After looking at what was left in the system from the drafts before 2014 on Tuesday morning, today we take a look at what the Pittsburgh Pirates have remaining in their system from the 2014-15 drafts.
We start with the 2014 draft. The Pirates signed 32 players that year and when we first checked on the progress of the group in early 2016, there were 26 players remaining in the system. Exactly one year later, half of the original signings were still around. Tyler Eppler was the only one in Indianapolis at that point, while Altoona had seven players, Bradenton had six and two others were at Pirate City.
As of right now, that group of 16 from a year ago today is now down to 11 players. Connor Joe was traded away, while Michael Suchy, Kevin Krause, Nelson Jorge and Chase Simpson were all released. Here are the whereabouts of the other 11 players, listed in the order in which they were drafted:
Cole Tucker – starting shortstop at Altoona
Mitch Keller – top prospect in the system, starting pitcher for Altoona
Jordan Luplow – Indianapolis outfield and first to majors from this group
Tyler Eppler – Indianapolis rotation
Austin Coley and Alex McRae – Indianapolis rotation
Gage Hinsz – Should be joining Bradenton rotation soon
Sam Street – Relieved for Altoona earlier this season, now their extra pitcher waiting for a roster spot to open
Jerrick Suiter – Bench player in Indianapolis
Jess Amedee – Bradenton reliever
Montana DuRapau – Suspended for first 50 games of this season
The 2015 draft had 33 players signed and after one year, 32 of those players were still in the system. Pitcher Nick Hibbing retired over the 2015-16 off-season. Exactly one year later in early April of 2017, the Pirates still had 31 players. Only pitcher Chris Plitt was gone and he was due to an arm injury that didn’t recover well.
So how did the last year treat the 2015 draft class?
There are still 24 players total in the system. Two of the seven missing players retired, two were traded and three were released. Here are the remaining 24 listed by the team they are with now, or Extended Spring Training if they are down at Pirate City for any reason.
Indianapolis: Kevin Newman, Kevin Kramer, Tanner Anderson
Altoona: Ke’Bryan Hayes, Brandon Waddell, JT Brubaker, Sean Keselica, Tate Scioneaux, Bret Helton, Logan Sendelbach, Logan Hill, Christian Kelley, Jordan George
Bradenton: Casey Hughston, Albert Baur, James Marvel, Scooter Hightower, Mike Wallace
West Virginia: Jacob Taylor, Ike Schlabach
EST: Mitchell Tolman, John Bormann, Logan Ratledge, Nicholas Economos
That 2015 draft class makes up nearly half of the Altoona Curve roster this year, plus three players are in Indianapolis. The Extended Spring Training group has three other players who could easily be at Altoona. Bormann and Ratledge are waiting for an opening somewhere, while Tolman is suspended for a failed drug test in the off-season.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates and Detroit Tigers were rained out last night. They will play a doubleheader today. The Pirates and Tigers will stick with the regularly scheduled starters from yesterday and today, but Jameson Taillon will pitched game one instead, so his scheduled mound opponent will be different. Taillon will make his fifth start, coming off of an outing in which he allowed five runs in 1.2 innings. That followed two straight shutout appearances totaling 15 innings. Pirates will send Chad Kuhl to the mound for his fifth start in the second game. He allowed one run over six innings in his start against the Rockies last week. In his previous start, he gave up four runs on 11 hits over five innings against the Marlins.
In game one, the Tigers will counter with veteran right-handed pitcher Jordan Zimmerman, who has a 7.71 ERA in four starts, with 18 strikeouts and a 1.59 WHIP in 16.1 innings. He faced the Pirates on Opening Day in Detroit and allowed four runs over six innings. For game two, the Tigers will send out 27-year-old lefty Matthew Boyd, who has a 1.40 ERA in 19.1 innings over three starts, with 11 strikeouts, a .138 BAA and an 0.67 WHIP.
