A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time (Colin Moran), or loses his prospect eligibility (Edgar Santana, Kyle Crick, Max Moroff and Dovydas Neverauskas), 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 our 2018 Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Mitch Keller, RHP, Altoona – DNP
2. Austin Meadows, CF, Indianapolis – 2-for-3
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 1-for-5, RBI
4. Shane Baz, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 0-for-3, BB
6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, 2B
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – 4.2 IP, 6 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO
8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 0-for-4, BB
9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – Disabled list
10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – 0-for-3, BB
11. Luis Escobar, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
12. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
13. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
14. Nick Kingham, RHP, Pirates – In Majors
15. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, BB
16. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 0-for-4
17. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – DNP
18. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 1-for-4
19. Nick Burdi, RHP, Pirates (disabled list) – DNP
20. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – DNP
21. JT Brubaker, RHP, Altoona – DNP
22. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 1-for-1, RBI
23. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 0-for-4, BB, SB
24. Jason Martin, OF, Altoona – 0-for-4
25. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – DNP
26. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
27. Mason Martin, 1B, West Virginia – 1-for-4, BB
28. Conner Uselton, OF, Extended Spring Training – DNP
29. Cody Bolton, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
30. Steven Jennings, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
Indianapolis lost 4-2 to Columbus on Sunday. Alex McRae threw six shutout innings in his last start. On Sunday, some poor control led to four runs over six innings of work. He gave up six hits, including two homers, while issuing five walks and hitting one batter. McRae, who now has a 6.55 ERA this season, struck out four batters and posted a 5:2 GO/AO ratio. AJ Schugel and Brett McKinney each threw a scoreless frame.
On offense, Jose Osuna drove in two runs in the first inning with his eighth double, then Indianapolis couldn’t push another run across the plate. Eric Wood hit his eighth double and Kevin Newman now has six doubles. Austin Meadows had two singles and a run scored, giving him a .311 average through 16 games.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona trailed 8-1 going into the eighth inning and put up eight runs for the 9-8 win over Harrisburg. Through the first seven innings, the only Curve run scored on some wildness from the opposing pitcher. In the eighth inning, a Wyatt Mathisen walk was followed by a two-run homer from Jackson Williams. The finals six runs came in the top of the ninth.
Altoona had some help from the defense in the ninth, with the first two batters reaching via error. That was followed by a Ke’Bryan Hayes walk to load the bases. Jordan George cleared the bases with a double. After a Wyatt Mathisen walk, both Will Craig and Jackson Williams singled home runs. The final run scored on an Elvis Escobar ground out, which was the first out of the inning.
Taylor Hearn was coming off of a start in which he allowed five runs over 4.2 innings, which followed one run total allowed in his first two starts combined. This day was very similar to his last outing. Hearn went 4.2 innings, allowing seven earned runs on six hits and three walks, with four strikeouts.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 2-1 to Jupiter on Sunday. Oddy Nunez had a 2.55 ERA and just three walks total in his first four appearances. He lowered that ERA on Sunday despite walking four batters and hitting another. Nunez went six scoreless innings, serving up two hits while picking up four strikeouts and recording a 7:3 GO/AO ratio. Adam Oller and Angel German each followed with a shutout frame before Ronny Agustin allowed two runs in the ninth for the walk-off loss. A throwing error by Trae Arbet, followed by a wild pitch, brought in the final run.
The Marauders had a chance to put some runs on the board in the sixth inning. Arbet started the inning with a double. That was followed by a Tyler Gaffney single, then Adrian Valerio reached on an error that allowed Arbet to score. They could do anything else with the final three outs. Bradenton had stretches of 13 straight and 11 straight batters retired in this game. Their only runners before the sixth were from a single by Bligh Madris and a walk to Arden Pabst, both in the first inning.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia lost 9-4 to Lexington on Sunday. Starting Domingo Robles had two strong starts in a row coming into Sunday. Today’s start did not begin well due to some control issues and the defense behind him. In fact, it was probably one of the worst defensive innings you’ll see in pro ball, as the Power committed four errors and a passed ball, all with two outs. Robles walked two batters, but should have got out of the inning four times before he was pulled with two outs. He was charged with seven runs, though none of them were earned.
Jacob Taylor followed Robles and allowed two runs over 3.1 innings. Both Evan Piechota and Blake Weiman tossed two scoreless frames.
The offense managed to score one run in four different innings. In the second inning, Raul Hernandez doubled in a run. In the third, Rodolfo Castro hit his first home run of the season. Back-to-back singles from Mason Martin and Oneil Cruz, followed by a wild pitch, scored the third run in the sixth inning. The scoring was capped in the seventh on a Chris Sharpe single, Lolo Sanchez walk and a fielding error.
Everyone in the Power lineup reached base safely at least once, with Sharpe and Hernandez each picking up two hits. The Power did not make another error after the first inning.
Here’s the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
