Every week we have live reports from all over the system, while John Dreker provides additional views of the minors via MiLB.tv, which included Indianapolis, Altoona and Morgantown this week. We also had live coverage of Indianapolis, Altoona, Bradenton, West Virginia and the GCL in the past week. All of these reports are combined and used each week to highlight the top performers during that time span. We go with the top ten hitters and pitchers, giving you the 20 best players from last week.
In the past, we’ve called this feature “Top Performers”. However, it has always been an article where we use the performances as an excuse to give live reports on the players. So the title didn’t really reflect what was in the article — a lot of easy to find reports on players, based on our live coverage, all in one place. So we’re calling it “The Twenty”, because people love lists, even if we don’t have a specific order here.
The title might change in the future. Every year around August, we make small adjustments to this feature, seeing what changes might work for next year. We’re always open to any suggestions, as usual.
Here are the top guys over the last seven days and the rundown on their performances:
HITTERS
Stetson Allie, RF, Altoona – Stetson Allie topped off his week with a walk-off 14th inning single on Saturday night against Erie, that after going 0-for-6 in the 13 innings beforehand. He didn’t blow anyone away with his average this week, going 5-for-21 from the plate (.238 average); however, back-to-back home runs on Monday and Tuesday in Harrisburg helped give him a slugging percentage of .571 this week. The home runs that Allie hit were quite impressive, especially the way he handled himself on Monday. Allie pulled a ball long gone but foul the pitch before hitting the homer. For some reason, the pitcher came right back down the middle, and Allie was able to straighten it out for a fair result. Allie was able to find what he wanted and stuck with his approach. The pitcher made a mistake, and Allie immediately made him pay for it. Compared to last season, Allie has made improvements in almost every offensive category. – Sean McCool
Barrett Barnes, LF, Altoona – If you are surprised to see Barrett Barnes’ name on this list again this week, you really haven’t been paying much attention at all. Barnes is currently riding a 12-game hitting streak, where he has a .413 average and 1.285 OPS. Barnes really put the exclamation point on his week last Monday and Tuesday where, like Allie, he hit back-to-back home runs in Harrisburg. Barnes didn’t just stop there, however, as he went yard in his next start back in Altoona, giving him home runs in three straight games that he recorded an at-bat. He also hit two doubles on Friday in Altoona that were smashed. Overall, there isn’t much more to say about a player who has been one of the best hitters in all of minor league baseball, and the best statistical hitter in the Pirates’ system, since early July. Barnes was named the Eastern League Hitter of the Week. – SM
Albert Baur, 1B, Morgantown – Albert Baur had four multi-hit games this week and added his third homer of the season. He hit his second homer the previous Sunday, just missing an even better week last week. Baur is a big, left-handed hitting first baseman, who has put up a .271/.348/.388 slash line this season. That’s above average for the NY-Penn League, but he is also 24 years old, which is old for the level. The Pirates don’t have any top first base prospects in the lower levels, so there should be room for him to stick around and try to build off his decent numbers this season. Baur has started 60 games at first base for Morgantown, so they are giving him every shot to prove himself – John Dreker
Will Craig, 3B, Morgantown – Craig got off to a slow start in Morgantown, with a .551 OPS in June. He turned that around with an .849 OPS in July and an .814 OPS in August. He reached base safely in every single game this week, getting hits in the first six games, with five multi-hit games. That led to a .480/.594/.600 line in 32 plate appearances, which also included his second home run in pro ball. The offense is good to see, but it’s really difficult to evaluate players at this level based on stats. He does show an advanced approach at the plate, and that should get him to Bradenton at the start of next season. He will also likely remain at third base, as the injuries to Ke’Bryan Hayes will prevent him from having any competition at the position in the first half of the 2017 season. – Tim Williams
Edwin Espinal, 1B, Altoona – Edwin Espinal has put together a nice little four game hitting streak since last Wednesday, with multiple hits in three of those four games. He added three hits on Saturday night during Altoona’s 14-inning win. Espinal reached a high water mark of .321 (AVG) on July 9th with the Curve, seemingly on the way to an extremely breakout season at the Double-A level. Between July 10th – August 23rd, Espinal hit a measly .206 average with a .539 OPS, as his swing looked slow, late, and all out of sync. With his average dropping down to .276 at the beginning of the week, this nice little stretch will hopefully help Espinal get out of his funk and begin hitting for some gap power again. – SM
Chris Harvey, C/1B, Morgantown – Harvey had nine hits last week, including the walk-off winner on Thursday night. He is hitting .295/.347/.393 in 31 games this season. Most of his playing time has been behind the plate, while also getting seven games in at first base. Harvey spent part of early August in Indianapolis serving as the backup when the Pirates were short on healthy catchers. He didn’t get into a game though, returning to Morgantown instead, where he has put up a .788 OPS in August. He will probably serve as catching depth in the lower levels next season. The Pirates don’t have any big catching prospects in the lower levels, but they do have a lot of strong defensive catchers, which helps with the young pitchers in the system. – JD
