A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time (Tyler Glasnow, Trevor Williams, Alen Hanson), or loses his prospect eligibility, he will be removed from this list. 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 more active prospects on the list. Rankings are from the 2017 Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Austin Meadows, CF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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2. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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3. Kevin Newman, SS, Altoona – [insert_php]
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4. Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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6. Will Craig, 3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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8. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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9. Nick Kingham, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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10. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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11. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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12. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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13. Max Kranick, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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14. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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15. Edgar Santana, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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16. Luis Escobar, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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17. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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18. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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19. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php]
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20. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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21. Stephen Alemais, SS, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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22. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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23. Travis MacGregor, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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24. Barrett Barnes, LF, Extended Spring Training -[insert_php]
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25. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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26. Eric Wood, 3B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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27. J.T. Brubaker, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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28. Chris Bostick, INF/OF, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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29. Connor Joe, 3B, Altoona – [insert_php]
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30. Jose Osuna, 1B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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INDIANAPOLIS – His command hasn’t looked good on paper in two Triple-A starts this season, but Steven Brault isn’t ready to hit the panic button.
He sees the improvements being made.
Brault allowed one earned run on two hits against Columbus on Tuesday. He struck out five, but walked four batters and threw just 51 of his 88 pitches for a strike.
“It wasn’t as bad as the stat line makes it look,” Brault said. “There were obviously some pitches that got away from me, but those guys had some pretty good at-bats and battled. It’s not always going to go my way.
So far this season Brault is throwing just 58 percent of his pitches for a strike.
Brault only threw 47 of 80 pitches for a strike in Indianapolis’ season opener on Thursday. He was one of the pitchers competing for the final starting rotation spot with the Pirates in spring training, but has yet to distinguish himself as the best option in the minors if needed.
The command issues became prevalent in the second inning, as Brault walked the first two batters of the inning. After a strikeout, a bloop single loaded the bases. Columbus third baseman Giovanny Urshela hit an RBI sacrifice fly to centerfield to score the only run Brault allowed.
But after that, Brault improved his efficiency. In the third inning he retired the side on three groundouts. He made a nice play on a slow rolling grounder down the third base line, sliding to grab the ball and getting up quickly to throw to first base for the first out of the fourth inning. And after a two-out walk and single, Brault struck out Eric Stamets to end that threat.
He finished his night by retiring the side in the fifth inning on a strikeout and two groundouts.
“He was a little bit scattered there early, but I thought he regrouped and threw the ball well after that,” Barkett said. “We just had to get him in the strike zone a little bit more, attacking the zone. He was nibbling early on. I thought he made adjustments well, made pitches and did a nice job.”
Two starts into the season, Brault might be out of sync with his delivery, Indianapolis pitching coach Stan Kyles said.
“In spring training he did a great job of getting more athletic with his delivery,” Kyles said. “I thought in his first game here, I just thought he was trying to get synced up a little bit too much. He’s a very athletic kid and he has to take that athleticism into the game. I think it’s a matter of him getting a little more athletic and then I think his delivery will find him.”
Brault felt he made improvements using his natural athleticism, but with room to grow further.
“We talked in the dugout where it was 75 percent of the time (where they want),” Brault said. “So now next time we’re going to shoot for higher until it’s consistent all of the time.”
Indianapolis, meanwhile, is struggling offensively throughout the lineup and Columbus starter Mike Clevinger kept it that way. Clevinger, who was on the Cleveland Indians’ playoff roster last season, threw seven shutout innings, allowing four hits and two walks, striking out nine.
Indianapolis has been shutout in consecutive games and has not scored in 23 innings.
“You have to stay positive and just wait for it to turn around, keep encouraging the guys,” Barkett said. “It’s a grind and we have 130-something games left and nobody remembers April later in the season. You just keep working, you keep grinding and stay positive. Adversity is a good thing. Without adversity you can’t ever learn and grow.”
Indianapolis did have some scoring opportunities. In the third inning, Danny Ortiz singled against a shift and Eric Wood hit a standup double, putting runners at second and third with nobody out. But Clevinger struck out the side — Jacob Stallings, Max Moroff and Christopher Bostick — to end the threat. Moroff was ahead in the count, 3-1, before striking out.
In the sixth inning, Stallings was thrown out at home trying to score from first on a Max Moroff double into the left field corner.
While it’s only a few games into the season, the batting averages of a majority of the Indianapolis lineup are not pretty. Christopher Bostick (.217), Austin Meadows (.048), Jose Osuna (.227), Erich Weiss (0-for-8), Jason Rogers (.111), Danny Ortiz (.176), Eric Wood (.125) comprised a group of players struggling at the plate.
Meadows, the organization’s top prospect, did draw a walk against Clevinger, after getting down 0-2 in the count and working an eight-pitch at-bat.
And Meadows made two nice plays in center field. He caught a flyout while sliding onto the warning track, and a few innings later he tracked down a flyball at the wall, quickly kneeling to make the catch and avoid contact with the wall.
