A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time (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]
include_once (‘./p2-stats/stats_functions.php’);
display_top30(640457,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
2. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(656605,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
3. Kevin Newman, SS, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(621028,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
4. Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(657061,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
display_top30(663647,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
6. Will Craig, 3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(643269,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(621368,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
8. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(656543,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
9. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(592468,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
10. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(643230,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
11. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(605280,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
12. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Bristol – [insert_php]
display_top30(669180,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
13. Max Kranick, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
display_top30(668820,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
14. Elias Diaz, C, Pirates – [insert_php]
display_top30(553869,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
15. Edgar Santana, RHP, Pirates – [insert_php]
display_top30(650828,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
16. Luis Escobar, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
display_top30(650813,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
17. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(596720,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
18. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
display_top30(650817,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
19. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php]
display_top30(596012,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
20. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
display_top30(621169,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
21. Stephen Alemais, SS, West Virginia – [insert_php]
display_top30(641301,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
22. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(663399,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
23. Travis MacGregor, RHP, Bristol – [insert_php]
display_top30(669740,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
24. Barrett Barnes, LF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
display_top30(608627,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
25. Max Moroff, 2B, Pirates -[insert_php]
display_top30(621559,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
26. Eric Wood, 3B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(607780,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
27. J.T. Brubaker, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(664141,’P’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
28. Chris Bostick, INF/OF, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(607471,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
29. Connor Joe, 3B, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(656582,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
30. Jin-De Jhang, C, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(618085,’B’,’20170628′);
[/insert_php]
[insert_php]
display_topperf(‘20170628’);
[/insert_php]
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170628′,’ind’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]
INDIANAPOLIS — He hasn’t always made quick adjustments when trouble arose, which has led to small rough patches growing into bigger problems.
Clay Holmes didn’t have that problem against Durham on Wednesday, but the opportunity was there for it to happen.
Durham’s Johnny Field took the second pitch of the game into the left field lawn seating for a home run. Kean Wong singled on the next pitch, and Holmes threw a wild pitch during the ensuing at-bat.
In two previous starts this season, Holmes did not make it out of the first inning and the chance of that happening a third time was becoming imminent. But he settled down, inducing three consecutive grounders to limit the damage in the first inning.
Holmes survived the early problems to allow just two runs on five hits over five innings. He didn’t walk anybody and struck out six batters, throwing 68 pitches.
His recovery was a positive sign, but how Holmes bounced back was more impressive. Holmes didn’t overpower hitters with his best fastball — his velocity was sitting at about 92 MPH and touching up to 95 MPH — so he altered his approach to find success.
“Considering it’s kind of my bread and butter, it made me pitch a little more and use all of my pitches,” Holmes said “I believe in all four of my pitches. But when you’re in a situation that your fastball may not be playing a certain way, you have to use your other stuff and pitch a little bit. I was able to do that and get outs on all my pitches. Definitely some progress with that.”
Indianapolis manager Andy Barkett noticed Holmes started to use more secondary pitches, opting for breaking pitches to counter not having his best fastball.
“He was able to go a different route in getting guys out,” Barkett said. “I’m proud of him.”
In previous outings, Holmes would get himself in trouble by trying to make adjustments to his mechanics on the fly once he ran into trouble. Holmes didn’t do that on Wednesday, which he considered as a step forward in his progression.
“I think it kind of speeds up on him sometimes,” Barkett said. “He sometimes tries to make mechanical fixes instead of approach fixes. When you do that you start thinking too much and bad things usually happen.”
Durham scored a run in the fourth inning when Willy Adames, the Tampa Rays’ top-ranked prospect, singled, stole second and scored on a single.
Holmes struck out the side in the third inning and retired the side in order on seven pitches in the fifth inning. But he was taken out of the game after that easy inning, finishing his start with 68 pitches.
“I just felt like he didn’t have great stuff and was laboring a little bit,” Barkett said. “At this point in the season we had a full bullpen and had a lot of guys that needed to pitch and hadn’t had consistent work, so it was a good time for us to do it.”
Indianapolis was shut out in its previous two games and didn’t score in the first three innings on Wednesday, leading to a 23-inning scoreless streak.
But that streak came crashing to a quick end in the fourth inning. Eric Wood hit a two-run homer to left field, while Erich Weiss followed with a solo shot one pitch later. Wood added an RBI double off the base of the wall in right field in his next at-bat.