Casey Hughston, CF, West Virginia – Hughston had three strong games this week, though his biggest issue was still evident throughout the week. On Monday, he had three hits and scored two runs. On Thursday, he reached base four times. They on Saturday, he had two hits, including his 11th home run. It got him a place among the top ten hitters despite the fact he struck out 12 times last week. We see the occasional power display with seven triples and 11 homers. You get the speed on the bases, which is above average. He also has solid defense in center field. The huge problem is the propensity to swing and miss a lot. Hughston has 144 strikeouts in 95 games. Almost all of the damage he does is on pitches on the inner half of the plate. When pitchers use the outer half of the plate, he is lost. That was a problem the Pirates tried to address last year and he hasn’t shown any improvements. For now, he’s just an athletic 22-year-old with plenty of tools, but far from being a legit prospect – JD
Carlos Munoz, 1B, West Virginia – Munoz was having an outstanding week until Sunday when he went 0-for-6 in the extra inning contest. His previous four games were more than enough to get him mentioned here though. He went 9-for-16 with two doubles, a triple and two walks in those games. Munoz has improved his OPS slightly every month, though the difference between April and August is only 86 points. He has a .715 OPS on the season. That’s lower than you’d like to see from your 22-year-old first baseman, who has no value outside of his bat. His power we saw last year hasn’t carried over, with fewer homers and the same amount of extra-base hits (34) as last year, but in 55 more games this season. Because it took him so long to progress through the lower levels, he actually reaches minor league free agency at the end of next season. He will likely need to show major improvements, while in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League, for the Pirates to keep him around after next season. – JD
Mitchell Tolman, 2B, West Virginia – In six games last week, Tolman had seven hits and six walks, reaching base at least once in each game. He has now drawn 64 walks this season (compared to 62 strikeouts), which ranks him second among all Pirates to Max Moroff, and second in the South Atlantic League. Tolman has a .369 OBP, which ranks his first on West Virginia and eighth in the league. Besides getting on base, he has added some over-the-fence power that we didn’t see last year. In 63 games with Morgantown last year, he failed to hit a single homer. He has hit eight this season, though his slugging percentage was better last year due to a high total of doubles and a better average. Tolman has improved defensively at second base this season and he won the college version of a Gold Glove last year at third base. So he has two positions with solid defense, giving him a better chance to eventually make the majors in a bench role, which looks like a possibility at this point – JD
Adrian Valerio, SS, Bristol – The Pirates want Valerio to stop swinging for the fences, and just focus on making contact. He’s got strong defensive skills at shortstop, highlighted by his instincts at the position. He has some speed, but not game changing speed. But the combination means that all he has to do is become a singles hitter with some gap power to be a solid shortstop prospect. He did that this week, going 13-for-31 with a double and a homer. He also limited his strikeouts, only striking out twice, which was good, as he had some problems taking big cuts at breaking pitches prior to this. Valerio hasn’t been consistent with his offensive outbursts, and generally reverts back to taking big cuts and trying to hit for power after he gets on a good streak. We’ll see if that’s the case this time around. – TW
PITCHERS
Sergio Cubilete, RHP, DSL Pirates – Since the Pirates only allow DSL pitchers to go five innings or 75 pitches, whichever they reach first, Cubilete had a masterpiece ended after he retired all 15 batters he faced. In his last start of the season, the 21-year-old had four strikeouts and a 7:2 GO/AO ratio. It was just the second time he threw five shutout innings in 15 starts, and just the fifth time he was able to get through all five innings of work. Cubilete was signed after his 21st birthday, inking a low bonus deal back in February. He throws his fastball 92-95 MPH, with a 82-84 MPH changeup and a 79-82 MPH curveball. The Pirates clearly liked the potential of the 6’4″ righty, giving him the Opening Day start, and sticking with him through a slow beginning to his career. He finished with a 3.52 ERA and a .207 BAA in 61.1 innings, which earned him an invite to the Fall Instructional League. – JD
Matt Eckelman, RHP, Bristol – Eckelman has some good fastball velocity, with the ability to sit 90-93 and touch 94. He also has good control, and commands his secondary stuff well. None of his pitches rate as anything better than average, but he uses them well enough that he’s going to carve up rookie ball hitters, which is what he’s doing. This week he threw six shutout innings, walking one and striking out three. He should make the jump to West Virginia next year, although he might end up in a long-relief role due to his lack of upside. – TW
