A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time, 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, Indianapolis – [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, Bristol – [insert_php]
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13. Max Kranick, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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14. Elias Diaz, C, Pirates – [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, Bristol – [insert_php]
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24. Barrett Barnes, LF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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25. Max Moroff, 2B, Pirates -[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. Jin-De Jhang, C, Altoona – [insert_php]
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Indianapolis won 6-4 over Gwinnett in a game that included a 74 minutes rain delay. Nick Kingham started and went 4.1 innings, allowing four runs (one earned) on seven hits and two walks, while striking out eight batters. That ties his high for strikeouts this season. The game was delayed with one out in the fifth, so that ended Kingham’s night early. He left with two runners on base and once play resumed, Angel Sanchez came out and stranded both runners. Sanchez would stay out for another two scoreless innings and pick up five strikeouts. Johnny Barbato finished it off with two scoreless frames for the save.
Starling Marte played his fourth game for Indianapolis and went 2-for-3 with two singles, a stolen base and two runs scored. Including his time in Bradenton, Marte is 5-for-19 with one walk and a home run during his six rehab games. Eric Wood had an RBI single in the first inning and a two-run triple in the eighth inning. The triple was his fourth of the season. Christopher Bostick went 2-for-5 with a run scored. Jordan Luplow had two walks, a stolen base and a run scored. Danny Ortiz had a two-run single in the first inning and a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
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Altoona won 8-5 over Akron behind some solid games at the plate by hitters on a tear recently. Kevin Newman went 3-for-5 with two doubles to give him 17 doubles on the season and a .263 average. Jerrick Suiter is batting .320 after two doubles. He scored twice and drove in two runs. He had a streak of nine at-bats in a row with a hit before flying out to right field in the fifth inning. Wyatt Mathisen went 3-for-4 with his 13th double, giving him a .301 average. He had a run scored and an RBI. Pablo Reyes had the big hit of the game, belting a two-run homer in the ninth inning to give the Curve some insurance runs.
Cody Dickson started and was getting hit all around the park, but limited the damage to two runs. He went 3.2 innings, allowing eight hits and two walks. He threw 83 pitches in his abbreviated outing. Casey Sadler was out next making his first appearance for Altoona since 2013. He gave up one run over 2.1 innings. Luis Heredia had a tough seventh inning, giving up two runs on three hits, which included a solo homer. Miguel Rosario continued to impress by finishing the game with two scoreless innings, picking up four strikeouts. He now has an 0.89 ERA in 40.1 innings this season.
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Bradenton lost in extra innings in each of their two last games, so on Friday night they thought it was better to avoid extra innings and win the game on a walk-off throwing error in the bottom of the ninth. With the score tied 5-5, John Bormann led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk. Cole Tucker followed him with a walk and that brought out pinch-runner Casey Hughston in place of Bormann. Mitchell Tolman then tried to bunt both runners up, but the throw by the Tampa third baseman was errant and that allowed Hughston to score from second base.
Taylor Hearn started the game and allowed one run through the first five innings. Things got out of hand in the sixth, with four runs scoring against Hearn, one of them being unearned. He finished with nine strikeouts on the night, which puts him in a tie for the FSL lead with 96 strikeouts. Those nine strikeouts tie his career-high, which was set late last year. Hearn had a 5:1 GO/AO ratio, walked just one batter and threw 63 of his 93 pitches for strikes, so there were some good signs during an outing in which he gave up four earned runs in six innings.
Cole Tucker went 2-for-4 with a double, walk, RBI, run scored and his 33rd stolen base. Will Craig went 1-for-3 with a walk and his 21st double. Mitchell Tolman had an RBI single to extend his hit streak to seven games. Ke’Bryan Hayes missed his third game in a row after pulling into second base awkwardly on a double in Tuesday night’s game. He walked off slowly on his own after a visit from the trainer that night.
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West Virginia got a strong start from highly-regarded lefty Oddy Nunez, but it took another nine innings after he left to decide a winner. The Power won 3-2 in 15 innings, scoring their winning run on a Garrett Brown single, which brought home Victor Fernandez. This game went into extra innings tied 1-1, and both teams scored a run in the 12th inning. West Virginia got their run on a Brent Gibbs single that scored Hunter Owen, but a one-out sacrifice fly tied the score again in the bottom of the inning.
Oddy Nunez allowed one run over 5.2 innings in his previous outing. That was his longest career start. He matched that total on Friday, this time throwing shutout ball over his 5.2 innings. He also set a career high with eight strikeouts, and in typical Nunez fashion, he had a 7:2 GO/AO ratio. He threw 59 of 87 pitches for strikes and allowed just three hits, with one of them being an infield hit on a slow chopper to second base.