Danny Ortiz hit a three-run homer to right field in the fifth inning, as Indianapolis scored in each of the last five innings in which it batted.
Jason Rogers added a homer to left field on the first pitch of the seventh inning. Read more about his possible departure to Japan here. Rogers was 4-for-5 with the homer, two RBI and three runs scored.
Wood was 4-for-5 with his three-run homer and fell a triple short of hitting for the cycle.
Josh Lindblom allowed two runs – including a homer – in two innings of relief. Johnny Barbato allowed two runs in one inning of relief.
**Gift Ngoepe (7-day DL hamstring) was seen doing some very light jogging in the outfield prior to Wednesday’s game. He also took groundballs for the second consecutive day. Ngoepe took some easy swings off a tee on Monday and expects to hit in the cage within a few days.
**Tyler Eppler appears to possibly be transitioning into the bullpen, as a possible short-term move, as Indianapolis moves away from using a 6-man starting rotation.
The Indianapolis team radio broadcast spoke of the move during the game. When asked if the report was accurate, and Eppler was indeed moving into the bullpen and Indianapolis was no longer going to use a six-man rotation, Barkett responded: “It was accurate before the game today, but you just never know around here.”
Barkett said he wasn’t sure why Eppler was the one chosen to go into the bullpen, noting an organizational pitching coordinator would be a better person to ask that question.
Eppler said he was told he was skipping a start to pitch in relief on Thursday, a move several starters throughout the organization have already completed this season. He was not aware of making any sort of move — albeit possibly temporary — to the bullpen.
“As far as I know I’m throwing out of the bullpen tomorrow, so that’s when they’re handing me the ball and it’s my job to go out there and get some outs,” Eppler said. “I’m rolling with whatever they’re telling me what to do.” – Brian Peloza
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170628′,’alt’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]
BOWIE, Md. – With Altoona missing both Brandon Waddell and Dario Agrazal, Austin Coley got the start. Coley was quietly effective, allowing just a run on four hits in seven innings. He didn’t walk anybody, fanned four and threw 64 of 95 pitches for strikes. Coley threw the standard four pitches, with his fastball sitting 90-91 and peaking at 93. He didn’t miss a lot of bats and got a few loud outs, but he located the pitch well. He threw mostly fastballs to right-handed hitters until his last couple innings but mixed his curve, especially, in more then. Against lefties he mixed in his change, possibly his best pitch, right from the start.
Altoona built a 3-0 lead, starting when Kevin Newman lined the game’s second pitch over the fence in left for his third HR. The Curve got a second HR in similar fashion in the fourth, on a longer HR by Wyatt Mathisen, his fourth. Mathisen was the only Altoona player to finish with two hits. The third run came in the fifth, when Jordan Ludlow grounded hard down the third base line with a runner on third and two out. The third baseman made the stop but couldn’t make the throw, for an infield single.
Altoona’s one other big scoring chance came in the second, when two walks and a single loaded the bases with two out. Newman got to a 3-0 count, but the pitcher battled to a full count and got Newman to ground out. Otherwise the Curve, now missing both Kevin Kramer and Connor Joe, did little against a very mediocre Bowie starter, with seven hits total and not many well struck outs. Newman and Luplow each finished 1-for-4.
Coley left with the score 3-1, but the Altoona bullpen and defense quickly unraveled. Tate Scioneaux showed good stuff, with a fastball that ranged from 88-95 and a change that repeatedly fooled left-handed hitters. His command wasn’t there, though, and he got into some deep counts. Even so, he would have gotten out of the inning with better defense. Edwin Espinal, who had a couple nice stops on hard grounders, dropped a throw on a sac bunt attempt. Scioneaux still had a chance to escape with a one-run lead, but he failed to get his foot on the first base bag at the tail end of a 3-6-1 double play attempt that would have ended the inning. Scioneaux left with the Curve trailing and Jared Lakind continued his rough season by letting two more runs score. That left the final tally at 6-3, Bowie – Wilbur Miller
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170628′,’bra’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]
Bradenton received strong starting pitching from Pedro Vasquez in their 4-1 win on Wednesday morning. He came into the day with the fifth best ERA in the Florida State League at 2.27, and improved on that by allowing one run over six innings of work. Vasquez gave up three hits and no walks, with one of the hits being a bunt single. The other two were back-to-back line drive singles to start the fourth inning, which led to the only run. He picked up six strikeouts and 58 of his 88 pitches went for strikes. Logan Sendelbach followed with two scoreless frames and Daniel Zamora pitched a scoreless ninth for his sixth save.
