Every Monday during the minor league season, we take a look at the top performers in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system, giving scouting reports on the top ten pitchers and top ten hitters from the previous week. The column was originally called Top Performers until last year when we changed it to The Twenty. The number 21 obviously has a lot of significance for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their fans, so we expanded this article to include one extra player.
Each Monday, we will highlight one Player of the Week, who will be followed by ten pitchers and ten batters who excelled during the previous week. This isn’t a top prospect list, so any player in the system can make the list if he has a strong week. Our scouting reports are based on first-hand views throughout the system, where we have coverage for all four full-season affiliates. We also get extra views via MiLB.tv, giving us a look at the entire farm system throughout the season.
Player of the Week
Albert Baur, 1B, Bradenton – Baur had a nine-game hit streak snapped in the second game of Bradenton’s Sunday doubleheader. In those nine games, he had seven in which he collected two hits. Baur has never been a big power hitter in the past, although he did hit 31 doubles to go along with his eight homers last year. His eight homers already this season in a pitcher-friendly league are quite the stat for someone who hit 12 round trippers in his first three seasons. Through 40 games, Baur has a .338/.379/.572 slash line, which ranks him third in the Florida State League in OPS. A 25-year-old first baseman in High-A really has to do a lot to get noticed and he’s doing just that so far this season.
Hitters
Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – Alemais was in a horrible slump this month until he broke out of it during this last week. Even with a strong stretch over the past nine days, he still has a .549 OPS in May and a .604 OPS through 41 games this season. Alemais had three multi-hit games last week, finishing with two hits and a walk on Sunday, which included his first home run of the season. There was hope for more hitting from him at this point, but it’s important to remember that he played less than half of a season last year due to a hand injury, splitting the year between Low-A and High-A. You could say that being in Altoona was a slightly aggressive push based on his experience. He’s also getting used to playing second base full-time, while still occasionally showing off that defense at shortstop that has him rated as one of the best defensive players in the system.
Tyler Gaffney, OF, Bradenton – What started as an interesting story to watch this season, could be turning into more with Gaffney. He got off to a strong start and it has continued now through nearly 50 team games. He had seven hits, a walk and two hit-by-pitches over this past week. He collected two doubles in one game, two triples in another and he stole his tenth base of the season. After a five-year layoff, he has come back to put up a .285/.384/.462 slash line in the pitcher-friendly Florida State League. With his age and time off, it’s hard to predict his future at this point. We had him as a top 50 prospect before he retired due to his ability to get on base and he showed a nice set of tools. The on base ability is still there and he’s shown both power and speed, so there appears to be some potential.
Jordan George, 1B/OF, Altoona – George can flat out hit. In 31 games for Altoona, he is hitting .300/.369/.380 with 11 walks and 11 strikeouts. He batted .302 for Bradenton last year before being promoted to Altoona late, where he put up a .302 average. His career slash line in four seasons is .306/.410/.455 in 216 games over five levels. As someone who is nearing 26 years old in Double-A, he has been a bit old for every level he’s at throughout his career, so that is something to keep in mind. If he can show some of the power he displayed last year, then you could see him making the majors someday. Without that power, it’s tough for a player to make it to the majors on just average alone. Especially when it’s a corner outfielder/first baseman with marginal defense and below average speed. He homered on Saturday, his first of the season, so possibly that will wake up the power in the bat.
Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – When Hayes made The 21 last week, we pointed out that his season stats were slightly disappointing, but perhaps that strong week would be the start of something for him. He now has two strong weeks in a row after picking up eight hits this past week, including his second and third home runs of the season. Hayes finished the week with two doubles on Sunday. Now through 45 games, he has a much more respectable .259/.317/.404 slash line. The important part is that he seems to be showing the power that was missing last season. He’s a Gold Glove caliber third baseman, who makes a lot of solid contact and doesn’t strike out often, plus he adds value on the bases. If you can match all of that up with someone who also has power, then you have a very valuable player.
