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Prospect Watch: Three Shutout Innings for Shane Baz; Glasnow Throws Gem

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P2 Top 30

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, 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, 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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P2 Top Performers

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Prospect-Watch-Indy

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INDIANAPOLIS — Tyler Glasnow is one of his most demanding critics, even finding frustration after bullpen sessions.

But even he was pretty positive after his start against Louisville on Friday.

And with good reason. Glasnow threw seven shutout innings and didn’t allow a walk, the first time he put together that combination since July 16, 2015 with Double-A Altoona.

“That was impressive,” Indianapolis manager Andy Barkett said.

Glasnow was happy with his performance and not allowing a walk, but still found small things here and there that could have been better.

The main one: he wasn’t working with all of his offerings at top level.

“I think it was one of those days I didn’t really have all three of my pitches working,” Glasnow said. “I think it was more the fastball and changeup today. I kind of lost the curveball after the first few innings.”

And the zero walks is good and isn’t a fact that will be tossed to the side, but Glasnow acknowledged Louisville is a pretty aggressive-swinging team.

“I got some swings on stuff that wasn’t in the zone, but no walks is always good,” he said.

Glasnow’s fastball command was good and his changeup “was nasty at times,” Barkett said. He had six strikeouts and threw 66 of his 101 pitches for a strike. The six strikeouts were the lowest amount he’s had in any of his previous five Triple-A starts this season.

Entering the game, Glasnow had a strikeout in 27 of the 30 innings he had appeared in, but only had a strikeout in three of seven innings on Friday.

“He was aggressive in the zone, was trying to stay in the zone and was confident and convicted with his pitches,” Barkett said. “He knew these guys would be swinging, and to his credit he didn’t try to pitch for a swing and miss, he tried to pitch to try to create some weak and early contact.”

Glasnow only allowed three hits and one was Darnell Sweeney’s lead-off double to open the game.

One pitch registered 100 MPH, and ten of Glasnow’s 21 pitches in the first inning were at least 98 MPH. Glasnow consistently hit 96-97 MPH throughout his outing.

Glasnow also had highlights at the plate, leading off the bottom of the third inning with a stand-up triple on a line drive that went into the right-center field gap. But he spent the entire inning standing on third, stranded there after Starling Marte grounded out; Christopher Bostick reached on a fielding error; and Danny Ortiz struck out as Bostick was thrown out trying to steal second for the double play.

“I hit it and I thought I was going to get a double and I just wanted to get out of the box fast,” Glasnow said. “I kind of saw them by the fence in the gap. I ran into second and the crowd went super crazy. That was probably the most fun I’ve had playing baseball in a long time. It was just really fun running and hearing the crowd get going.”

Eric Wood hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning, his 12th of the season. Joey Terdoslavich homered for the second consecutive night, hitting a three-run shot in the fifth inning. Terdoslavich has seven hits in his previous two games, something he hasn’t done since June 21-22, 2013 with Triple-A Gwinnett.

The highlight of the night, though, belonged to Gift Ngoepe who made an amazing running catch, going straight back in a full sprint before turning and making an acrobatic catch over his glove shoulder as he fell on his back.

Barkett said the play should be a “web gem” on ESPN and labeled it “one of the best plays I’ve seen on that type of ball.”

“I’ve seen him make plays like that 25 times a year,” Glasnow said. “But he’s the most unbelievable, human being specimen athlete I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s unbelievable.”

Nick Kingham pitched a clean inning in relief in the eighth. He will skip his next start in place of Friday’s relief appearance, a scenario all of the other starting pitchers have done this season.

Dovydas Neverauskas worked around a hit to throw a scoreless ninth inning.

Indianapolis relievers have not allowed a run in 27 consecutive innings. The last reliever to give up a run was in the eighth inning on July 3. – Brian Peloza

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

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ALTOONA, Pa. – It was game two of a very important Eastern League Western Division series out of the All-Star break, with the top two teams in the division facing off. Bowie took the first game from Altoona last night, 4-3, and Altoona had a lead tonight but was not able to hold on to it. They tried to rally in the ninth inning but ultimately lost, 5-4.

Austin Coley got the call on the bump tonight for Altoona. He made his 15th start of the season (20th overall appearance). Coley has been very good for the Curve this year as a pitcher who was tabbed to be a bullpen arm out of the gate. He got the call to start in April when Brandon Waddell first went on the disabled list, and he has pretty much been a staple in the rotation since.

He has given up two or fewer runs in 11 of his 15 starts this year, and tonight was more of the same. Separate solo home runs in the third and sixth innings were the only damage against Coley, as he was able to limit damage against him. Altogether, Coley went six innings and allowed those two earned runs while striking out two and walking one batter. Bowie, the best hitting team in the Eastern League, scattered five other singles against him for seven total hits on Coley’s line.