Moroff was 1-for-4, but struck out twice and left three runners on base. Bostick was 0-for-4 and struck out four times, while Osuna was also 0-for-4. Wood was 1-for-3 with his second double of the season, but also struck out twice.
Indianapolis struck out 11 times on Tuesday, after striking out 13 times on Monday.
Edgar Santana pitched two innings of relief, allowing one unearned run. He walked one batter and allowed two hits, striking out none. The radar gun in Victory Field was not registering with the scoreboard, so velocities were not available for pitchers on Tuesday.
Elias Diaz had the night off. – Brian Peloza
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HARRISBURG – Yeudy Garcia’s first AA start, against Richmond, failed to last an inning due to a high pitch count. Garcia didn’t show anything like the upper-90s velocity he had two years ago. His fastball sat at 90-92 mph, hitting 93 once. His control of it wasn’t terrible, but he was unable to put hitters away. At that velocity the fastball is not a swing and miss pitch, so hitters were able to foul it off repeatedly. The only other pitch Garcia showed was his slider, which he could not throw for a strike and the hitters didn’t chase.
Garcia got a ground out on the lead-off batter and got ahead of the next hitter 0-2, but after many foul balls finally walked him. He got too much of the plate with a fastball on the next hitter and the result was a no-doubt HR. Garcia walked hitter #4, then went 3-0 on the fifth batter. He battled back to get a strikeout on the only swing and miss of his outing, but it was his 30th and last pitch.
Oddly enough, the two runs off Garcia were the only ones allowed all night by Altoona pitchers. Sean Keselica, Miguel Rosario and Jared Lakind combined for eight and a third scoreless innings. Keselica went three and a third of that, allowing two hits walking none and striking out three. He was throwing quite a bit harder than he was when I saw him at Harrisburg a few days ago. Then his fastball sat at 87-91, but tonight it was 90-94. Lakind was also throwing harder than he was in Harrisburg, which I’ll get to in a moment. I don’t think the radar guns account for the difference, as all the other pitchers in the three games in Harrisburg and the one tonight were registering just about what I’d expect. That includes Rosario, whose velocity was about the same at both Harrisburg and Richmond. Anyway, Keselica located his fastball effectively and only seldom resorted to his change and breaking ball.
Rosario threw three innings, but survived due to one of the more remarkable strings of “at-‘em balls” I’ve ever seen. In the space of three innings, he got two lineouts (and I mean HARD lineouts) to Edwin Espinal at first, two long drives that the outfielders ran down, and two liners that second baseman Kevin Kramer played successfully on the short hop. He turned one into a double play with runners on the corners and one out. Rosario’s fastball topped out at 89 and he threw a slider and change, but nearly every hitter squared up on his pitches.
Lakind threw his fastball in the low-90s, as he has prior to this year, but it was a small sample size as he relied mostly on his change and curve. He was very effective in his first inning, walking one but getting two strikeouts. In his second inning, he allowed three straight scorched line drives, all of which were caught.
The Curve hitters meanwhile produced plenty of offense, but no runs. Well, none except a pair of solo HRs by Jordan Luplow, his first two of the year. The first landed on top of the fence in left-center and bounced over. The second cleared the outer wall in left. Included the longballs, the Curve had 13 hits, five walks and a hit batsman, and also benefited from four errors. But they stranded fifteen runners and went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. And the two hits were of the infield variety and contributed no runs. So at the end of nine innings the game was tied, 2-2.
Richmond even ran short of pitchers and used not one, but two position players. Shortstop Rando Moreno threw a scoreless ninth. In the tenth, Richmond brought in outfielder Tyler Horan, who threw exclusively knuckleballs. It took until two were out before the Curve hitters noticed that Horan wasn’t throwing strikes. Eventually, he walked Pablo Reyes with the bases loaded to put Altoona ahead.
Unfortunately, Altoona also ran out of pitchers and moved Chase Simpson from third to the mound in the tenth. He retired the first two hitters, one even on a strikeout, but then a walk and two doubles ended the game in Richmond’s favor, 4-3.
One some individual notes, Espinal and Elvis Escobar each had three hits, although two of Espinal’s were pop flies that dropped. Kramer was 2-for-4 with two walks, and handled a string of moderately tough defensive plays. Apart from the two short-hopped liners, he had a couple tough plays up the middle and one slow bouncer that he had to charge. Kevin Newman was 1-for-6. Connor Joe ripped a single to left as a pinch hitter. Why exactly Joe is playing less than Simpson and Espinal is a mystery that I can’t answer, especially since Joe has had consistently good at-bats in the handful of opportunities he’s had. – Wilbur Miller
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Bradenton needed 14 innings and a position player on the mound to keep their perfect season going on Tuesday. They moved to 6-0 with a 7-5 win, as infielder Trace Tam Sing made his 2017 debut and threw a scoreless 14th inning.