Logan Hill, OF, Altoona – Hill has had a very disappointing season, which is why you haven’t been seeing him in the top performer articles this year. He was a regular last year until a hand injury put him out for the rest of the season near the end of July. He participated in the Arizona Fall League, and while he struggled there, it was mostly about making up for lost time. Those struggles have carried over to this season, though he does have seven homers already. That’s all that has gone right so far, as he has a .193 average, with just ten walks and 56 strikeouts in 42 games. He has below average speed and he’s a marginal corner outfielder, so he really needs the bat to pick up in a hurry. This past week was a step in the right direction, but he also made this list only because the Player of the Week was a hitter and it added an extra hitter spot to this list.
Jordan Luplow, OF, Indianapolis – Luplow continued his May push to get back to the majors after a very tough April. Counting his game from the previous Sunday, Luplow collected a double in five straight games. This past week he was a major part of the offense for Indianapolis, scoring seven runs and driving in seven runs. For the month, he is now hitting .330/.406/.659 in 24 games. His slugging percentage alone is 148 points higher than his April OPS. There were signs that the April was just a fluke, specifically with just nine strikeouts in 71 plate appearances. Luplow’s walk rate has gone down slightly in May and his strikeouts are up a lot over April, yet it has translated into outstanding numbers. He will see Pittsburgh sometime this year, but he’s obviously hoping it’s before rosters expand in September.
Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – Mitchell has been a regular here all season and he returns this week due to four multi-hit games and his sixth home run of the season. With a .324/.387/.535 slash line, the 19-year-old outfielder is having an extremely impressive first full season in pro ball. Last year we mentioned how much easy power he had, though it only resulted in two homers during the GCL season. He is showing that easy power this year against much better pitching than he saw last year. Mitchell has six homers, 12 doubles and three triples. He ranks seventh in the South Atlantic League in slugging and fourth in OPS. The Pirates don’t move young players in their first full season up a level, so it’s unlikely that Mitchell goes to Bradenton. The lone exception would be very late in the season and Bradenton is making the playoffs, while West Virginia won’t being playing postseason ball. Then he could move up late for the added experience.
Brett Pope, INF, West Virginia – Pope joined West Virginia from Extended Spring Training last weekend and got the third base job after Dylan Busby was hit in the head with a pitch. Pope is a natural shortstop and a very strong defensive one at that, but he will likely be seeing time at third base until Busby returns, then second base at times, as well as the occasional shortstop start. If he continues to hit the way he did last week, they will find playing time for him. He went 7-for-15 last week, with three walks, a double, three steals, his first pro homer and he collected hits in all five starts. It’s impressive beginning to his first taste of full-season ball, but it’s too soon to get excited because the reports from Extended ST weren’t favorable at the plate.
Pablo Reyes, Util, Indianapolis – Reyes continues to impress at Indianapolis since moving up from Altoona in April. As an upcoming minor league free agent this winter, he has a lot to prove this season and the Pirates are giving him the playing time to show whether he is worth keeping around after this season. If he continues to play like he has recently, it may require giving him a 40-man roster spot to keep him. Reyes is hitting .309/.343/.392 in 30 games, showing speed on the bases and versatility on defense by playing four positions. If he’s going to make it in the majors, it will be as a versatile bench player and with some more Triple-A seasoning, he could become ready for that role.
Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – Valerio extended his hitting streak to eight games with an RBI single on Sunday. He has a .394 average over that stretch, which has raised his season average to .270 through 44 games. He’s never been one to draw a lot of walks, so you’d at least like to see a high average and some power if that trend is going to continue. Valerio has 13 extra-base hits this season, including three homers. He connected on 11 homers last year, though he isn’t someone who you would consider a future double-digit home run player. His game is his above average defense at shortstop, as well as adding some speed on the bases. He’s on pace for 20+ steals this year and we could see him maintain that potential as he moves up the system. The important part would be getting on base enough for that to be possible.
