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Prospect Watch: Schugel Begins Rehab; Eppler Has Solid Start Shortened by Rain

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P2 Top 30

A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time (Colin Moran, Edgar Santana, Dovydas Neverauskas), 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 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 – 1-for-4, 2B

3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – DNP

4. Shane Baz, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP

5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – DNP

6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 2-for-5

7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – DNP

8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 1-for-5

9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – Disabled list

10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – DNP

11. Luis Escobar, RHP, Bradenton – DNP

12. Clay Holmes, RHP, Pirates – In Majors

13. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP

14. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

15. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 0-for-4

16. Max Moroff, INF, Indianapolis – 0-for-4

17. Kyle Crick, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

18. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 1-for-3, HR

19. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 2-for-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI

20. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 1-for-4, 2B

21. Nick Burdi, RHP, Pirates (disabled list) – DNP

22. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – DNP

23. JT Brubaker, RHP, Altoona – DNP

24. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – DNP

25. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – DNP

26. Jason Martin, OF, Altoona – DNP

27. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – DNP

28. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Bradenton – DNP

29. Mason Martin, 1B, West Virginia – 0-for-3, BB

30. Conner Uselton, OF, Extended Spring Training – DNP

Prospect-Watch-Indy

Indianapolis played their first road game this year, an afternoon tilt in Buffalo. They won 2-1, getting their runs in the sixth inning on a solo homer from Jose Osuna and an RBI triple from Christopher Bostick.

Tyler Eppler made his second start this season, trying to build off of 5.2 shutout innings, with ten strikeouts, in his debut. He only went four innings in this game, though it wasn’t due to his pitching. The game was delayed about an hour due to rain with a 0-0 score in the fifth. Eppler allowed three hits and a walk, while striking out one batter. He needed just 37 pitches to get through his limited work. Tyler Jones allowed one run over three innings and Johnny Hellweg recorded the save with two shutout frames.

Kevin Newman had two singles and his first stolen base. Austin Meadows collected his second double. Bostick hit his second triple and added a single. Jacob Stallings had a single and a walk. He’s hitting .471 this season. The homer was the first by Osuna, who also drew a walk.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

Altoona had off on Thursday.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

Bradenton went down 4-1 early and came back for the 5-4 victory. AJ Schugel started the game and threw 15 of his 20 pitches for strikes during his one inning of work. He allowed two runs, but both were unearned due to two errors. He gave up a single and struck out one batter.

Scheduled starter Oddy Nunez took over in the second inning and another error led to a third unearned run. Nunez ended up going five innings, allowing one earned run on five hits and a walk, striking out one batter. He threw 52 of his 70 pitches for strikes and had a strong 11:2 GO/AO ratio. Bo Schultz continued his return from Tommy John surgery by throwing two shutout innings, retiring all six batters he faced. Mike Wallace pitched the ninth for the save.

On offense, Adrian Valerio hit his first home run of the season. Jared Oliva doubled, drew a walk and scored a run. Hunter Owen had three singles and a run scored. Albert Baur drove in two runs. Trae Arbet collected his first RBI. Casey Hughston is still looking for that first hit. Before tonight, he was 0-for-19, but had just four strikeouts. In this contest, he was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. Those were the only strikeouts by Marauder batters in the game.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

West Virginia lost 6-2, as Travis MacGregor couldn’t repeat his strong debut and by the end of the game, a position player was on the mound for the Power.

MacGregor struck out 12 batters in his season debut. He didn’t even get to face 12 batters in this game. MacGregor was done after one inning due to throwing 38 pitches in the first. The runs were all unearned due to a throwing error, but he fell apart after picking up a strikeout for the second out. MacGregor walked the bases loaded, then three runs came home on a double, followed by an RBI single. Blake Weiman and Dylan Prohoroff picked up the slack with three innings each, before outfielder Ryan Peurifoy retired the side in order in the ninth, one by strikeout.

On offense, Calvin Mitchell hit his second home run of the season and also added his first double. He came into the game with two triples. Mitchell has a 1.079 OPS through eight games. Oneil Cruz hit his first double of the season. Rodolfo Castro and Dylan Busby each had a single and a walk. The Power struck out 17 times in the game and Busby was the player who didn’t contribute to that total.

Here’s the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview here.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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