Every week we have live reports from all over the system, while I provided additional views of the minors via MiLB.tv, which included Indianapolis and Altoona this week. We also had live coverage of Altoona and West Virginia this week. All of these reports are combined and used each week to highlight the top performers during that time span. We go with the top ten hitters and pitchers, giving you the 20 best players from last week.
HITTERS
Albert Baur, 1B, West Virginia – Baur continues to hit well down the stretch. He wrapped up a 12 game hitting streak this week, and went 7-for-21 with four doubles and a homer during the week. He’s been hitting for more power lately, and hitting more consistently. This all came after an adjustment to his swing in late July aimed at getting more leverage by making contact out in front with the barrel of the bat, and utilizing his big frame better. He’s too old for West Virginia, and will need to speed up to Altoona or higher in the next year to be a legit prospect. Will Craig is the top first base prospect in the system, and will be blocking him in Altoona next year, making that jump difficult. – Tim Williams
Christopher Bostick, Util., Indianapolis – Bostick’s week ended with him being called up to the Pittsburgh Pirates. While it took an injury to get him there, he definitely earned the promotion. This past week, he collected ten hits and drew five walks. That gave him a .294/.362/.418 slash line in 126 games with Indianapolis. He was a mainstay in their lineup this season, as he played those 126 games despite spending a brief time in the majors with the Pirates earlier this season. With one day left in the season, he ranks third in the International League in average, eighth in OBP and 11th in OPS. He’s also third in doubles, second in hits and third in runs scored. He did all of that while playing five positions. Just 24 years old, Bostick now has four weeks in the majors to make an impression for a possible bench spot on the 2018 club. – John Dreker
Tristan Gray, 2B/SS, Morgantown – Gray has been seeing more time at shortstop recently. If that’s a possible defensive spot in his future, then that adds more value to his game. He has looked solid defensively at second base, but it’s the bat that generates most of the attention. This past week was front loaded with offense, as he drove in six runs on four hits in the first two games, including his sixth home run of the season. At the end of the week, he added his 11th double. He now has a .268/.330/.475 slash line, which places him first in the New York-Penn League in slugging and seventh in OPS. The Pirates look like they picked up quite a bargain in the 13th round of the draft this year, but if he is able to play shortstop full-time, then that really increases his value. – JD
Mason Martin, 1B/RF, GCL Pirates – Martin wrapped up a tremendous GCL season, setting the Pirates’ GCL franchise record with 11 home runs, and putting up one of the best OPS in GCL history.He finalized that this week by going 5-for-14 with two homers. Martin has had some strikeout issues this year to go with the home runs, but he did cut down on those. He went from around 28% in July to 22% in August, although the strikeouts were still there, as seen by a three strikeout game in the last week. His power has elevated his stock, and should put him on pace for West Virginia next year, although his strikeout issues will be a big thing to watch in the upper levels. – TW
Jesse Medrano, 3B/OF, GCL Pirates – Medrano is old for the GCL at age 22, but was added to the team to provide some leadership on the field. He didn’t really add much offense, with his numbers struggling in July, followed by a hand injury that kept him out for over a month. He finished strong, going 10-for-23 in his final week, adding three triples. This included two separate four hit games. Medrano is a lower-level organizational guy who has played third base and the outfield this year. He should get a chance to stick around in that role next year, especially due to the lack of third base options in the system. – TW
Raul Siri, Inf., Morgantown – The Pirates have been giving regular playing time in Morgantown to draft picks, which leaves little time for players who were already in the system. Raul Siri seems to be the biggest exception to that rule. He made The Twenty this week due to six walks, which helped the OBP, and a grand slam, which added to the slugging percentage. Siri’s overall stats this season aren’t too impressive. He has a .232/.343/.333 slash line, which gives him a solid OBP, but not much else. He has 13 steals this season, though he has also been caught 13 times. The 22-year-old Siri has been seeing most of his playing time at second base, though he has played some third base over the years. He’s going to have a hard time finding a spot next year, as the Pirate drafted a lot of infielders this year, who will likely get the regular playing time next year in West Virginia. – JD
Joey Terdoslavich, 1B, Indianapolis – Terdoslavich had four multi-hit games this past week and he connected on his seventh home run of the season. Indianapolis has received solid production from the 28-year-old, who saw action with the Atlanta Braves during the 2013-15 seasons. He’s a minor league free agent after this season and is unlikely to be back after this season. His main position is first base, though he has seen more time in right field recently. The Pirates would be more likely to bring back the 23-year-old first baseman Edwin Espinal, who is also a free agent (if they don’t add him to the 40-man this off-season), to fill that position in Triple-A next season. For now, Terdoslavich gives them a nice veteran power bat to help them with their playoff run. Once the playoffs are over, that will likely be the end of his run with the team. – JD
Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – Tucker is having a strong finish in Altoona this year, and that includes going 9-for-22 with a double and a homer in the last week, along with eight walks and four stolen bases in five attempts. He has a .775 OPS at the level in August, and added a 4-for-10 with a double and a homer in September. He also has shown his speed at the new level, stealing ten bases in 13 chances. Tucker has emerged this year as the top shortstop prospect in the system, passing up Kevin Newman. He’s only further cementing that spot with his performance at the new level down the stretch. – TW
Adrian Valerio, SS, West Virginia – Valerio went 6-for-21 this past week, hitting two doubles and a home run. He’s hitting for more power in August and September, with five home runs during the stretch of just over a month. He also had four homers in June, but slumped during the month of July, hitting just one homer, and seeing his OPS drop below .700. Consistency has been an issue for Valerio in the past, especially when he gets too power-happy and tries to hit homers. The problems in July were more due to injuries, and his consistency has looked much better this year, even with the added power along the way. – TW
Eric Wood, 3B/OF, Indianapolis – Wood has been catching fire lately after a prolonged slump during the second half of the season. He is currently on an eight-game hit streak, which includes five multi-hit games. Among those hits were his 16th home run of the season and his 25th double. This has been a somewhat disappointing season for the 24-year-old. While the power is there and he’s added value by playing multiple positions this year, part of the intrigue from last year isn’t showing up. His strikeouts have gone up a lot, while his walks have gone down slightly, as has his average. That has led to a low OBP. His defense at third base showed improvements last year, but he’s been just average over there this season now that he isn’t getting the daily reps at the spot. That off-sets some of the added versatility of more positions. While it wasn’t a great season, a strong finish in the playoffs could put the Pirates in a tough spot with protecting him on the 40-man roster this off-season. Third basemen very rarely get picked in the Rule 5 draft, but 24-year-old Triple-A third basemen with power aren’t the type being left available either. – JD
PITCHERS
Austin Coley, RHP, Altoona – During this past week, Austin Coley went seven shutout innings in both of his starts, the first in Richmond to clinch a playoff spot and the second in Altoona to keep their division title hopes alive. Coley finished his 2017 regular season campaign with a 3.01 ERA. Beginning the year as a bullpen arm, Coley ended up being Altoona’s most consistent starting pitching this season. The biggest reason for his surprise performance this season is his curveball, a pitch that he had trouble locating in the past. Now, he has been able to throw it with purpose in the zone and in the dirt for chase. With how good his breaking pitches have been this year, it adds deception to his fastball, which only comes in around 92 MPH but seems faster to the batter. Not only improving his actual pitches, Coley is a great student of the game, preparing with notes of each hitter and sticking to a strong game plan throughout his outings. Finishing the year with 14 consecutive scoreless innings will hopefully serve as momentum heading into the playoffs. – Sean McCool
Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Indianapolis – Glasnow finished off his regular season with six shutout innings and his fifth straight start of at least nine strikeouts. He was sent down to Triple-A to get better and that’s exactly what he did. He throws harder than he did in Pittsburgh, he throws more strikes and he shows confidence on the mound. That led to a 1.93 ERA over 93.1 innings, which was a point lower than Steven Brault’s ERA, which led the league. Glasnow fell about 20 innings short of qualifying for league leaders. That didn’t stop him from finishing third in the league with 140 strikeouts. His 0.95 WHIP would have ranked him second in the league and he held batters to a .176 BAA. It appears that he will remain with Indianapolis through the end of the playoffs, which would be two more starts if they make it to the championship round. After that, he will be able to make three starts with the Pirates, which seems like the plan. – JD
Bret Helton, RHP, Bradenton – Helton started this season in the bullpen as a long-man and was showing much better velocity than he did as a starter last year in West Virginia. He was hitting 94 MPH, which was more in line with what we heard out of the draft. That made him a big more intriguing than last year when nothing stood out about his performance or pitching. Bradenton had some injury issues and promotions from their rotation, which opened up a spot for Helton and he made the most of it. This past week he threw eight shutout innings on two hits and a walk, with seven strikeouts. He finished the season with a 3.25 ERA in 116.1 innings. That ranked him second in the league in ERA and fourth among qualified pitchers with a 1.26 WHIP. His future role and potential road to the majors would still be as a middle reliever, but he’s in a better spot now than he was coming into this season. – JD