Pitchers
Cody Bolton, RHP, West Virginia – You usually don’t see prep pitchers make it to full-season ball in their first full season after being drafted by the Pirates. It happened with Jameson Taillon and it was expected to happen with 2017 first round pick Shane Baz, but he has had some control issues this spring. Bolton showed a lot of signs early that he improved over last year, but as a sixth round pick, we didn’t expect to see him in West Virginia. Almost all prep pitchers stay in the GCL or go to Bristol. He not only showed up in West Virginia last week, he dominated. Bolton, who was working on a limited pitch count, tossed five shutout innings, allowing two hits, one walk and he struck out eight batters. The 19-year-old right-hander fill out his 6’3″ frame nicely this winter and was showing improved stuff during Spring Training. He has a low-to-mid 90s fastball, a slider that he has used since little league and an improving changeup.
Tyler Eppler, RHP, Indianapolis – Eppler has either been very good or bad this season. Before his lone start last week, he had his worst outing of the season. He gave up seven runs on nine hits in 4.1 innings. In fact, that run total nearly matched what he allowed up to that point this season. He rebounded nicely with one of the top performances this season. Eppler pitched Thursday morning and allowed just four hits (all singles) over six shutout innings, with no walks and nine strikeouts. On the season, that gave him a 3.13 ERA through 46 innings, with 46 strikeouts and just ten walks. He also has an impressive 1.61 GO/AO ratio, which is well above his career average. Eppler has been much better this season than his first run through Triple-A. The ERA is lower, the strikeouts and ground outs are well above his standards. All he really needs is more consistency to become a viable option in Pittsburgh. Limit the amount of outings where his team is out of the game early. He doesn’t need to throw six shutout innings every time, but three of his starts have been limited innings and 4+ runs allowed.
Max Kranick, RHP, West Virginia – Cody Bolton wasn’t the only young pitching prospect to debut with West Virginia last week and he also wasn’t the only one to throw shutout ball. Max Kranick made his 2018 debut on Monday and tossed five shutout innings. Just like Bolton, he allowed two hits and one walk. The big difference between the two was that Kranick had just one strikeout, though he did get his share of swinging strikes early in counts. Kranick was down in Extended Spring Training and the reports from there were terrific. Almost all of his four inning outings (one was three innings) were shutout ball. He was working on a new slider, but he also showed an increase in his velocity, hitting 95 MPH one game near the end of his time at Pirate City. In his start last week, he showed a nice downhill plane on his fastball and he was throwing his curveball for strikes. Kranick missed some time last year with a shoulder issue, but he’s been healthy for nearly a full year. That injury did cost him some mound time, so he will likely be somewhat limited the rest of the way.
Evan Piechota, RHP, West Virginia – Piechota has been asked to do a little bit of everything this year and he has been successful in every role. After not pitching for eight days, he got a spot start during a doubleheader in West Virginia on Sunday and allowed just one run over 6.1 innings. He struck out nine batters in the game, which set a new career high. Piechota doesn’t have the best stuff, but he is one of the best pure pitchers in the system. The 24-year-old, who was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2016, has a 1.96 ERA through 41.1 innings this season. He has 45 strikeouts and just six walks. Going undrafted out of college puts players in a tough spot, but he is clearly making the most of his opportunities.
Domingo Robles, LHP, West Virginia – Robles has turned things around since allowing five earned runs on nine hits over 3.2 innings in his season debut. This past week he went seven innings for the second straight start. Robles allowed two runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out just two batters, but he recorded a 10:3 GO/AO ratio. Strikeouts haven’t been an issue this season as he currently has his highest career K rate, even after last week’s game. Going into the game, his ground out rate was easily the lowest of his career, so that was a good sign from the 20-year-old southpaw. He has ten walks in 47 innings this year, continuing a strong point to his game, which has been with him since he debuted right after his 17th birthday. With his low-90s fastball, above average curve and excellent control, Robles appears to be pushing himself higher up the prospect charts this season.
