in two runs. Henrry Rosario scored four runs out of the lead-off spot.

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The DSL Pirates lost 5-4 on Monday, coming back from an early deficit to tie the game, only to go back down a run in the next half inning. Starter Yeudry Manzanillo made his seventh start and went five innings for the first time. He allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk. He had one strikeout and an 11:4 GO/AO ratio. Randy Jimenez followed him and gave up two runs for the loss, though only one was earned.

The offense was led by two unlikely sources, Sherten Apostel and Larry Alcime. Both were high-priced signings last July, though they were both considered raw players. Apostel is hitting .165 now after a 2-for-4, with a double and two runs scored. Alcime is batting .132 after driving in two runs and scoring once, going 1-for-4 with his first career triple.

Top prospect Kevin Sanchez is considered one of the fastest players in the system, with his speed described as “plus-plus” when he signed. He has struggled with the stolen bases, now 3-for-7 after a caught stealing in this game. That may have something to do with a Spring Training leg injury that caused him to miss the first few games of the season.