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, Indianapolis – DNP
2. Austin Meadows, CF, Pirates – In Majors
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 2-for-3, BB
4. Shane Baz, RHP, Bristol – DNP
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 2-for-5, RBI
6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 3-for-5, RBI
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – DNP
8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI
9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – 1-for-3, 2 BB, SB
10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
11. Luis Escobar, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
12. Clay Holmes, RHP, Pirates – In Majors
13. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
14. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
15. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – DNP
16. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 1-for-4, 2B, RBI
17. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – DNP
18. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 0-for-2, 2 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 – 2-for-5, RBI
23. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 2-for-4
24. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 2-for-5, 3B, RBI
25. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – 3.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
26. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Altoona – 5 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO
27. Mason Martin, 1B, Bristol – 0-for-4
28. Conner Uselton, OF, Bristol – 1-for-4
29. Cody Bolton, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
30. Steven Jennings, RHP, Bristol – DNP
Indianapolis lost 10-6 to Columbus.
Brandon Waddell made his first start in over two weeks, after appearing in relief four times. He cruised through three innings, then things got bad in the fourth, between a lot of hits and some errors, seven runs scored before the inning ended. Four of those runs were earned. Casey Sadler followed with one run over 2.1 innings. Enny Romero threw scoreless ball in the seventh and the often reliable Bo Schultz gave up two runs in two innings.
Jordan Luplow hit a two-run homer in the eighth and Jerrick Suiter hit a solo shot in the third inning. It was the first of the year for Suiter and eighth for Luplow. Suiter also had a double and scored three runs. Jason Martin had a single, triple and an RBI in his Triple-A debut. Kevin Newman had three singles and an RBI.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona lost 4-3 to Akron.
Eduardo Vera started, trying to get on track after two poor starts in a row. This one wasn’t up to his standards before these last two games, but it was a decent step forward from the last two games. Vera went five innings, allowing two runs on four hits and three walks, with four strikeouts. He threw 54 of 83 pitches for strikes. Yeudy Garcia followed and allowed two runs in 1.2 innings for the loss. Matt Eckelman made his Double-A debut and retired all three batters he faced, one by strikeout.
Cole Tucker went 2-for-3 with a walk. He’s batting .305 in his last 31 games. Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits and an RBI. Bryan Reynolds had a single, two walks, a stolen base and a run scored. Will Craig had two hits and his 55th RBI. Christian Kelley hit his sixth homer, which was the only extra-base hit for the Curve. Stephen Alemais had two singles and a run scored.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 11-1 to Dunedin.
Jared Oliva tripled, walked and scored the only run. It was his third triple of the season. Adrian Valerio had a double and the only RBI. It was his 17th double. Albert Baur hit his 13th double. Singles by Arden Pabst and Bligh Madris were the only other base runners. Madris also added an outfielder assist.
Mike Wallace started and allowed four runs over 5.2 innings, then the dam burst after he left. Jordan Jess allowed a run in the sixth before he record the final out of the inning, then the first five batters reached against him in the seventh and all five scored. Blake Weiman gave up one run over the final two innings.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia won 5-3 over Hickory.
Domingo Robles got the start, coming off of seven innings with two runs allowed against this same Hickory team last week. He came close to repeating that, giving up two runs over six innings on Friday night. Robles allowed three hits, walked one and struck out four batters, while posting a 5:2 GO/AO ratio. The 20-year-old lefty now has a 3.20 ERA in 78.2 innings. Beau Sulser followed with one run over two innings. Matt Seelinger got the save with a scoreless ninth.
On offense, Lolo Sanchez hit his third home run of the season, a two-run shot in the sixth. He has an .815 OPS in June and he’s hitting .345 in his last ten games. Fabricio Macias had two hits, including his first double with the Power. Oneil Cruz had two walks and a run scored. Ryan Peurifoy and Kyle Watson each had an RBI.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Morgantown won 6-2 over Mahoning Valley.
