The Bradenton Marauders ended up with 12 players selected for the Florida State League All-Star game last night. The injured Cole Tucker and Mitch Keller were replaced on the roster by Will Craig and Pedro Vasquez. Ke’Bryan Hayes also got a spot on the roster as a substitute. I mentioned when the rosters were announced that Vasquez was the biggest snub, which didn’t seem possible to have a snub with nine players selected. He was one of the best pitchers in the league at the time and is still pitching well with a 2.20 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 65.1 innings, so he deserved to go.
Craig really wasn’t hitting well at the time of the selection process. So with him playing a high offense position, it wasn’t a surprise he was left off the roster. His current stats though say that he actually deserves to be on the team. He is hitting .410/.511/.692 during the month of June, and his recent hot stretch started four games earlier at the end of May. He’s now tied for 13th in the league in OPS, so he was one of the better hitters on the South team last night.
Hayes has been okay this season, hitting .271/.352/.332 in 52 games, with 19 stolen bases. The offensive stats are a little low, but he’s both young for the league and he missed a lot of off-season training due to his back/rib injuries. If you add in the steals and the quality defense, he’s been a decent overall player.
So with two more deserving players getting selected as replacements, we take a look at how the Marauders performed.
In a slightly odd twist, the pitcher who got snubbed, got to start the game. Vasquez started for the South Division team and went two innings, serving up a two-run homer to Gavin LaValley in the first inning. He would end up hitting a two-run homer in the third inning as well, as the North won 5-2 and he was of course, the MVP.
Jake Brentz pitched the fourth inning and threw shutout ball on one walk and two strikeouts.
Daniel Zamora faced three batters and got a strikeout, a fly out and a batter reached on an error. That runner came around to scored after Zamora was lifted, so he was charged with an unearned run.
Yunior Montero had a strikeout, a walk and a fly out from the three batters he faced.
On offense, Will Craig went 0-for-2 and was hit by a pitch, because it wouldn’t be right if he didn’t get hit or just get on base somehow.
Ke’Bryan Hayes replaced Craig in the batting order in the sixth inning, although they played their normal positions. Hayes batted once and was called out on strikes.
With three catchers, who each caught three innings, Christian Kelley batted just once and made an out. He was the starting catcher.
Logan Hill started in left field and batted third. He had a typical Logan Hill day with a double and two strikeouts.
Finally, Casey Hughston started in center field and went 0-for-2 before leaving for a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning.
The only selected player who wasn’t injured and didn’t get into the game was Dario Agrazal, who will be promoted to Altoona for his next start. He started on Thursday, so while he could have used the All-Star game as a throw day, it made sense not to have him go all out right before being promoted.
** It’s Sunday, so time for the Prospect Status update. Before I start, I’ll note that Pat Light was taken off waivers, so we lost a top 50 prospect. I said I would figure out who was 56th for our Prospect Guide, but I can only narrow it down to Cody Dickson, Tanner Anderson and Pedro Vasquez. I’m guessing if we had to pick back then it would have been Vasquez because of the upside, but that’s just a guess. Anyway, here are the updates for the players in the majors.
Jose Osuna did not bat last night. He’s here for at least another week and who knows how many more if he just pinch-hits. He’s 25 short of losing that prospect status. Elias Diaz closed the gap pretty well recently, as he is now up to 50 career at-bats. I still think he will have a tough time cross that 130 barrier this year. Max Moroff has 22 at-bats to add to his two from last year. I highly doubt he escapes from the 2018 Prospect Guide. Didn’t expect Jacob Stallings to still be in the majors for today’s update. He’s at 22 at-bats and may never lose that prospect status. He’s got 48 more days than me in the majors and counting, so that’s an accomplishment many Major League players don’t reach.
Finally, Edgar Santana has three games and 3.1 innings, so he’s far away still. I think he’s in the majors for good this season, so I’m guessing he passes that 30 appearances threshold.
PLAYOFF PUSH
Bradenton trails in their division by 2.5 games with three games remaining in the first half. They do not play first place Palm Beach again during the first half.
West Virginia has been eliminated from the first half playoffs.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates won 4-3 over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday night. Pittsburgh will send Jameson Taillon to the mound for his second start since returning from the disabled list. In his return start against the Rockies, he threw five shutout innings, giving up five hits and two walks, with five strikeouts.The Cubs will counter with right-hander John Lackey, who has a 5.26 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP in 75.1 innings.