“Coley has learned how to pitch,” Manager Michael Ryan said. “He couldn’t get all three pitches over the plate last year, and this year he is able to. His changeup is really good and his curveball command is huge for him.”

The breaking ball command has made his fastball, which is typical 91 or 92 MPH, look as though it is coming in hotter. He did not have good command of his curveball in prior seasons, and he has been able to locate it across the plate this year. Those developments have given Coley the ability to pitch against this better competition.

Four of the hits against him came with two strikes tonight, so the biggest thing moving forward for Coley is finding a way to shut things down when he gets ahead in the count.

In the sixth inning, it looked as though Coley caught Bowie’s Aderlin Rodriguez looking for strike three; however, he did not get the close call. On the next pitch, Rodriguez took Coley deep over the left field fence. I took note of this because Coley was definitely upset that he didn’t get the third call, and it ended up coming back to bite him. Rather than the rest of the inning going south, Coley rebounded nicely by getting two ground balls to get out of the inning.

“It shows you that he can flip the page quickly,” Ryan said. “He probably got caught in the moment right after he thought he got the strike, but he got out of it real quick. He kept that team to two solo home runs; that’s pretty good.”

Jerrick Suiter hit his seventh home run of the season in the fifth inning off of a 91 MPH fastball. Suiter took it to left-center field, and he now has a .317 average this season for the Curve. Since June 2nd, Suiter is batting .364 (39-for-107) and leads the entire Pirates organization during that stretch. Overall, the first baseman turned outfielder has been a very pleasant surprise for the Curve, as he has produced steadily ever since his promotion to Altoona.

“The guy is a good hitter,” Ryan said. “I saw him really good last year at times, but this year he is doing it for a long period of time.”

Suiter went 3-for-5 tonight to continue his hot stretch. Kevin Newman and Edwin Espinal both had RBI singles, while Michael Suchy added two hits.

Brandon Cumpton came in to relieve Coley and tossed a clean seventh, but he allowed four hits in the eighth inning while recording only one out. Three runs were tagged to his line, and he took to loss tonight.

In the seventh inning, Cumpton went to throw the ball to second to turn a double play. He threw the ball in the dirt at second base, and Kevin Newman scooped it up easily. He went ahead and made the turn to first to get the double play. It was an underrated play; however, it is just another example of how well Newman has played in the field this season. His defense is extremely solid. He makes all of the plays he is supposed to make, and his range seems to be extending from what I’ve seen last season. Even through the difficulties Newman went through at the plate earlier this season, he has continued to improve on his defense at shortstop. At the current moment, I’d say Newman is a Major League level shortstop defensively.

Even though they dropped another game to in-division rival Bowie, Michael Ryan still likes what he sees from his team. He said they really need to play the perfect game against them, and tonight, Bowie outlasted the Curve.

“I love the fight at the end,” Ryan said. “It’s just one pitch here or one pitch there. It’s two good teams playing baseball. I get to sit there and watch. You don’t know what play is going to make a difference. I just want to put them in a position to succeed. They are just out-executing us at the moment.” -Sean McCool

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

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Bradenton won 3-1 on Friday night, as Pedro Vasquez and Seth McGarry combined to hold Clearwater to just three hits. The only run on the night for the opposition came on a solo homer in the fifth inning. Vasquez pitched brilliantly otherwise, allowing two hits and walking two batters in seven innings. He had three strikeouts, an 11:5 GO/AO ratio and he threw 55 of 85 pitches for strikes. He now has a 2.43 ERA in 96.1 innings, ranking in the top five in the FSL in each category. Seth McGarry pitched the final two frames for the save and struck out four batters. He now has a 1.02 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 35.1 innings and he has given up just 13 hits.

The Marauders got production from the top of their lineup. Mitchell Tolman led off and had two singles, two stolen bases and two runs scored. He now has a 12-game hit streak. Ke’Bryan Hayes had two singles, two walks and stole his 23rd base. Will Craig had a walk, an RBI ground out and a sacrifice fly.

Ty Moore had a single, double and HBP. Kevin Krause had a walk and his seventh double. Cole Tucker was not in the lineup tonight.

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

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Augusta had four home runs on Friday night, but it was a pinch-hit single by Ryan Nagle in the bottom of the ninth that proved to be the walk-off winner.

Eduardo Vera has been great this season, showing incredible improvements over any previous time in his career. This however was not his night. Augusta scored four runs off of him, all on homers, with two solo shots and a two-run home run. Vera had given up 12 homers in his pro career up to this point (started in 2012), so this not something you would expect to see from him. In 5.1 inning, he allowed seven hits, with one walk and two strikeouts. Vera threw 79 pitches, with 59 for strikes, so he was pounding the zone. Surprisingly, he had a nice 8:2 GO/AO ratio on this night. He now has a 3.04 ERA in a career high 77 innings.