Michael LoPresti made his second start in a row in Michael Flynn’s (sixth round pick) spot in the rotation. LoPresti impressed, throwing four shutout innings on three hits and no walks. He had two strikeouts and threw 30 of his 47 pitches for strikes. Shea Murray followed and had some trouble throwing strikes, walking two batter and getting two outs on only 15 pitches. Francis Del Orbe threw 1.1 scoreless. Cam Alldred allowed two runs in two innings and Conner Loeprich threw a scoreless ninth.
Melvin Jimenez led the offense with three hits and two RBIs. Jhoan Herrera had a single, his fifth double and an RBI. He’s batting .342 in his first ten games. Edison Lantigua is hitting .300 after a 1-for-3 night, picking up a single and a walk. Daniel Amaral had a double, a walk and his fifth stolen base. Brett Kinneman and Zac Susi each had a single and a walk.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bristol lost 4-1 to Princeton.
Colin Selby made his second start and did about as well as he could on a limited pitch count. In 3.2 shutout innings, he allowed a single and hit a batter, with no walks and six strikeouts. Vince Deyzel only faced one batter in the fourth, but he did his job by stranding two inherited runners. Yeudry Manzanillo took the loss with three runs in 2.2 innings. Joe Jacques allowed a run in his 1.1 innings. The four pitchers combined for no walks and 13 strikeouts.
The offense had just four hits, but Jonah Davis kept hitting at an unreal pace. He hit two doubles and reached on a hit-by-pitch. He had ten extra-base hits in his last four games. Sherten Apostel had an RBI single for the only run and Conner Uselton had the only other hit.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The GCL Pirates lost 8-5 to the Tigers East.
Noe Toribio got the start and allowed two earned runs over five innings. He gave up five hits and a walk, while striking out three and posting a 9:2 GO/AO ratio. Hai-Cheng Gong made his second pro appearance and it went much better than the first. He allowed four runs in 1.1 innings during his first game, then threw a shutout inning today.
Jacob Webb was out next, making his first appearance since last year. He went down near the end of last season with minor elbow surgery, then had a shoulder impingement this spring. He had a tough day, but the important part is just being out there. In 1.2 innings, he allowed two runs on three hits and three walks. Next was Andres Arrieta, who allowed three runs and couldn’t finish out the game (the boxscore has the wrong name as of the time I wrote this up, but it was Arrieta). Saul De La Cruz finished out the game, facing one batter and getting two outs.
Steven Kraft led the offense with a single, two walks, two runs scored, two RBIs and a stolen base. Francisco Acuna broke his season-long hitless streak with a single, leaving him 1-for-25 so far. Ji-Hwan Bae hit his first triple and drove in a run. Fernando Villegas hit his first double.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The DSL Pirates1 lost 4-3 to the Rangers1
Daniel Rivero went 4-for-5 to give him a .366 average and a 9:6 BB/SO ratio through his first 21 games. He also stole his fifth base. Carlos Arroyo had three hits and scored a run. Juan Pie had a single, RBI and run scored.
Miguel Peralta dropped to 0-4, 5.31 in five starts after allowing four runs on three hits and two walks in five innings. Oscar Echarry tossed two scoreless innings and Valentin Linarez has a 1.13 ERA after retiring the side in order in the eighth.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
The DSL Pirates2 won 3-2 over the Tigers2.
Emmanuel De Los Santos got the start and allowed one run over 2.2 innings. He was followed by Braham Rosario, who kept the opposition off the board for 2.1 frames. Eddison Polonia pitched two innings and allowed one run, which was unearned. Luis Peralta handled the final two innings for the win, striking out two batters.
Edgar Barrios had two hits and was the only Pirates2 player to reach base more than once. The team had nine hits, all singles, and no walks. Germin Lopez drove in two runs. Mariano Dotel had an RBI and a run scored. Fleury Nova stole his sixth base. The Pirates2 scored all of their runs in the bottom of the eighth.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview for both teams here.