Casey Sadler, RHP, Indianapolis – Going into Sunday’s action, Sadler had the lowest ERA this month among the top 20 minor league pitchers in innings pitched for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That’s a far cry from the way he started this season. Sadler had an 8.31 ERA in four appearances in April, two as a starter. This month he has made two starts and four relief appearances, posting a 2.41 ERA over 18.2 innings. He cut his WHIP and his walks in half compared to last month. Sadler’s also striking out nearly one batter per inning. He threw 6.1 innings without an earned run this past week over two relief appearances. He’s trying to establish himself as a middle relief option for the Pirates this year after signing as a minor league free agent in the off-season. He’s not the best option at this point in Indianapolis, but he’s at least on the right path after a tough start to his season.
Eduardo Vera, RHP, Bradenton – Vera allowed three runs in his lone start this past week, but there were some very good things about the outing. He went eight innings for the first time all season, and he did it on just 82 pitches. He was efficient because he was getting his share of ground ball outs, while also not walking a single batter. Vera has now gone at least six innings in eight straight starts, which is the longest streak in the system. He has a 2.95 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP. I mention it every time he makes The 21, but it’s worth repeating as the season keeps going further along. Vera is a free agent at the end of the season and the Pirates would be wise to see how he could handle Altoona this year, so they can make a better educated decision on his future. The longer he stays at Bradenton, the less time they get to see him versus upper level hitting.
Cam Vieaux, LHP, Bradenton – Vieaux made one start this last week and it did not begin well. He gave up a lead-off homer, then one more run scored before the first inning was over. Fast forward 5.2 innings and he still allowed a total of two runs on the day, and he tied his career high with nine strikeouts. Vieaux also threw 106 pitches, which is a career high and just the third time as a pro that he reached triple digits in pitches. On the season, he now has a 3.73 ERA through nine starts and 50.2 innings. Vieaux has 44 strikeouts, a .255 BAA and a 1.28 WHIP. He is effective when he mixes his pitches well. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff and isn’t a ground ball pitcher, so the improved strikeout rate needs to remain a part of his game for him to excel at the upper levels. Fly ball pitchers are helped in the Florida State League because the ball doesn’t travel well in the summer, but things change when you get to the Eastern League.
Gavin Wallace, RHP, West Virginia – Wallace only got to pitch once in the week before last week and that barely happened. After pitching the first inning, he came out in the rain for the second frame and walked the only batter he could get to before the game was called and eventually suspended. Five days later and apparently very fresh from pitching to just four batters over the previous ten days, Wallace put together a strong outing. He gave up two runs over six innings against a tough Columbia team. As usual, he did it by pounding the strike zone, pitching to contact and getting a lot of grounders. Wallace has been fairly consistent this year, though far from dominant and he missed a start due to a concussion he received from colliding with a runner down the first base line. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his eight starts. He’s displayed terrific control and has kept the ball on the ground. He does have one stat that sticks out and that’s seven home runs allowed in 39.2 innings. That’s from someone who is getting the same amount of ground ball outs as last year when he didn’t give up a single home run in 68 innings.
Blake Weiman, LHP, West Virginia – There are a lot of West Virginia pitchers on this list, but their success didn’t come facing a weak opponent. Weiman was needed for an extended relief outing on Monday and he put up four shutout innings. What was most impressive about that games was that the last two innings he pitched were extra innings, which start with a runner on second base. Weiman came back on Friday and tossed two more scoreless frames. He gave up two hits in his six innings and no walks. We mentioned in an early The 21 article that Weiman could have started the season in Bradenton with his stuff and experience. He has proven that fact to be true all season, posting a 1.29 ERA in 28 innings, with a 35:2 SO/BB ratio, an 0.82 WHIP and a 1.19 GO/AO ratio. He has been very tough on lefties, holding them to a .167 average in 42 at-bats with 17 strikeouts.