The minor league schedule includes the second start from Clay Holmes, who threw four shutout innings in his first start. He is still getting stretched out after spending two weeks with the Pirates. Holmes threw 50 pitches last time out. West Virginia will play a doubleheader today to make up for the rain out on Monday. Travis MacGregor gets the game one start. He has an 0.73 ERA in 12.1 innings, with 20 strikeouts, although he did get knocked out of his second start after the first inning due to a high pitch count. Dario Agrazal has allowed two runs over his 18 innings of work. He makes his fourth start for Altoona this morning after yesterday’s start was rained out. Bradenton starter Luis Escobar is holding batters to a .220 BAA and he’s issued just two walks in three starts.
MLB: Pittsburgh (12-10) vs Tigers (9-11) 4:05 PM DH
Probable starter: Chad Kuhl (4.57 ERA, 17:7 SO/BB, 21.2 IP) and Jameson Taillon (2.86 ERA, 21:7 SO/BB, 22.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (9-7) vs Syracuse (10-7) 1:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Clay Holmes (4.50 ERA, 6:3 SO/BB, 6.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (9-7) vs Erie (6-11) 10:30 AM (season preview)
Probable starter: Dario Agrazal (1.00 ERA, 7:5 SO/BB, 18.0 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (11-8) vs Tampa (10-9) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Luis Escobar (1.65 ERA, 12:2 SO/BB, 16.1 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (10-8) vs Rome (10-7) 5:05 PM DH (season preview)
Probable starter: Travis MacGregor (0.73 ERA, 20:4 SO/BB, 12.1 IP) and Evan Piechota (1.29 ERA, 17:2 SO/BB, 14.0 IP)
HIGHLIGHTS
From Altoona on Monday, two highlights. First is JT Brubaker finishing off two of his six strikeouts.
1-2-3 second inning for @ItsJTBrubaker with a pair of strikeouts
No score early in #CurvePA pic.twitter.com/UOLkU8jksP
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) April 23, 2018
Next is a Will Craig single that scored Jason Martin
.@_JM55 doubles and then scores on a single by @WCraigers22
We're now up 6-0 in the 7th inning pic.twitter.com/omfOQU6U9p
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) April 24, 2018
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
4/21: Sergio Cubilete placed on disabled list. Hunter Stratton added to West Virginia roster.
4/20: Pablo Reyes promoted to Indianapolis. Brett McKinney assigned to Morgantown.
4/20: Kevin Krause released. Bralin Jackson and Jordan George added to Altoona roster.
4/20: AJ Schugel assigned to Indianapolis on rehab.
4/18: Dylan Prohoroff placed on West Virginia DL. Matt Seelinger added to WV roster.
4/17: Brent Gibbs retired.
4/16: Josh Harrison placed on DL. Dovydas Neverauskas optioned to Indianapolis. Enny Romero and Max Moroff added to Pirates.
4/16: Jesus Liranzo activated from Altoona disabled list. Sam Street assigned to Morgantown.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Four former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including a pitcher for a World Series winning team. Bob Johnson pitched for the Pirates from 1971 until 1973, going 9-10, 3.45 in 174.2 innings during the 1971 season. In the NLCS that year, Johnson started game three and defeated Juan Marichal. He lost game two of the World Series, but the Pirates still defeated the Orioles in seven games, winning their fourth World Series title. Johnson started his career with the 1969 Mets, who won their first World Series title that year.
Other former Pirates players born on this date include: Pitcher Brad Clontz (1999-2000), infielder Jimmy Brown (1946) and catcher Tom Quinn (1886).
On this date in 1918, the Pittsburgh Pirates played their home opener at Forbes Field against the Cincinnati Reds. In 92 minutes, the Pirates won 1-0, with Casey Stengel picking up the only RBI in the first inning. Pitcher Frank Miller threw a complete game shutout, allowing three hits, two walks and he didn’t strike out a single batter. The lineup that day included two Hall of Fame managers, Stengel and Bill McKechnie, plus Hall of Fame center fielder Max Carey. You can see the boxscore here.