Luis Escobar, RHP, Morgantown – Escobar threw six shutout innings in his lone start last week, striking out a season-high eight batters. He now has a 2.51 ERA and hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any appearance this season. Escobar has cut down his walks as the season has progressed, which has led to longer outings and better results. In August, he has a 1.73 ERA in 26 innings, with eight walks, 26 strikeouts, and a 1.00 WHIP. An improved changeup has helped him to hold left-handed batters to a .198 BAA this season. In his start last week, he had all three pitches working. He showed good downward plane on his fastball, while keeping hitters off-balance with his changeup and using his curveball to set-up batters early, and get them out late. There were a lot of swinging strikes and very few balls hit well. Out of the four starts I’ve seen, this one was the most impressive. – JD
Gage Hinsz, RHP, West Virginia – I’ve written that Hinsz shows a lot of the upside as Mitch Keller, but is a step behind him. He still looks inconsistent at times, and that showed in his last few starts. Last week he gave up eight runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings, with two walks and two strikeouts. He walked six in ten innings in his two previous starts. This week he made two starts, combining for three earned runs in 14 innings, with five strikeouts and two walks. Hinsz flashes a plus curveball and can consistently hit 95 MPH, working in the 92-95 range. He keeps progressing, and could continue moving up in the system, although at this point he’s still behind Keller due to not being as consistent. – TW
Mitch Keller, RHP, West Virginia – Keller finished his time in West Virginia with a bang. He made four starts in a row without an earned run, throwing 23 innings in those starts, with a 28:4 K/BB ratio. He continues sitting in the 94-97 MPH range, and his recent performances, plus his overall progress this year, has earned him a promotion to Bradenton, where he will debut Tuesday night. The best part of Keller’s recent success in West Virginia is that he was dominating with just his fastball, and forcing himself to use the secondary pitches only for development, and not because he needed them for outs. In some starts, he threw fastballs for the first four innings before needing an off-speed pitch. The move to Bradenton will give a chance to see how deep he can go pitching off the fastball before he needs his secondary stuff. – TW
Nick Kingham, RHP, Bradenton – Since returning from Tommy John surgery, Kingham has pitched a total of eight games. The best game among that group was his six shutout innings last week for Bradenton. He struck out seven batters in that game, his highest total since he had eight back on June 13, 2014. Kingham threw five shutout innings in his previous start for Bradenton. Before that, he was throwing strikes in the Gulf Coast League. In 35 innings this season, he has walked just two batters. That’s impressive, since command usually takes a little time to return after having TJ surgery. Kingham will take the next step, joining Altoona, where he is scheduled to throw six innings tonight. That will allow him to make two regular season starts, then likely get a chance in the Eastern League playoffs. Whatever innings he can put in this year, will help him as he builds upon that total next year in Indianapolis, and likely Pittsburgh at some point. – JD
James Marvel, RHP, Morgantown – Marvel is having the classic issues with his command and consistency after returning from Tommy John. There have been a few starts where he has struggled, including a start on August 5th that I saw where he flashed good results, but ultimately was hit hard for six runs in six innings. He skipped a start after that, and has returned with better results, including one run in six innings this past week, with a walk and two strikeouts. He’s a guy who generates a lot of ground ball outs when his game is on, and that was the case this week with a 10:3 GO/AO ratio. – TW
Stephan Meyer, RHP, Morgantown – Meyer switched to throwing his two-seam fastball as his primary pitch in the second half this year, and the results have been tremendous. In 38.1 innings since the switch, he has a 2.35 ERA and a 24:12 K/BB ratio, along with a 54.9% ground ball rate. Prior to the switch, he had a 7.89 ERA in 29.2 innings, with a 19:10 K/BB ratio and a 42.3% ground ball rate. This week he gave up one run in six innings, with one walk and three strikeouts. This switch moved him from being a non-prospect to a guy who is interesting to follow in the upper levels, especially since he has a good, projectable frame with the chance to add some velocity in the future. – TW
Cam Vieaux, LHP, Morgantown – Vieaux is the most advanced pitcher in the Morgantown rotation, and the top candidate to make the jump over West Virginia next year and go right to Bradenton. He shares some similarities with Brandon Waddell and Steven Brault, as I wrote a few weeks ago, but is a different pitcher. The Pirates have been working to get his velocity up, getting him closer to what the other two lefties can provide. He’s worked 90-93 MPH in the past, but hasn’t been there this year. This week he gave up one run in six innings, with one walk and nine strikeouts, easily having his best strikeout total of the year. – TW
Mike Wallace, RHP, Bristol – Wallace had the highest Game Score (80) last week for any pitcher with the Pirates. He threw seven shutout innings, with two hits and no walks. He only had two strikeouts, but he had a very impressive 14:5 GO/AO ratio. Wallace wasn’t able to backup that outing on Sunday, but he still went from a bullpen pitcher early in the year, to the best starter on Bristol after Blake Cederlind got hurt and he took his place. Wallace finished with a 3.10 ERA in 52.1 innings, with a .198 BAA, an 0.96 WHIP, and a 2.00 GO/AO ratio. He’s probably going to have trouble excelling at the higher levels unless he’s able to work off his fastball better and add velocity. He sits 86-89 MPH and relies heavily on off-speed pitches, which works well at the lower levels. – JD
