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 – 2-for-4, 2B
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 2-for-6, RBI
4. Shane Baz, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 1-for-5, 2 RBI
6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-5
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – DNP
8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 1-for-4, 2B
9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – 1-for-3, 2B, BB, RBI
10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, BB
11. Luis Escobar, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
12. Clay Holmes, RHP, Pirates – DNP
13. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
14. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 SO
15. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 0-for-5
16. Max Moroff, INF, Indianapolis – 2-for-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI
17. Kyle Crick, RHP, Indianapolis – 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
18. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 0-for-5
19. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 1-for-4
20. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 0-for-3, BB
21. Nick Burdi, RHP, Pirates (disabled list) – DNP
22. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – 6 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 2 SO
23. JT Brubaker, RHP, Altoona – DNP
24. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 0-for-5
25. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 2-for-4, BB
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
Indianapolis got some strong pitching from starter Nick Kingham. After he left, things got bad in a hurry. Kingham threw one-hit, shutout ball, over five innings. He struck out ten batters, which is his highest total since April, 2013 while with Bradenton. He was a little bit wild, which led to three walks, a hit batter and 90 total pitches, but it was still quite a debut on a terrific night for starting pitchers in the system.
Tanner Anderson made his Indianapolis debut after Kingham left and he couldn’t get out of the sixth. He allowed five runs, before giving way to Brett McKinney, who served up five runs in his only inning of work. It did end on a positive note, with Kyle Crick throwing a shutout inning with two strikeouts.
On offense in the 11-4 loss, Max Moroff had a pair of doubles and drove in two runs. Austin Meadows had two hits, including a double. Jose Osuna had a double and two walks. He started at third base and committed an error. Jacob Stallings drove in two runs. Christopher Bostick picked up a triple. Kevin Kramer went 0-for-5 in his triple-A debut.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona dominated the first half of Friday’s game, then things got out of hand after starter Dario Agrazal left, leading to a 7-6 loss. Agrazal pitched once for Altoona last year before suffering a pectoral injury, which cost him the last two months of the season. His return was superb with six no-hit innings. He was a little wild, which is unusual for him, leading to three walks and a hit batter. He had two strikeouts and an 8:4 GO/AO ratio.
Jake Brentz was out next and he was very wild. He faced five batters and allowed one hit, while walking the other four batters. Yeudy Garcia had three strikeouts in his only inning, but also allowed a run on two hits and a walk. Tate Scioneaux gave up two runs in the ninth to take the loss.
Cole Tucker, Stephen Alemais, Logan Hill and Christian Kelley each had two hits. Hill drove in a pair of runs, as did Ke’Bryan Hayes, who is now 1-for-9 at the plate. Bryan Reynolds picked up a double for his first hit with the Pirates. He also had an RBI and a walk. Altoona went 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton had their bats going in a 7-3 win over St Lucie. The Marauders had 12 hits, four walks and two hit batters. That led to 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position and they capitalized on that situation six times.
Catcher Arden Pabst had the big game, collecting four hits and a walk, while driving in two runs, in five trips to the plate. Hunter Owen wasn’t far behind with two hits, two walks and three runs scored. Lucas Tancas picked up a pair of hits and drove in two runs. Tyler Gaffney had a triple, two runs scored, an RBI and he was hit by two pitches. Bligh Madris had a single and a double.
Starter James Marvel was strong through his first four innings, then things fell apart in the fifth when he allowed three runs before he could get through the frame. Scooter Hightower finished the fifth, the retired the side in order in the sixth, striking out two of the four batters he faced. Bo Schultz, who made his first appearance since Tommy John surgery, threw a scoreless seventh, then Ronny Agustin closed out the game for the two-inning save.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia got an outstanding debut from Travis MacGregor, who doubled his previous career-high in strikeouts by punching out 12 batters on Friday. MacGregor gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits and a walk. He threw 64 of his 87 pitches for strikes and when the ball was hit off of him, he kept it on the ground with a 4:1 GO/AO ratio. Blake Weiman threw 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts and Blake Cederlind took the loss by allowing two runs in the ninth, in the 4-2 contest.
The young Power hitters have been quiet so far in the first two games. They scored twice in this contest, once with a little help from the defense, and they had just four hits. Lolo Sanchez picked up the team’s first extra-base hit with a double. Calvin Mitchell, Dylan Busby and Rafelin Lorenzo each had a single. Oneil Cruz walked and scored a run, while Mason Martin had a walk and three strikeouts.
The defense was horrible with five errors, including one by Cruz, who committed two errors in the opener.
Here’s the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