Matt Anderson followed Vera and had six strikeouts in 2.2 no-hit innings. Ronny Agustin allowed a two-run homer in the ninth to tie the score, then got the win in the bottom of the inning.

Power batters had 15 hits, five walks and no strikeouts on this night. Hunter Owen had the best night with his 17th double and fourth triple. He also had a single, scored three runs and picked up an RBI. Garrett Brown had three singles and a walk in four trips to the plate. Clark Eagan, Carlos Munoz and Kevin Mahala each had two hits. Albert Baur had two walks and scored two runs. Adrian Valerio went 1-for-5 with a run scored.

Prospect-Watch-Morgantown

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Morgantown had to come back from an early deficit to gain a 6-5 walk-off win against Staten Island on Friday night. Scooter Hightower has pitched well this year, but this wasn’t his night. He gave up four runs on ten hits in six innings, including a very long home run to a batter who was 0-for-18 coming into the game. Hightower gave way to Yoandy Fernandez, who allowed one run in his two innings. That one run gave the Yankees the late lead, which allowed Shane Kemp to pick up the win after a scoreless ninth.

Morgantown trailed going into the bottom of the sixth. They got solo homers that inning from Deon Stafford and Tristan Gray, the second homer of the season for each player. Stafford played the hero in the ninth after a fielding error allowed the tying run to score. Chris Sharpe walked to load the bases, then Stafford hit a low liner up the middle for the win.

Gray had just the one hit on the night, but he really hit the ball hard twice for outs. He’s been stinging the ball all year, which has led to a .375 average that hasn’t been helped by many soft hits and includes a lot of hard outs. Lucas Tancas had three hits, Jared Oliva had two hits and Robbie Glendinning picked up his first pro hit after two hitless games to begin his career. Dylan Busby looked awful at the plate going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and a lot of swinging strikes, but he had a nice game on defense at third base.

Prospect-Watch-Bristol
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Bristol lost 8-6 to Johnson City, as last year’s second round pick had a tough outing on the mound. Travis MacGregor came into the day with three solid outings and one game in which he couldn’t get out of the first inning due to a high pitch count. Friday night’s game was his second poor start. He allowed two runs in the first inning and another two in the third before being removed. At that point, he had already thrown 65 pitches. MacGregor gave up five hits, two walks and he had one strikeout.

Chris McDonald followed MacGregor and gave up two unearned runs over three innings. McDonald has a 1.84 ERA while working in extended relief outings, usually going three innings. That doesn’t include one shutout inning with Morgantown before Bristol’s season started.

Bristol had six hits, eight walks and 14 strikeouts on the night. Yondry Contreras went 1-for-4, with his second double and a run scored. Johan De Jesus drove in two runs with his first triple. Jason Delay had two singles and two RBIs. Nelson Jorge batted five times and had three walks and two strikeouts. Paul Brands hit in front of him in the lineup and had three strikeouts and two walks in his five trips to the plate. Edison Lantigua had a walk and three strikeouts.

Prospect-Watch-GCL

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The GCL Pirates had their game suspended while leading 7-0 in the fourth inning. It will be finished tomorrow. Shane Baz made his third pro start and threw three shutout innings. He gave up one runner in each inning, allowing two singles and a walk, while striking out two batters. Baz got out of the third inning on a double play, as part of his 5:1 GO/AO ratio on the day. Yeudry Manzanillo had his outing cut short in the fourth on a day he was scheduled to go five innings. He recorded two outs before issuing a walk and a runner reached on an error, so they will resume the game with runners on first and second and two outs.

We will recap the day for the hitters after the game is completed tomorrow.

Prospect-Watch-DSL

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The DSL Pirates lost 5-4 on Friday, as the Rangers1 came back with three runs in the top of the ninth to take the lead. Oliver Garcia allowed one run over five innings, giving up four hits and two walks, while tying his season high with six strikeouts. Through eight starts, the 19-year-old righty has a 1.38 ERA.

Saul de la Cruz followed Garcia with one run over two innings, surrendering a solo homer, which made the score 4-2 at the time. Francis Del Orbe threw a scoreless eighth, but Wilmer Contreras gave up three runs on three hits and a walk in the ninth for the loss.

The big hit for the Pirates was a fifth inning bases loaded single by Williams Calderon, which brought home two runs. During the next at-bat, the Pirates tried a double steal and John Lantigua was thrown out at third base. That was followed immediately by a run scoring double by Jean Eusebio. In the third inning, Calderon tripled home Lantigua, but was thrown out trying to stretch it into an inside-the-park homer. The double from Eusebio was his fifth of the season and Ronaldo Paulino added his seventh double.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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