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, Jose Osuna), 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, Pirates – [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. Pat Light, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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Indianapolis finally got a game in after two straight rain outs pushed Steven Brault’s start back to Saturday night. He wasn’t sharp on this night, though that’s understandable with the delay and length between starts, which was eight days total due to an off-day mixed in with the rain outs. Brault still limited to Columbus to one run over five innings, as the Indians took a 6-1 victory.
Brault got through five due to an efficient fifth inning. He was at 85 pitches through four innings. He gave up five hits, two walks and hit a batter, while throwing 58 of his 96 pitches for strikes. Brault finished with seven strikeouts and a 4:2 GO/AO ratio. He now has a 3.52 ERA this season, with 31 strikeouts over 30.2 innings.
The bullpen of Angel Sanchez, A.J. Schugel and Edgar Santana combined to throw four shutout innings and strikeout seven batters. Santana has now allowed one earned run over 15.1 innings this season.
The offense was led by Max Moroff, who homered in the first inning, then hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning. He now leads all Pirates with eight homers this season. The rest of the offense came from the veterans at the bottom of the order, as Anderson Feliz hit a two-run homer, Joey Terdoslavich had two hits and a run scored, and Eury Perez scored on Moroff’s second homer. Eric Wood was 1-for-4, while Austin Meadows and Chris Bostick each finished 0-for-4.
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Altoona has been postponed due to rain. They will make the game up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday.
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Bradenton won 3-2 Saturday night over Dunedin on a walk-off wild pitch. Taylor Hearn was on the mound and his start could be broken up into three segments. He was wild through three innings, untouchable for 3.2 frames, then he ran out of gas with an extremely high pitch count late.
Hearn gave up a single and two walks through three innings, striking out five batters in the process. It was not a pretty performance though, as numerous deep counts had him at 61 pitches on the night. It looked like he may not be able to get through five innings on the night, but things really turned around in the fourth. Over the next 3.2 innings, Hearn was pumping strikes over the plate, needed just 34 pitches to record 11 outs.
It was surprising to see him come out for the seventh with 91 pitches already, but it looked like a good decision for a minute, as he retired two batters on four pitches. However, the next two batters both hit the ball well for singles, ending his night with 103 pitches. That’s as high as you will see at the lower levels, as most starters are on pretty strict counts and managers usually get them out of there around 85-90 pitches.
Hearn had a strong game, even with those two runners scoring after he left. He could have been helped by better control early, as Dunedin was having a tough time catching up to his 95-98 MPH fastball, plus his slider was effective at times. His only hit before the seventh was a soft liner to left field that was nearly caught, and nothing was really struck well until those last two batters. It’s a career high in innings for Hearn and he finished with eight strikeouts for the second consecutive game.
There wasn’t much excitement on the offensive side. The first Marauder run scored on two singles, followed by a Christian Kelley ground out. In the third inning, Cole Tucker doubled the opposite way, then stole third base (23rd steal). He then scored on a sacrifice fly from Logan Hill. The third run scored with two outs in the ninth, as Kelley singled, then Alfredo Reyes pinch-ran once he reached second base. Reyes moved to third and then scored, both on wild pitches, though the second one was clearly a passed ball.
Tucker was 1-for-4 on the night. Ke’Bryan Hayes and Will Craig were both 0-for-3, though they both reached on a hit-by-pitch. Hayes picked up two steals, giving him ten on the season. Kelley had two hits and has really looked strong at the plate all season. He’s hitting .333 through 22 games.
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CHARLESTON – Anyone following the Power this season has come to expect Luis Escobar to put up impressive numbers even when he doesn’t have his best stuff. After all, he started the season with four consecutive starts with at least nine strikeouts. He began to come back down to earth in his final start in April, in which he pitched five innings of two-run, four-hit ball with only four strikeouts.
On Sunday, he crashed hard back to reality. His only lasted 3.1 innings and gave up seven runs in his worst start since his second professional appearance, which came in June 2014 with the DSL Pirates.
It was clear that Escobar didn’t have his best stuff in the first inning when his fastball hovered in the low 90s. It also didn’t have the movement that has resulted in his league-leading strikeout numbers. Without the fastball working, the Lexington batters were able to lay off the breaking ball, which Escobar used far more often than his changeup. This forced Escobar back to his failing fastball.
Escobar’s reluctance to throw his changeup caused the coaching staff to forbid the use of the curveball approximately halfway through his start.
Power manager Wyatt Toregas said, “We have to develop him. It’s not about here, it’s about Pittsburgh.”
“His changeup is going to be the key to the whole thing,” Toregas said.
Of Escobar’s 72 pitches, only 42 percent were strikes. The few balls Escobar managed to locate in the strike zone ended up getting crushed. For the first time in his career, he gave up two home runs, and he hit an all-time low with seven walks. In three of the four innings in which he appeared, he walked the lead-off batter.
To limit this kind of damage in future starts, Toregas says the changeup will need to be used more. “Then, hitters can’t just sit on a fastball,” he said.
The bullpen didn’t help much. Mike Wallace came in with the bases loaded and one out in the third and gave up a double and a single that scored four runs. (Three of those were credited to Escobar.) He later allowed a go-ahead solo shot in the top of the seventh.
Dylan Prohoroff found more success. He pitched two perfect innings and struck out the side in the ninth.
Lexington didn’t fare much better on the mound. The Power batted around in the bottom of the first, staking a 6-0 lead early. Logan Ratledge, Hunter Owen, and Trae Arbet each doubled in that half inning, and Clark Eagan capped things with his second home run in two days.
The Power added a run in both the fourth and the fifth inning. Ratledge hit a sacrifice fly to score Kevin Mahala, and Hunter Owen blasted his third home run of the season. In total, Owen reached base three times.
Each team collected more runs than hits. The Power walked six times, and Ty Moore and Carlos Munoz were both drilled in the first inning. Their plate discipline wasn’t always successful, and Power batters accumulated 11 strikeouts (six in the last three innings).
Logan Ratledge nearly tied things up with a deep drive to lead off the ninth inning, but it was caught at the wall. Moore struck out swinging, and Owen lined out to center. The Power only left four runners on, but they wound up losing 9-8.
Stephen Alemais had the night off. – Abigail Miskowiec