In the minors, Tyler Eppler starts for Indianapolis. He is seventh in the International League with a 3.22 ERA and tied for eighth with a 1.21 WHIP. JT Brubaker has combined for 13 shutout innings in his last two starts, with five hits, no walks and 15 strikeouts. Eduardo Vera has three walks and 50 strikeouts in 47.2 innings this season. Both Bradenton and the DSL Pirates are off today. West Virginia goes on their All-Star break after today’s game.
MLB: Pittsburgh (31-37) vs Cubs (33-34) 1:35 PM
Probable starter: Jameson Taillon (2.90 ERA, 15:35 BB/SO, 40.1 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (37-30) @ Charlotte (30-37) 2:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Tyler Eppler (3.22 ERA, 19:47 BB/SO, 64.1 IP)
AA: Altoona (36-30) @ Hartford (30-36) 5:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: JT Brubaker (3.49 ERA, 14:48 BB/SO, 56.2 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (36-28) @ Clearwater (36-31) 7:00 PM 6/19 (season preview)
Probable starter: TBD
Low-A: West Virginia (30-35) @ Kannapolis (38-29) 2:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Eduardo Vera (3.40 ERA, 3:50 BB/SO, 47.2 IP)
DSL: Pirates (6-7) vs Dodgers2 (11-1) 10:30 AM 6/19 (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here are two recent homers from Jerrick Suiter. From earlier in the week first…
and the most recent one
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
6/16: Pirates sign Shane Baz.
6/16: Justin Maffei assigned to Altoona.
6/15: Ronny Agustin assigned to West Virginia.
6/14: Matt Frawley sent to New York Yankees as part of earlier trade.
6/14: Francisco Cervelli activated from disabled list. A.J.Schugel optioned to Indianapolis.
6/13: Adrian Valerio and Victor Fernandez activated from disabled list. Sandy Santos and Andrew Walker assigned to Morgantown
6/13: Barrett Barnes placed on disabled list. Justin Maffei and Eury Perez assigned to Indianapolis.
6/13: Anderson Feliz assigned to Altoona.
6/12: Jameson Taillon activated from disabled list. Phil Gosselin optioned to Indianapolis.
6/11: Kevin Kramer placed on disabled list.
6/10: Chris Diaz traded to Miami Marlins.
6/10: Dovydas Neverauskas and Tyler Glasnow optioned to Indianapolis. A.J. Schugel and Edgar Santana promoted to Pittsburgh.
6/10: Pat Light designated for assignment.
6/10: Jason Stoffel assigned to Indianapolis. Placed on disabled list.
6/8: Brandon Waddell placed on disabled list.
6/8: Brandon Cumpton assigned to Bradenton.
6/8: Pirates recall Dovydas Neverauskas. Johnny Barbato optioned to Indianapolis.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Three former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus one trade of note. We start with the transaction, which has a couple of ironic nicknames. On this date in 1908, the Pirates sent pitchers Tom McCarthy and Harley Young to the Boston Doves for pitcher Irv Young. The Pirates got seven starts and nine relief appearances in 1908 from Irv Young, who posted a 2.01 ERA. The two Youngs were part of an unfortunate trend back in the day, which gave players with the same last name, the same nickname. Irv was known as Cy the Second, while Harley became known as Cy the Third. Irv went 63-95 in his career, while Harley went 0-3. It’s safe to say, neither lived up to that Cy Young comparison.
As for the players born on this date, we have Ron Necciai, a pitcher for the 1952 Pirates. He had a promising career derailed by injuries. In the minors in 1952, he pitched 42.2 innings over four starts and two relief appearances. He struck out 109 batters. That’s not a misprint.
Newt Halliday, first baseman for the Pirates on August 19, 1916. He was a late-innings defensive replacement, who struck out in his only at-bat. The 20-year-old Halliday joined the Navy the next year and contracted tuberculosis, which he succumbed to in 1918, making him one of the youngest MLB players ever to pass away.
Ben Shaw, 1B/C for the 1917-18 Pirates. His career was cut short just like the other two, but his reason was a salary dispute. Shaw didn’t sign his contract in 1919 and instead played outlaw baseball, which got his banned from the majors until 1925, which effectively ended his big league career.
