A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time (Max Moroff), 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 Mid-Season Update, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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2. Austin Meadows, CF, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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3. Shane Baz, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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4. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – [insert_php]
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5. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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6. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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7. Will Craig, 3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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8. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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9. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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10. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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11. Calvin Mitchell, OF, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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12. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Bristol – [insert_php]
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13. Edgar Santana, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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14. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php]
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15. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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16. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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17. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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18. Luis Escobar, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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19. Max Kranick, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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20. Steven Jennings, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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21. Adrian Valerio, SS, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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22. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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23. Conner Uselton, OF, GCL Pirates – Disabled List
24. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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25. Eric Wood, 3B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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26. Eduardo Vera, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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27. Logan Hill, LF, Altoona – [insert_php]
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28. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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29. Lolo Sanchez, CF, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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30. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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Indianapolis lost 9-3 on Friday night to Gwinnett. Clay Holmes started on regular rest after leaving his last start due to shoulder fatigue. His velocity was fine in this game, but his control was poor. He had a couple of very questionable walks in his four outings, but he was also wild for most of the night so he wasn’t getting any close calls from the umpire. This was somewhat typical of what you see from Holmes. Gwinnett hitters couldn’t make any solid contact off of him, so Holmes was his own worst enemy. He gave up a run on two hits with six walks and three strikeouts. The two hits were a grounder that found a hole and a bloop to center field where Holmes shattered the bat.
Tyler Eppler followed Holmes and went three innings, with the Gwinnett bats breaking the game open in the seventh inning by scoring five runs. He looked good during his first two innings, but really got hit around after that. Montana DuRapau allowed two runs in the eighth.
Indianapolis had eight hits in this game, with three each from Phil Gosselin and Christopher Bostick, who drove in a pair of runs to give them an early lead. Kevin Newman switched things up from yesterday when he hit five ground balls and never got the ball out of the infield. In this game, he went 0-for-5 and hit five fly balls.
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BOWIE, MD – Altoona failed to hold an early four-run lead and lost to Bowie for the 11th time in 13 games this year.
Things started well enough. Cole Tucker opened the game with his first AA hit, a bouncer up the middle. Elvis Escobar singled and Jerrick Suiter bounced a two-run double over the third baseman’s head and into the left field corner. Two outs later, Michael Suchy blasted his second HR over the outer wall in left, a no-doubter on which the left fielder didn’t bother to retreat.
But that was pretty much all for the Curve’s offense. They got a fifth run in the fourth when Anderson Feliz doubled and scored when the center fielder dropped a hard liner by Pablo Reyes. But that was it.
Meanwhile, in a pattern that’s been consistent in Altoona’s games with Bowie, the Curve’s pitching just couldn’t hold their opponents down. Tanner Anderson had a fairly standard start for him. His stuff is borderline, except maybe his change, which appears to be his best pitch. He works around the edges of the strike zone and has little margin for error. When he doesn’t stay within that margin, he either has trouble with walks or gets hit hard. Tonight he gave up a scattering of long drives that produced four runs in his five innings. A long HR in the first produced two runs and doubles in the third and fifth produced two more.
Sean Keselica followed Anderson. He threw in the low-90s and his fastball is effective enough to miss some bats. He has a good curve, good enough that he can throw it to right-handed hitters. His command is inconsistent and he only threw 16 strikes in 27 pitches, but he got through two scoreless innings.
Yeudy Garcia came on with a 5-4 lead in the eight and couldn’t hold it. His upper-90s velocity remains a thing of the past, although he got up to 94-95 at times in this game. He also threw a lot of sliders. Garcia looked good for exactly two hitters. He got ahead and got two easy outs, but with the third hitter he started missing badly with every third pitch or so. He hit the third batter and gave up a double to tie the game. In the ninth, Garcia gave up a walk and a single to put runners on the corners with one out. He made some good pitches to get a strikeout, nearly escaping the jam, but the next hitter lined a ball into the left field corner to end the game.
Tucker had a better game than his debut yesterday. He finished 1-for-4, which included a hard line out to the third baseman, and played well in the field. Pablo Reyes, playing second, had a good day defensively. He showed good range to his left on a hard grounder and got the out at first. He also made a very quick transfer on a double play pivot, turning two on a grounder that I didn’t think was hit hard enough for a DP.
Jerrick Suiter was interesting. It was the first time I’d seen him in person this year, although I’ve seen him on the internet and was aware he’d changed his stance. it’s a radical change, as he used to have a very wide stance and he’d lean back, almost as if he was sitting in a chair. It’s not surprising he produced very limited power. Now he starts with a much narrower stance and employs a leg kick, resulting in far more force in his swings. He had no hits in three ABs after the double, but he had an extremely hard liner to third that was caught. – Wilbur Miller
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Bradenton won 6-4 over Clearwater, as Gage Hinsz had a terrific outing. Hinsz came into the game with a 2.56 ERA in six games since the FSL All-Star break, so he has been pitching well recently. He continued that success on this night, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks in seven innings. Hinsz had a rough start to the second inning, surrendering three straight hits and two runs to begin the inning. He cruised through the rest of the game though, retiring 18 of the next 20 batters, giving up just two singles during that stretch. He had four strikeouts, an 11:5 GO/AO ratio and he threw 59 of his 87 pitches for strikes. Hinsz has now lowered his season ERA in each of his last six starts.
