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 Mid-Season Update, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Mitch Keller, RHP, Altoona – [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, 1B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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8. Elias Diaz, C, Pirates – [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, Bristol – [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. Max Moroff, INF, Pirates – [insert_php]
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25. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Pirates – [insert_php]
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26. Eric Wood, 3B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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27. Eduardo Vera, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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28. Logan Hill, LF, Altoona – [insert_php]
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29. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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30. Lolo Sanchez, CF, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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INDIANAPOLIS — Nick Kingham became more efficient as the game progressed, coming within one out of throwing his second complete game of the season.
He was still able to get the Gatorade shower on the field after Indianapolis’ 6-1 win over Louisville.
Kingham allowed one earned run over 8.2 innings, striking out five batters and walking just one. He has a 1.19 ERA over his last six starts, allowing six runs in 45.1 innings.
After the game, Kingham was interviewed on the field, and as is customary with this Indianapolis team, that player gets water coolers of Gatorade and water dumped on him.
“It’s a cool problem to have,” Kingham said. “It’s annoying, it’s cold and your cleats get all wet. But that means you did something good and deserve it, so I’ll take it every night.”
The night belonged to Kingham, who after pitching into the ninth inning and finishing a postgame on-field interview, took time to sign autographs for kids lining the dugout wall.
“When you’re positive and feeling good about things in life then baseball is going to be better off for it,” Kingham said. “I think it goes hand in hand. And baseball makes life better when things are going well.”
Kingham wasn’t bad to begin the game, getting through the first three innings on 46 pitches. But after that he went into the uber-efficient mode that is becoming more norm than rare.
He threw a five-pitch fourth inning, an eight-pitch sixth inning, and a seven-pitch seventh inning.
That opened the door for a chance to throw his second complete game, but Darnell Sweeney’s RBI double ended that possibility. Kingham was trying to become the first Indianapolis player to throw a pair of 9-inning complete games in a single season since Horacio Estrada did so in 2000.
Kingham allowed just six hits. Tyler Goeddel had four of those hits and two of those were infield singles. Other than Goeddel, not many Louisville players were able to do much against Kingham, who induced a double plays in the seventh and eighth innings.
“The biggest thing was getting a strike on one of the first two pitches I was throwing,” Kingham said. “That just allowed me to open up the zone and kind of pitch my game, instead of just lay a fastball in there if I was behind in the count.”
Goeddel led the game off with an infield single, a dribbler up the third base line that Gift Ngoepe bobbled as he charged the play.
Kingham left Goeddel on the base paths, inducing a two-pitch lineout from Alex Blandino and a five-pitch groundout by Darnell Sweeney. He struck out Brandon Dixon to end the inning. After allowing the infield single, Kingham settled in by retiring the next eight batters he faced.
He retired the side in order in the second inning in 13 pitches via a groundout, strikeout and flyout.
Goeddel got another infield single to break that streak, a two-out grounder back up the middle in the third inning. And from there, once again, Kingham got on a roll.
“He was getting weak contact early in the count, using his off-speed to get ahead and get weak contact,” Barkett said. “That’s why he was so efficient.”
Jacob Stallings and Erich Weiss hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning, while Danny Ortiz had a pair of RBI doubles. Stallings also had a two-run double.
Kevin Newman had his 14-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday, but didn’t waste much time in trying to start a new one. He doubled to the left-center field gap to lead off the bottom half of the first inning but was stranded.
Kingham had his sixth career hit in the third inning, but was caught in a 5-3 double play on Newman’s hard lineout to third base. – Brian Peloza
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Altoona won 2-0 over Hartford, as four pitchers combined on the shutout. Brandon Waddell had his best start since returning from his forearm strain. He threw six shutout innings on four hits, with no walks and four strikeouts. He posted a 10:2 GO/AO ratio and threw 49 of his 74 pitches for strikes. The last time he threw six shutout innings was back on May 30th, when he also didn’t walk any batters. Yeudy Garcia, Tate Scioneaux and Luis Heredia each tossed a scoreless inning.
On offense, Cole Tucker drove in both runs in the seventh inning with his first home run for Altoona. He also picked up two singles. Jerrick Suiter added three singles and stole his sixth base. Anderson Feliz had two hits, a run scored and a stolen base. Altoona didn’t draw a walk in the game, but they also struck out just three times.
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Bradenton has off today.
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West Virginia lost 7-6 to Greenville, with the walk-off run scoring on a throwing error. Luis Escobar started and threw shutout ball on one hit through the first 4.2 innings. After retiring the first two batters in the fifth inning, things got out of hand for the Power. Escobar allowed four straight hits, including two doubles. His pitch count was up to 86 at that point and it ended his day. Shane Kemp followed him and hit the first batter he faced, then served up a home run to make it a six-run inning.
