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, Pirates– [insert_php]
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16. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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17. Jordan Luplow, LF, Pirates – [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 lost 4-3, as Toledo got to Tyler Eppler early and then never looked back. Eppler came into this game off of back-to-back games in which he allowed one run over seven innings. That trend was stopped quickly with a two-run homer in the first inning. He still managed to put in 6.2 innings though, giving up four runs on nine hits and a walk. He had three strikeouts and a 10:4 GO/AO ratio, which is much better than the 0.91 GO/AO ratio he has for the season coming into the day.
Indianapolis got on the board in the fourth inning on a Jacob Stallings single, followed by a throwing error and an RBI single from Gift Ngoepe. In the fifth, Kevin Newman hit his tenth double, then scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly from Danny Ortiz. The Indians added their final run in the ninth on an Eric Wood single and an Ngoepe double. They had the tying run in scoring position with no outs, but Barrett Barnes, Newman and Erich Weiss all came up empty to end the game.
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Altoona had their game suspended with a 1-1 score after five innings. They will complete the game tomorrow, followed by the regularly scheduled game. We will post a full recap tomorrow.
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Bradenton had their game suspended last night after six innings due to lightning. James Marvel threw six shutout innings. Ke’Bryan Hayes and Will Craig each had two hits before play was called. Once they resumed play in the seventh, Jess Amedee took over on the mound and he threw two scoreless innings. Geoff Hartlieb retired the side in order in the ninth, as Bradenton won 5-0 over Charlotte.
Marvel now has a 1.50 ERA with Bradenton, which doesn’t include 3.2 shutout innings during a game that was canceled due to rain. In fact, if you include that game in with his totals, he has allowed four earned runs over 27.2 innings with the Marauders, with all four runs being scored in the same inning.
Ke’Bryan Hayes added a third hit after play resumed, and he also drove in two runs. He hit his 16th double of the season before play was suspended. Will Craig finished 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI. Casey Hughston hit a solo homer in the seventh inning, his eighth home run of the season. Everyone in the Bradenton lineup reached base safely at least once. Christian Kelley was the only play without a hit, but he walked and was hit by a pitch.
Game Two Recap: Bradenton won 1-0 in ten innings on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Ke’Bryan Hayes. The Marauders had just four hits in the game, but Bret Helton and Yunior Montero held Charlotte to two hits. Alfredo Reyes and Mitchell Tolman each had a single and a double, while the rest of the lineup went 0-for-23. Reyes also added a walk and scored the winning run.
Helton pitched a terrific game on this night, going eight shutout innings on two singles and a walk, while striking out seven batters. He started this season as a long man in the bullpen, but injuries and promotions opened up a spot for him in the rotation and Helton took advantage. He finished with a 3.25 ERA in 116.1 innings. Montero retired all six batters he faced for the win, picking up three strikeouts in the process.
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West Virginia won 6-0 in a game shortened to five innings, which is all Luis Escobar needed to set a team strikeout record. Coming into the day with 160 strikeouts on the season, Escobar was four behind the club record set by Tyler Glasnow in 2013. He reached that total in the second with two strikeouts in each of the first two frames. Escobar struck out the lead-off batter in the third for the record, then added three more strikeouts before the rains stopped the game. He will also finish as the South Atlantic League leader in strikeouts this season. He allowed just one hit and walked two batters, with all three runners coming after he retired the first 11 batters of the game.
The Power scored three runs in each of the first two innings. After Adrian Valerio reached on an error to start the game, Clark Eagan singled, then Albert Baur hit his 30th double to bring in the first run. That was followed by a Hunter Owen sacrifice fly and a Henrry Rosario RBI ground out. In the second inning, Kevin Mahala singled and Garrett Brown walked, then Adrian Valerio hit his 11th home run of the season to make it a 6-0 game.
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Morgantown won 5-1, as Adam Oller put together an impressive performance in his second start of the season. He threw 5.2 shutout innings, allowing two hits and a walk, while striking out ten batters. That sets a new career high for strikeouts, topping the seven he had in a game last year with Bristol. Oller now has a 1.59 ERA in 45.1 innings, with 50 strikeouts this season. Blake Weiman allowed one run over 2.1 innings, while Matt Seelinger retired the side in order in the ninth to finish out the win.
I talked to Oller after the game and asked how he had his success tonight. We will have more on him on Monday, including an updated scouting report, but here’s the response regarding tonight.
“Deon Stafford and I just did a great job of mixing up speeds and pounding the bottom of the zone,” Oller said. “He did a great job pitch calling and I just did my best to execute my pitches. My location was good tonight so I was able to play off of that well.”
The Black Bears put four runs on the board in the sixth and added a run in the seventh inning. Dylan Busby doubled in the sixth, then Lucas Tancas walked. That was followed by a Robbie Glendinning single, which scored the first run. Sandy Santos then singled to score the second run. A Julio de la Cruz double scored two more runs (boxscore says Michael de la Cruz, but he’s injured). In the seventh, an error, hit-by-pitch and single loaded the bases, then a passed ball brought home the run. Santos, Tancas, de la Cruz and Jared Oliva each had two hits.
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Bristol has finished their season.
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The GCL Pirates wrapped up their season with a 5-2 victory over the Yankees East. Taylor Hearn started the game and Kevin Kramer played second base, marking the first game back for each of them. They will both be participating in the Arizona Fall League next month.
Hearn threw two innings and retired all six batters he faced, three by strikeouts. He was sitting 93-96 MPH. Hearn has been out since July 13th due to a right oblique strain. Kramer played five innings in the field and went 0-for-2 at the plate, with a strikeout, fly out and a sacrifice fly. This was his first game back since June 10th when he had his hand broken by a pitch. We will have more on him in the next day or two, but for now, here is a quote from Kramer after today’s game when he talked to Tim Williams.
“Everything is great,” Kramer said about the long process he went through with his rehab. “The hand feels really good. I’ve been swinging without pain for the last couple of weeks. Everything is good. Full go from here on out. It’s been a slow journey. Took a little bit longer than we all expected. But at the same time we had to be safe, and when I was feeling pain, it just wasn’t worth it to push through.”
Mason Martin went 1-for-2 with a single and two walks. That gave him the OBP title, one day after dropping into second place in the league. He finished with a .307/.457/.630 slash line, leading the league in slugging, homers and OPS as well. Lolo Sanchez went 1-for-4 with his second triple and finished with 42 runs scored, which led the league. Jesse Medrano had himself quite the day, going 4-for-4 with two triples, two runs scored and an outfield assist.
Jason Stoffel made his fourth rehab appearance and things didn’t go well for him in the GCL. He ended up going just 2.2 innings total, allowing five runs. He will likely move up in the system, possibly to Morgantown and then to Altoona or Indianapolis if they need an extra arm for the playoffs, but his work in the GCL was not encouraging.
Reliever Vince Deyzel picked up the save and finished out his season strong. The 19-year-old from South Africa allowed one run over his final 11 innings of work.
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The DSL Pirates finished with a 36-34 record.
