A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time or loses his prospect eligibility (Colin Moran, 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, Pirates – In Majors
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 3-for-4, 2B
4. Shane Baz, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 0-for-4
6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 0-for-4, BB
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – DNP
8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – DNP
9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – DNP
10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – 1-for-1, 2B
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 – DNP
16. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – DNP
17. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – DNP
18. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – DNP
19. Nick Burdi, RHP, Pirates (disabled list) – DNP
20. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – DNP
21. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
22. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
23. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 3-for-4, RBI
24. Jason Martin, OF, Altoona – 1-or-3, RBI, BB
25. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – 1.2 IP, 2 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 0 SO
26. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Altoona – 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO
27. Mason Martin, 1B, West Virginia – DNP
28. Conner Uselton, OF, Extended Spring Training – DNP
29. Cody Bolton, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
30. Steven Jennings, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
Indianapolis lost 11-4 to Gwinnett.
The Triple-A debut for Brandon Waddell didn’t go as planned. He threw a scoreless first inning, then the wheels fell off in the second. Waddell gave up three runs before leaving with two outs in the inning, then another two runs charged to him come in off of reliever Casey Sadler. Waddell threw a total of 55 pitches in his brief outing, with just 25 going for strikes. Sadler also allowed two runs of his own in the second inning, then followed with four shutout frames. Jesus Liranzo pitched the ninth and allowed a solo homer.
The offense had two homers, four doubles and nine other base runners (five singles and four walks), yet they managed to score just four runs. Christopher Bostick, Jacob Stallings, Eric Wood and Erich Weiss each had two hits. Bostick collected his 17th double, Wood hit his 16th double and Weiss belted his first home run of the season. Pablo Reyes hit his second homer and drew a walk. Jordan Luplow hit a pinch-hit double, his 13th of the season. Jose Osuna also collected his 13th double, which is impressive considering how much time he spent in the majors.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona won 4-3 over Akron on Wednesday.
Eduardo Vera made his first Double-A start after pitching well for nine outings in Bradenton. He pitched through some sloppy defense behind him on this night and ended up going seven innings with just one earned run allowed on five hits. Vera pounded the strike zone, which led to a lot of contact early in counts from Akron until the last inning, when they fouled off a lot of pitches. He didn’t issue any walks, struck out three batters and threw 64 of 99 pitches for strikes. The only earned run scored on a home run.
Two important bats had big games on this day, though they both committed errors behind Vera too. Cole Tucker and Stephen Alemais each had three hits. Tucker hit his ninth double and scored a run. He has watched his average go up 38 points over the last 11 days. Alemais had the big hit in the game, a walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. He also scored a run. Will Craig also had a big hit, belting his 11th double of the season, which drove in two runs. Jason Martin also had an RBI, going 1-for-3 with a single and a walk.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton had a doubleheader scheduled for today but it was rained out. One of the games was canceled, one postponed until a doubleheader tomorrow.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia had their game postponed due to rain. They will play a doubleheader tomorrow.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