Escobar struck out six batters in this game, bringing him within 11 of the West Virginia team record set by Tyler Glasnow in 2013. He has two more starts left in the season, but he has now allowed 12 earned runs over his last eight innings. This was the Power debut for Kemp, who allowed three runs on the home run, two walks and two hit batters. In the ninth inning, Dylan Prohoroff gave up a single, then a sacrifice bunt moved that runner to second base. Julio Eusebio came on and his first pitch was a line drive single to right field. Clark Eagan’s throw was wild, which allowed the runner from second to score the winning run after he initially stopped at third base.
The Power lived up to their name in this game. They got homers from Yoel Gonzalez, Ryan Nagle, Brent Gibbs and Victor Fernandez. The home run by Gonzalez was his fifth of the season and it was a three-run shot in the first inning. Adrian Valerio went 0-for-4, but he did come up with a sacrifice fly in the ninth inning, which tied the score. Oneil Cruz went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and his sixth error since the trade.
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Morgantown lost in a 7-2 blowout, but that score doesn’t tell much of the story. Scooter Hightower started this game and threw a career high eight shutout innings on 89 pitches. He gave up four singles and a walk, while striking out eight batters. That lowers his season ERA to 1.88 through 72 innings. Hightower has allowed just one run over his last 28 innings. What happened after he left can only be classified as a disaster.
Joel Cesar came on to finish out the 2-0 game. He has been one of the better relievers on the team, but this clearly wasn’t his night. Cesar allowed a single and two walks to load the bases, then got a strikeout for the second out. Needing just one out for the save, Mahoning Valley saw their next six batters all reach base. Cesar walked in a run before being replaced by Hector Garcia, who hit the first batter, then allowed a walk, double, walk and single to make it 7-2.
The Black Bears scored their first run in the second inning. Bligh Madris reached on an error, then scored on a Julio de la Cruz double. In the sixth, they were helped again by an error. Dylan Busby singled, then an error put him on third base for Lucas Tancas, who brought him home with a single. Tancas had the only multi-hit game with two singles, while Jared Oliva had a single and a walk.
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Bristol won a game yesterday, causing the sun to briefly disappear today. All is right in the world again, as they dropped a 16-0 decision to Greeneville for their 44th loss.
Starter Hunter Stratton allowed five runs while recording four outs. Reliever Chris McDonald, who has been strong out of the bullpen in long relief, gave up six runs over three innings. Two of his runs were unearned. Miguel Hernandez came in for mop up duty and surrendered five runs over his two innings.
Bristol had nine hits, all of them singles. They drew one walk, went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and committed three errors. Melvin Jimenez had three hits, so that’s a bright spot (pardon the sun pun).
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The GCL Pirates won 7-6 while playing so short-handed, two pitchers had to be used in the lineup. Cody Bolton started the game and went 2.2 scoreless innings on one hit and two walks, with three strikeouts. The Pirates have been using a lower pitch count for the prep players this year, and none of them have gone longer than three innings. The bullpen had some issues, allowing two runs in three of the last four innings, but the Pirates held on for the victory.
Mikell Granberry and Calvin Mitchell were the heroes on offense. Mitchell had four hits, including two doubles, and walked in his other plate appearance. Granberry drove in two run with a triple and another on a sacrifice fly. He also drew a walk and played well in his first start at third base, despite an early error.
Barrett Barnes played his second rehab game after taking two at-bats as the DH on Saturday. On this day, he played six innings in left field and went 2-for-3 with two singles and a run scored at the plate.
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The DSL Pirates were eliminated from the playoffs today with a 2-1 loss to the Astros Orange. This game was 1-0 until the ninth inning when both teams put up a run. The Pirates got their run on a bases loaded balk with two outs. Jean Eusebio then walked to reload the bases, but Francisco Acuna struck out to end the game. The Pirates had just four hits in the game, including doubles by Acuna and Emison Soto. Eusebio had a single in addition to his walk, while Ruben Gonzalez picked up the other hit. Sherten Apostel drew two walks, giving him 49 in 57 games. He’s tied with Acuna for the team lead.
Luis Arrieta started and went six innings, allowing a run on five hits and no walks. He had four strikeouts and an 8:1 GO/AO ratio. He now has a 2.56 ERA in 52.2 innings. Randy Jimenez threw two scoreless innings, while Kleiner Machado allowed the decisive run in the ninth.
The Pirates have five games left this season.
