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 – 0-for-4
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 0-for-4
4. Shane Baz, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 1-for-4
6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, 2B
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 9 SO
8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 0-for-5
9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – Disabled list
10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – 0-for-1
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-4, HR, RBI
16. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 3-for-3
17. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 1-for-3,BB
18. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 1-for-2, RBI, BB, SF
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-3
23. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – DNP
24. Jason Martin, OF, Altoona – DNP
25. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – DNP
26. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
27. Mason Martin, 1B, West Virginia – DNP
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 4-3 to Gwinnett on Friday night. Coming into this game, starter Alex McRae has an 0.93 ERA at home and 10.95 on the road this season. He was at home in this game and cruising along with two hits and no walks allowed through six innings. In the seventh, he allowed a walk and a home run for two quick runs to end his night. That was followed by Dovydas Neverauskas allowing two more runs in the eighth inning. Neverauskas had not allowed a hit before tonight since being sent down. Tanner Anderson followed and continued to pitch well with 1.2 scoreless innings to keep the score close.
The offense was led by two runs in the second inning to give McRae an early lead. With two outs, Erich Weiss singled, then Pablo Reyes hit an RBI double. That was followed by an RBI single from Christopher Bostick. The only other Indianapolis run also came with two outs when Kevin Kramer connected on a solo homer in the fifth inning. It was his third homer of the season. Jose Osuna had a single and a double. Kevin Newman hit his seventh double.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona played a doubleheader on Friday with Taylor Hearn getting the ball in game one. He was coming off of two poor starts, which followed two strong starts to begin the season. His start on Friday leaned more towards the last two games, with four runs over six innings. On the plus side, he recorded a season high of nine strikeouts and went six frames, after each of his last two games were only 4.2 innings pitched. Hearn also had a 4:2 GO/AO ratio and threw 57 of 84 pitches for strikes, so while the run total isn’t where you want to see it, there were positives from the outing.
The Curve lost 6-1 and got their only run on a Wyatt Mathisen homer, his first of the season. Bralin Jackson went 3-for-3 with three singles in the game. Altoona had eight hits and two walks, but they were only able to get two runners in scoring position all game.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
In game two, Pedro Vasquez made his first start of the season after spending the beginning of the year in Pirate City due to a Spring Training illness, followed by a building up period to get his pitch count up. He didn’t need a high pitch count on this night because the game was suspended due to rain in the bottom of the third inning. Vasquez went three innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk, with two strikeouts and a 5:2 GO/AO ratio.
Before the rains, Jason Martin had two hits, including his fourth triple, and two runs scored. Jordan George had two hits and an RBI. Will Craig had a single and a sacrifice fly. Logan Hill had an RBI single.
The stats in the top 30 summary above only include game one, since this game isn’t official yet. This game will be finished before the start of tomorrow’s regularly scheduled game.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton won 5-1 over Charlotte. Starter James Marvel gave up a run in the first inning, then followed that with six shutout innings for the win. He nearly got out of the first inning when a two-out single hit off of the glove of Trae Arbet, bringing in the run. Marvel allowed two hits and two walks over the final six innings and he finished with five strikeouts and a 9:5 GO/AO ratio. He now has a 3.63 ERA in 34.2 innings. Scooter Hightower and Ronny Agustin closed on the win by facing the minimum in their two (one each) innings.
Tyler Gaffney and Adrian Valerio led off the game with back-to-back hits, which led to a run off of MLB veteran Nathan Eovaldi, who was there on rehab. Gaffney would later add a double, a walk and two stolen bases, while Valerio was 3-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt. The rest of the lineup had just two hits, but one was the first home run from Jared Oliva.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia lost 5-1 to Hickory. Domingo Robles got the start, coming back from an outing where four errors and a passed ball led to seven runs (all unearned) in the first inning against him. He had better defense behind him in this game, but he was a little too hittable, allowing three runs on nine hits in six innings. Robles had no walks, four strikeouts and a 9:4 GO/AO ratio. He threw 73 of his 96 pitches for strikes. Matt Seelinger finished off the game with one earned run over three innings. It was the first run he has allowed this season.
The Power had three walks through the first five innings, but they didn’t get their first hit until a one out single from Calvin Mitchell in the sixth inning. Their only run came in the eighth inning on a Chris Sharpe bunt, an error, a walk to Deon Stafford and a sacrifice fly by Oneil Cruz. They loaded the bases again on a Rodolfo Castro walk, before Ryan Peurifoy struck out to end the inning. Sharpe also added a ninth inning double.
Lolo Sanchez went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts. He’s now batting .150 with 30 strikeouts through 100 at-bats. In 204 at-bats last year, he struck out 19 times.
Here’s the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