Mitch Keller, RHP, Altoona – Keller faced off against a lineup with seven lefties this past Friday and showed the reason why he is ranked as the Pirates’ top pitching prospect. Working six scoreless innings and only allowing three singles in the outing, Keller struck out 11 batters, which is a new career high. He used both his fastball and curveball as an out-pitch, striking out six batters with the fastball and five with the curveball. Also, the four groundouts he induced were all on changeups, as batters rolled over the pitch repeatedly. What impressed the most was his velocity still hanging around 96-97 MPH late in the game, since his fastball speed has been dipping in prior starts as he went later in the outing. He finished his Double-A regular season campaign with six starts and a 3.12 ERA. Batters had a .197 average against him. Almost all of the runs scored against him in Double-A were in his last two innings of work, as he consistently starts games strong; however, his last time out will hopefully serve as a blueprint to work more effectively through the entire course of a game. He will be the Curve’s game one starter in the playoffs. – SM
Alex McRae, RHP, Altoona – McRae finished the season with a 3.61 ERA in 149.2 innings, with an 89:36 SO/BB ratio and a 1.47 GO/AO ratio. In his last two starts this past week, he gave up one run over six innings and one run over five innings, with that second game being shortened due to rain. It was a solid season, where he showed the ability to go deep into starts and work his way out of jams often by getting timely ground balls. McRae went at least six innings in 14 starts and went seven or more in nine of those games. In more than half of his starts, he limited the opponent to 0-2 runs. It will be interesting to see what the Pirates do with him next season. The low strikeout rate and lack of a true strikeout pitch limits his upside, but he could make an effective reliever with his solid control, ability to get grounders and composure when he pitches in big spots. – JD
Oddy Nunez, LHP, West Virginia – Nunez had been limited a bit down the stretch with his inning totals, with the limits mostly due to his pitch count. He was extremely efficient this week, throwing seven innings with just one run allowed, while needing only 76 pitches. He only struck out one batter, getting 11 ground ball outs to lead to this efficiency, and only walking one batter. This is a nice rebound from his last two starts, where he combined for seven runs in 6.2 innings of work, along with five walks. Nunez is wrapping up a breakout season which saw him going from a non-prospect in the GCL to a guy with a 3.71 ERA in 114 innings in West Virginia. – TW
Adam Oller, RHP, Morgantown – Oller threw 5.2 shutout innings on Saturday, while striking out a career-high ten batters. He also pitched two perfect innings of relief earlier in the week while striking out three batters. He now has a 1.59 ERA in 45.1 innings this season, with a .188 BAA, a 1.52 GO/AO ratio and 50 strikeouts. Oller noted after the game that he had success by location his pitches well and changing speeds. One of the issues with him before this season was that he relied heavily on a fastball and his velocity wasn’t that strong, topping out at 91 MPH in Bristol. This season, he has added a couple MPH to his fastball, which mixing his pitches better. He also switched from a curveball to a slider. Part of the reason is that the curve caused some shoulder issues that kept him on the sidelines earlier this season. The other reason is that the slider has more of a fastball feel because he can throw it harder, with the pitch sitting in the mid-80s. He also throws a circle change in the 82-84 MPH range. – JD
Angel Vasquez, RHP, GCL Pirates – Vasquez had quite the finish to an otherwise tough season, which began in the DSL. After pitching well in 2014 and 2015, then being injured all of 2016, he returned this year and had his issues in the Dominican. The results were poor, but the GCL Pirates needed someone to fill innings, so he was brought over. Unlike most pitchers who go down to the GCL as they rehab their way back into shape, he was promoted to the GCL during his return. Vasquez was known for his solid command and plus curveball prior to his Tommy John surgery. While the curve flashed some potential and he limited the walks, there were some very rough outings, which led to a 9.40 ERA in 29.2 innings. It was even worse than it appears because he finished his season with one run on three hits over 7.1 innings this past week. Along with how he looked pre-injury, that finish might be enough to keep him in the system another season. – JD
Eduardo Vera, RHP, West Virginia – Vera made last week’s Twenty because he missed a no-hitter by one out. In his next start, which was on Wednesday, he threw a no-hitter for 5.1 innings during the first game of a doubleheader. The hit that broke it up was an infield single and a very close play at first base. Vera ended up throwing his second straight complete game, needing just 77 pitches. His fastball looked strong and he filled the strike zone, while sitting 93-94 MPH and hitting 96 once. He has hit 97 MPH this season, while improving his curve and changeup to the point that the curve is now a strikeout pitch and the changeup is at least an average offering. In 125.1 innings this season, Vera has a 105:14 SO/BB ratio, as well as a 1.12 WHIP and a 1.21 GO/AO ratio. – JD
Mike Wallace, RHP, West Virginia – Wallace had an extremely impressive game this week on the back end of the doubleheader started by Eduardo Vera. He pitched a complete game as well, throwing seven shutout innings on 75 pitches. Wallace gave up two hits, with no walks and four strikeouts. He wasn’t throwing hard, hitting 90 once, while mostly sitting 88 MPH with the fastball. That was, when he threw his fastball, because it is his third pitch and one of the hits was a hard line drive off of the fastball. He is mostly an off-speed pitcher, mixing his breaking ball with a changeup, both in the 80-84 range, although there were some slower curves that registered below 80 MPH. Going more than 50% off-speed pitches is a tough way to succeed at the upper levels, but he took that style to the extreme in this game and dominated Low-A hitters. – JD