Dario Agrazal started this game and it was much better than his debut, where he got knocked out of the game before he could get through five innings. He went six innings in this outing and gave up just two runs, both unearned after a Mitchell Tolman error. Agrazal throws strikes and pitches to contact and gets grounders when he is on his game and this was one of those occasions. He gave up four hits (all singles), walked one and hit two batters. He had two strikeouts, an impressive 10:3 GO/AO ratio, and he threw 54 of his 82 pitches for strikes. Agrazal has a 1.69 ERA through two starts.
After Bret Helton allowed three runs over five innings to tie the score and send it into extra innings, Jake Brentz came on and threw strikes. He went two innings, picking up five strikeouts, throwing 18 of his 26 pitches for strikes. Brentz made a lot of noise in Spring Training when he hit 100 MPH. He hit 99 in his first game and has now recorded eight strikeouts in three innings.
Everyone reached base at least once for the Marauders and only Logan Hill didn’t pick up at least one hit. Tolman hit a two-run homer in the top of the 14th to put Bradenton ahead. He was 0-for-5 with two errors up to that point. Kevin Krause hit his third homer and scored three runs. Christian Kelley had three hits and drove in a run.
Will Craig reached base three times with two walks and his second double. Cole Tucker had two singles, an RBI, and three stolen bases. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 2-for-7 with his first triple and he stole his fourth base. Bradenton has a .306 team average.
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CHARLESTON – This West Virginia Power team has already made its mark in the record books; tonight’s loss to the Asheville Tourists brought the team’s record to 0-6, the slowest start in franchise history. (The previous titleholder, the 2005 Milwaukee Brewers Class-A affiliate, featured Ryan Braun, Alcides Escobar, and Yovani Gallardo.) The Power, though, made things interesting and matched their season high in runs (3).
Some of the quieter bats seem to be awakening, an encouraging sign for a team that averaged approximately six hits over their first six games (three of which went into extra innings).
Stephen Alemais and Arden Pabst led the offensive charge. Alemais was hitless in the Power’s first five games but found his stroke tonight, reaching base in three of his five plate appearances. His RBI double cut the Asheville lead to two in the bottom of the third inning. Pabst crushed his first career homer to tie things up in the fifth. Trae Arbet also contributed two hits, but he struck out for the sixth time this year, good for second on the team.
The strikeouts have been troublesome for the Power this year, especially for the younger players on the team. Sandy Santos rode the bench today partially because of his team-high eight strikeouts.
Manager Wyatt Toregas said, “The one thing that’s giving us trouble now is we’re chasing off-speed pitches, and we’re fearing that he’s going to throw that pitch again, and they’re just blowing fastballs by us.”
Logan Ratledge, one of the Power’s most consistent hitters, continues to play well (despite having to pitch and taking the loss in last night’s marathon contest). On paper, he was 0-for-3, but he worked two key walks, bringing his OPS to 1.167. Ty Moore, another returning Power player, reached base four times in his 2017 debut.
Toregas sees this second go-around as an opportunity for players like Ratledge and Moore. “[Moore] brought an energy to the dugout tonight, which we need. Our energy’s a little low,” Toregas praised. “[Ratledge] is giving us professional at-bats at the top of the lineup right now. He’s not scared of anybody, and he’s been barreling up some balls.”
These older players have gotten this chance thanks to a spate of injuries suffered by the Power. Victor Fernandez went down with a hamstring injury last night, and Albert Baur was scratched from yesterday’s lineup without explanation. The Power are mum regarding Baur’s injury, but Toregas confirmed that both players are undergoing further testing so the full extent of their injuries (and the length of their disabled list stay) is unknown.
Matt Anderson, getting his first start of the season, pitched well enough to keep the Power in the ballgame. Anderson looked very confident with his fastball early, but he couldn’t control his slider, leading to a big inning for Asheville in the third.
In that inning, Anderson gave up a line-drive single; that runner advanced to third on a rare error by shortstop Stephen Alemais. Alemais was on his way to cover third on a bunt attempt when the runner broke from first, and Alemais couldn’t make it back to second in time to receive Pabst’s throw, which sailed into the outfield. Anderson recorded two quick outs but then his command struggles caught up with him. He walked one and allowed back-to-back doubles to bring three Asheville runs across. Alemais committed two errors on the night (and made one errant throw that was ruled an infield single), which is entirely uncharacteristic for the young shortstop.
Anderson got his breaking stuff working to fantastic effect by the fourth and used his curve to record two clutch strikeouts in the seventh with runners on second and third. In the end, Anderson put up respectable numbers (eight strikeouts, seven hits), and his fastball looked commanding at times. If he can limit big innings like the one tonight (and the one horrific inning of relief on Friday), he could put together a decent season with the Power.
New roster addition Mike Wallace jumped right in with four strong innings of relief. He kept the ball down in the zone and allowed only four hits while striking out two, but as the evening wore on, his success waned. He gave up the go-ahead run in the top of the tenth on a sacrifice bunt, and the Power stranded two in the bottom of the tenth to lose their third consecutive extra-inning game. –Abigail Miskowiec