Ty Moore had the big game on offense, going 3-for-3 with a walk. He hit a double, stole two bases, scored a run and drove in a pair. Stephen Alemais also drove in a pair during his second game with the Marauders. Will Craig had a single, walk, scored twice and picked up an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Mitchell Tolman hit his 14th double and Ke’Bryan Hayes was 0-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt and his sixth fielding error.
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West Virginia lost 6-5 to Kannapolis, but Adrian Valerio had a nice game and made things interesting at the end. With two outs in the ninth, Valerio hit a solo homer to bring the Power within one run. He also walked and had an RBI double in the third inning, then came around to score on an Albert Baur double. Mike Wallace started and allowed three runs in six innings. Ryan Nagle had three singles. Carlos Munoz hit his 19th double.
Valerio had four homers in a three-game stretch back in late June and I noted in The Twenty that week that you don’t really want to see homers from him because it has led to him changing his approach in the past. He’s a smaller player, who is better when he is using the whole field and goes for a line drive approach. This is his first home run in nearly a month, which shows that he has matured as a hitter because his average and OBP are actually slightly higher now than back on June 24th when he hit those homers. The strikeout rate has remained the same, so he didn’t change his approach at the first sign of power. In the past, a home run or even a ball off the wall would almost guarantee a slump for him the next few days.
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Morgantown won 4-3 in 12 innings on Friday night, getting a walk-off double from Bligh Madris. The Black Bears tied this game in the bottom of the ninth on a walk, sacrifice bunt and a throwing error. In the 12th inning, Jared Oliva picked up his third hit of the night. He moved to second on a ground out. After an intentional walk to Dylan Busby and fly out to center field from Tristan Gray, Madris hit the walk-off double to score Oliva.
Stephan Meyer started this game and limited the damage for six innings, giving up one run on eight hits and a walk. He had five strikeouts and a very impressive 10:0 GO/AO ratio. Gavin Wallace threw a scoreless inning of relief before Blake Weiman allowed two runs. He was followed by Matt Seelinger, who has had an amazing start to his career. After two scoreless frames tonight, he has thrown 11 shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks, with 15 strikeouts.
This was the second straight day that Oliva had three hits, collecting a double each game. Chris Sharpe had a double and three walks. Deon Stafford hit a two-run homer in the third inning, his third home run of the season. Tristan Gray is 2-for-20 in his last four games.
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Bristol lost 4-0 to Burlington in an error filled game. The Pirates had Jacob Taylor on the mound making his second start since returning from a minor back injury. In his last game he failed to record an out before reaching his pitch count, so this game was much better. He went three innings (boxscore currently gives 3.1, which is incorrect), giving up one unearned run on four hits and two walks, with two strikeouts. Drew Fischer followed and walked four batters in his 2.2 innings, giving up two runs. After Mason Ward allowed an unearned run in his only inning, Eddie Muhl threw a scoreless eighth. He has throws 9.1 innings so far without an earned run.
Pirates had eight hits in the game, but they went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven runners. They also had just one walk and ten strikeouts. Edison Lantigua was 1-for-3, drawing the lone walk, while also stealing his fourth base. Henrry Rosario had three hits, Nelson Jorge had two hits. Bristol committed five errors, leading to three unearned runs.
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The GCL Pirates were rained out. They will play a doubleheader tomorrow.
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The DSL Pirates won 5-3, as Sherten Apostel continued to provide clutch hits for the team. After hitting five homers in a week earlier this month, Apostel isn’t seeing many pitches to hit recently, drawing nine walks in his last four games. He got a pitch to hit on Friday and added his sixth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the eighth inning, which provided the difference in the game. He drove in three runs total in the game, giving him 41 RBIs, which is nine more than the second highest total in the league. For comparison sake, Rodolfo Castro led the team last year, driving in 29 runs.
Oliver Garcia started and had a solid outing, though not up to par compared to what we have seen from the 19-year-old All-Star pitcher. He allowed two runs over five innings. It is just the second time he allowed more than one earned run in nine starts this season. He has a 1.64 ERA in 44 innings.
The Pirates got a double and two runs scored from Francisco Acuna. Larry Alcime had an RBI single. Samuel Inoa had a single and a run scored. The Pirates went 0-for-3 on stolen base attempts. The Dodgers2 committed five errors (none for Pirates) which led to three unearned runs.
