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, Indianapolis – 3-for-5, 2B
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – DNP
4. Shane Baz, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 1-for-4, HR, RBI, 2 BB
6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-5
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 SO
8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 2-for-3, 2B
9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – Disabled list
10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – 2-for-4, 2 2B, BB
11. Luis Escobar, RHP, Bradenton – 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO
12. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 SO
13. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
14. Nick Kingham, RHP, Altoona – DNP
15. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, BB
16. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 3-for-4, SB
17. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 1-for-2, HR, RBI, 2 BB
18. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 1-for-3, BB
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 – 0-for-4, RBI, BB
23. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 0-for-4, BB
24. Jason Martin, OF, Altoona – 2-for-6, SB
25. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – DNP
26. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
27. Mason Martin, 1B, West Virginia – 0-for-3
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 won 6-0 over Norfolk on Thursday afternoon. Starter Clay Holmes had three straight poor starts coming into Thursday afternoon. Prior to those three games, he had two starts in which he threw shutout ball. He got back to his earlier ways in this game by putting together a terrific outing. Holmes tossed six shutout innings on two hits and two walks. He struck out seven batters, posted a 4:2 GO/AO ratio and threw 51 of 86 pitches for strikes. He now has a 4.31 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 31.1 innings this season.
The Indians scored their first run in the sixth inning when Austin Meadows singled, then came home on Jordan Luplow’s fifth double of the season. In the eighth inning, Christopher Bostick hit his second home run of the year to make it 2-0. That broke things open and three more runs would score in the inning. In the ninth, back-to-back doubles from Meadows and Luplow added a sixth run. Meadows had three hits in the game, including his tenth double. Luplow also added a walk, while Bostick had a single to go along with his homer.
Tanner Anderson followed Holmes and tossed two scoreless innings. Since allowing five runs in his season debut, Anderson hasn’t given up an earned run in 21.2 innings.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona lost 12-9 in ten innings. Taylor Hearn allowed one run on one hit over five innings in his last start. He gave up more hits on Thursday, but he threw shutout ball over five innings. Hearn allowed four hits and two walks, while striking out five batters. His night could have been better, as he needed 94 pitches to get through his five innings and his 1:6 GO/AO ratio is the worst we have seen from a starter this season. That being said, he went through a rough patch of three starts and has rebounded strong in his last two games. Hearn has a 4.46 ERA in 36.1 innings, with 37 strikeouts.
Bret Helton tossed a scoreless sixth, then the game got out of hand in a hurry. A 7-0 lead turned into a loss as Tate Scioneaux, Yeudy Garcia and Geoff Hartlieb combined to give up 12 runs in four innings.
Josh Harrison played his second rehab game and went 1-for-5 with a single, run scored and two strikeouts. His ninth inning error led to four unearned runs. He played nine innings, as scheduled, leaving in the tenth for a defensive replacement.
With nine runs and 14 hits on the night, the Curve lineup had some big games. The most important hit was the first home run of the season from Ke’Bryan Hayes. He also added two walks and scored three runs.
Jordan George had three hits, a walk and scored two runs. Elvis Escobar, who came into the game with a .112 average through 89 at-bats, picked up three hits and stole a base. Jason Martin had two hits and his second stolen base. He has a .359 average. In his second game of the season, Jin-De Jhang had two hits and drove in two runs. Logan Hill had two hits and three RBIs. On the downside, Stephen Alemais is in an 0-for-22 slide and he has a .203 OPS in May.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton won 6-1 over Daytona. Luis Escobar has either been very good or bad this season and Thursday night was the good Escobar. He went seven innings, allowing one run in three hits and three walks, while striking out six batters. The lone run came in the seventh inning with two outs on a solo homer. He has four outings where he has combined to allow two runs over 24 innings. Despite those strong performances, he has a 4.07 ERA over 42 innings this year. Matt Eckelman tossed 1.1 shutout innings to pick up his fifth save and lower his ERA to 1.15 through 16.1 innings.
The Marauders picked up 12 hits, led by Adrian Valerio, who had three singles, scored two runs and stole his eighth base of the season. Bligh Madris had two hits and drove in three runs. Hunter Owen and Albert Baur each picked up their sixth double of the season. Baur had two hits, two runs scored and an RBI. He now has a .327 average. Tyler Gaffney had a single, walk and run scored. Alfredo Reyes stole his tenth base.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia won 3-2 over Lexington. Domingo Robles kept the strong starting pitching going with seven innings on this night. He allowed two runs, but both were unearned. Robles gave up five hits and no walks, with six strikeouts, an 8:4 GO/AO ratio and he needed just 70 pitches (53 strikes) to get through his night. He lowered his season ERA to 3.15 and he has a 36:9 SO/BB ratio in 40 innings. Blake Weiman threw a scoreless eighth and Matt Seelinger scored his third save with three strikeouts in the ninth.
On offense, Calvin Mitchell and Dylan Busby each hit their fifth home run of the season. Mitchell also walked twice. Lolo Sanchez had a single, his seventh double and scored a run. Deon Stafford had two hits. Oneil Cruz had a single and a walk.
Here’s the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