Mitchell Tolman had a big day at the plate with two singles, a triple and a walk in four trips to the plate. He also drove in two runs and stole his fifth base. Ty Moore made his Bradenton debut and his a solo homer in the seventh inning. Alfredo Reyes had a single, walk, his 11th stolen base and he scored two runs.
Before the game, Danny Arribas was released. I mentioned in a Morning Report last month that he wasn’t getting much playing time and this was his seventh season in the organization, so he was headed for minor league free agency. Unfortunately for Arribas, he reached that a couple months sooner, but he may now have a chance to catch on with another team and make a good impression.
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170628′,’wva’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]
West Virginia had to go with a spot start for today’s early afternoon game and considering the circumstances, Mike Wallace may have pitched the best game we have seen this season. In his first start of the season, and just two days after he made a relief appearance, Wallace threw seven shutout innings on five hits and one walk. He had four strikeouts and a 10:3 GO/AO ratio, while throwing 54 of his 75 pitches for strikes. He threw six innings of relief earlier this season, but that was on seven days rest and he allowed three runs in that game. When Wallace was starting at the end of last year with Bristol, he also had a start with seven shutout innings.
The Power got offense from Hunter Owen, who drove in a run on a sacrifice fly and another on a solo homer, his team-leading ninth of the season. Adrian Valerio had two hits, including his sixth double. He scored a run on the Owen sacrifice fly. Clark Eagan had two hits, including his 11th double, and he scored a run. West Virginia won 4-0, with Matt Anderson picking up the two-inning save.
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170628′,’wev’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]
Morgantown won 2-1 behind another strong start from Scooter Hightower. In his start last week, he threw five no-hit innings, with no walks, ten strikeouts and one hit batter. He couldn’t quite match that performance, but it was still a great outing. He allowed one unearned run over five innings, giving up four hits, with no walks and three strikeouts. He needed just 61 pitches to get through his outing, with 48 going for strikes. Hightower was followed by four relievers who all threw one shutout inning each. Matt Seelinger (28th round) retired the side in order in his pro debut, getting two batters on strikeouts.
Morgantown scored their first run in the sixth, with three draft picks doing their part. Deon Stafford led off the inning with a double. That was followed by a Bligh Madris infield single and then a sacrifice fly from Tristan Gray. They added a run in the eighth with Madris and Gray hitting one out singles, before Jose Barraza singled home Madris to break a 1-1 tie.
Brett Pope had an interesting debut. The 22nd round draft pick had a single, walk and a sacrifice bunt in three trips to the plate. He also made an error at shortstop and was thrown out stealing twice.
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170628′,’bri’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]
Bristol had a field day at the plate and got a stellar outing from 2016 second round pick Travis MacGregor, in their 10-6 victory on Wednesday night. MacGregor allowed one run over four innings in his season debut, then topped that outing in this game. He threw five shutout innings on two hits and three walks. He had two strikeouts, a 9:0 GO/AO ratio and threw 47 of his 75 pitches for strikes.
Draft picks Drew Fischer and Eddie Muhl each made their pro debut. Fischer had 1.1 scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Muhl allowed an unearned run in the ninth. Miguel Hernandez threw 1.2 innings and gave up five runs, but four of them were unearned. Bristol committed four errors.
The offense was led by the entire team. Every player had at least one hit and reached base at least twice. Yondry Contreras had a single and two walks. Edison Lantigua had two singles and two walks. Paul Brands hit a fourth inning grand slam. After going 0-for-4 in his debut, Nick Valaika had two hits and two walks tonight. Ben Bengtson also reached four times on two walks, a hit and a HBP. Johan De Jesus had three hits. Luis Benitez stole his seventh base in seven games.
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170628′,’pir’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]
BRADENTON, Fla. – The big standouts today in the GCL were the performances of 2017 second round outfielders Cal Mitchell and Conner Uselton. Both players went 3-for-5, with Mitchell hitting his first home run, and Uselton hitting a double in his first professional plate appearance.