West Virginia used four relievers for at least two innings each. Dylan Prohoroff gave up one run in his two innings. Julio Eusebio kept the opposition off of the board for 2.1 innings, then Ronny Agustin surrendered one run in his three frames. Andrew Potter picked up the win by retiring all six batters he faced.
The offense was ugly outside of Victor Fernandez. He went 3-for-6 with a triple and two runs scored. Everyone else went 6-for-48 with no walks and 12 strikeouts. Trae Arbet and Adrian Valerio had particularly tough days. Valerio committed two errors and went 0-for-7, while Arbet was 0-for-6 with four strikeouts. Besides Fernandez, only Garrett Brown reached base twice, and he did it on a hit-by-pitch and a single that deflected off the second baseman’s glove when they were playing in on the play.
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Morgantown lost 7-4 to Batavia on Friday night. Sergio Cubilete started and couldn’t make it out of the first inning. It wasn’t necessarily that he was getting hit hard, but a misplayed bunt, a throwing error and a couple tough calls from the home plate umpire did him in early. Yoandy Fernandez relieved him and looked good into the fifth inning when he started to lose his command and that led to a couple walks and well hit balls. He allowed three runs over four innings of work. Adam Oller went 3.1 innings without an earned run, giving him a 0.00 ERA in 10.1 innings this season.
On offense, 14th round draft pick Chris Sharpe had a nice game in the lead-off spot. He had two singles, two walks and drove in two runs. He is 6-for-18 with five walks in his first five games. Third round pick Dylan Busby isn’t quite off to that type of start. He went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts on Friday, leaving him 2-for-14 so far. Raul Siri had three hits in this game, including his first home run of the season. Michael de la Cruz and Yoel Gonzalez each contributed two hits.
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Bristol lost 6-1 to drop to 4-12 on the season. Domingo Robles started and looked strong through five shutout innings, before things fell apart in the sixth. In those first five innings, the only runners he allowed came on a double and an infield single. In the sixth, everything was started by a bunt single. Six singles and two walks later, Pulaski had a 5-0 lead. The last run was scored off of reliever Eddie Muhl. Robles finished with seven strikeouts and a 6:3 GO/AO ratio. Before the big sixth inning, he was on a run of 15 innings with just one earned run allowed.
Edison Lantigua had a single, walk, run scored and his first stolen base. Melvin Jimenez and Kyle Watson each had a single and a walk. Jimenez stole a base. The rest of the lineup combined for 1-for-20 with no walks. A single by Luis Benitez was the only other runner to reach base.
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The GCL Pirates lost 7-0, as they picked up just one hit against the Yankees West. That dropped the Pirates to a 2-9 record on the season. The lone hit was a double by Felix Vinicio to lead off the second inning. Their only other scoring chance was in the eighth inning when they drew two walks and another batter reached on an error, but they couldn’t push a run across.
This game marked the debut of 17th round draft pick Mason Martin, who received a $350,000 signing bonus on Monday. He batted cleanup and played center field. It was not a memorable debut at the plate for him, as he went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a ground out to second base.
Calvin Mitchell also went 0-for-4 today. He’s hitting .229/.308/.371 in his first ten games.
Starter Roger Santana allowed six runs over 4.1 innings, though three of those runs were unearned. He was throwing shutout ball until the fifth inning, and finished his day with a 7:1 GO/AO ratio and five strikeouts. Brian Sousa allowed one run over 3.1 innings and also struck out five batters.
Third baseman Jesse Medrano left with a hand injury in the bottom of the fifth inning. It was hurt while swinging the bat during the top of the inning.
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The DSL Pirates lost 7-6 on Friday, with the weather playing a huge role in the outcome of the game. The Pirates loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning and play was stopped by the umpires. The game never resumed, called complete at that point, with Mother Nature stranding three runners.
Perhaps even stranger in this game was the day that Samuel Inoa had. He was just a few plate appearances shy of qualifying for the league leaders going into this game. His .422/.518/.688 slash line would have had him as the leader in all three categories. As we noted in our write-up in The Twenty, Inoa has also improved defensively this season. With all that in mind, his Friday was shockingly bad. He went 0-for-5 with four errors and a passed ball.
The Pirates drew 15 walks in this game, which led to 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position. Jean Eusebio went 1-for-3 with three walks. Francisco Acuna was 1-for-3 with two walks and his tenth stolen base. Sherten Apostel and Ronaldo Paulino both went 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs scored. Emison Soto had two hits, two walks and two RBIs.
All seven runs scored against the Pirates were unearned. Angel Martinez made his season debut and allowed one unearned run on two walks, a hit batter and an error. He retired two batters before being removed. He has been out since late July with an arm injury.