Uselton was making his pro debut, and got off to a fast start. He doubled down the third base line in that first at-bat, and followed up with a single down the third base line in the next at-bat. The third hit of the game came on a line drive single to right field to lead off the 8th inning, with Uselton taking the first pitch he saw to the opposite field. Uselton is a big kid with strong forearms, and you can really see where the reports of raw power come from. Here is a video of Uselton’s second hit of the day.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BV5CqnEgG8M/
Mitchell had the more impressive day, using the entire field for his three hits. He started off with a line drive single to left field for an RBI in the fifth inning, which can be seen below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BV5FmC0ADLk/
That was followed by a home run to right-center field, with Mitchell showing a short and smooth swing, displaying some easy power to the pull side. The video can be seen below. The following at-bat saw him take an outside pitch the other way for his third hit of the game.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BV5JjH2ATq6/
The reports on Mitchell were that he has plus power and can drive the ball to all fields. He certainly showed that today, and has been doing a good job so far, getting a hit in each of his first two games prior to today, including a double yesterday.
Those two weren’t the only outfielders standing out today. Jeremias Portorreal, who was one of the biggest international signings for the Pirates in 2013, went 3-for-5 with a double and a triple, displaying some of the hardest contact of the day, with good speed to go with the line drives. Portorreal made an adjustment last year, lowering his hands and shortening his swing. The results since then have been fantastic, and I’m actually surprised he’s still in the GCL, especially with all of the other outfield talent here. He seems like a good candidate to move up to Bristol early in the season if he continues hitting like this.
The pitching looked bad on the surface, but wasn’t as bad as the stat line indicated. Leandro Pina didn’t have the best velocity, only sitting 86-90 MPH. The 90 MPH is new for him, and the steady increase is a good sign from a guy with a tall, projectable frame. Pina was impressive today due to his mix of pitches, consistently getting swings and misses, and getting a few strikeouts on his curveball.
Most of the damage against him came in the fourth inning, and that was largely the fault of his catcher, Gabriel Brito. Pina got a strikeout for what would have been the second out, but the curveball got past Brito and he wasn’t able to throw down to first in time to get the runner. The runner then stole second, and moved to third on a fly ball, which would have been the third out. He scored on a single, and that’s when things got worse.
The new runner on first attempted a steal of second, then moved to third when Brito couldn’t handle another curveball in the dirt, allowing it to get to the backstop. He had a play at third, but threw wild to the left of the bag, sending the ball to center field, and allowing the runner to score from first on one pitch. Pina fell apart a bit after that, and was eventually replaced by Ryan Valdes, who stranded the only runner Pina left on.
Valdes, who was drafted in the 33rd round as a college senior out of USF, had a good debut. He pitched 1.2 innings in relief, sitting 91-93 MPH and showing off a nice tight curveball, getting three strikeouts on the day. That is when the pitching performances ended, though. Eumir Sepulveda, who just joined the team today, gave up five runs in two innings. Part of that was a result of Jose Delgado giving up a grand slam and allowing two inherited runners to score. There was a clear separation in the performance of Pina and the performances of Sepulveda and Delgado, despite all three having poor stat lines. – Tim Williams
[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170628′,’dpi’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]
The DSL Pirates lost 9-2 in a game that was close until the ninth inning. Osvaldo Bido started and allowed three runs on three hits and four walks in four innings. He had five strikeouts and a 5:2 GO/AO ratio. Luis Arrieta was up next and he was great for four innings, shutting the Rangers1 out until the ninth inning. In that last inning, the first three batters reached against Arrieta, who then gave way to Kleiner Machado with the bases loaded. He would let all three inherited runners score, plus three runs of his own, though his runs were all unearned. The Pirates committed five errors in the game, including two by seldom-used second baseman Ivan Rosario, who now has five errors on the season and an .063 batting average.
It was a quiet day on offense with most of the prospects out of the lineup. Jean Eusebio, Larry Alcime, Sherten Apostel, Samuel Inoa and Francisco Acuna all had the day off. Pedro Castillo was the only top prospect in the lineup and he went 0-for-4. All of the hits by the Pirates were singles. Williams Calderon had one hit and two walks. Emison Soto stole his eighth base.
