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 – 1-for-5, SB
4. Shane Baz, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – DNP
6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 3-for-5, SB
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 SO
8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – DNP
9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – DNP
10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, 2B
11. Luis Escobar, RHP, Bradenton – 3 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 0 SO
12. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
13. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
14. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – 8 IP, 2 H, 0 R, O BB, 6 SO
15. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 2-for-4, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
16. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – DNP
17. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 0-for-4, BB
18. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 2-for-5
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 – 3-for-4, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB
23. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – DNP
24. Jason Martin, OF, Altoona – 1-for-4, RBI, BB
25. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP
26. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Altoona – DNP
27. Mason Martin, 1B, Bristol – 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 won 7-3 over Toledo
Nick Kingham returned to the Indianapolis rotation after making his last start with the Pirates. He is there only to keep him on schedule in case the Pirates need a starter, but he pitched like he was on a mission to prove that he should be one of the starters now. Kingham had a perfect game going into the seventh inning when a ball hit back to him went for a single and a throwing error. He allowed a legit hit in the eight when Edwin Espinal hit a line drive to left field. Other than that, he retired the other 24 batters he faced, six by strikeout. Casey Sadler allowed all three runs in the ninth.
The Indianapolis bats were nearly as strong tonight with 15 hits, including three homers. Kevin Newman went 3-for-5 with three singles, a run scored and his 14th stolen base. Pablo Reyes was 3-for-3 with three singles and was hit by a pitch. Kevin Kramer, Max Moroff and Ryan Lavarnway each had two hits and one of those hits was a home run. It was the ninth dinger for Kramer, fourth for Moroff and second for Lavarnway. Jose Osuna hit his 17th double and Jordan Luplow had his 18th double. Jung Ho Kang was the only player without a hit, but he did walk and hit a sacrifice fly. He’s 1-for-15 since joining Indianapolis.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona won 9-2 over Binghamton.
Taylor Hearn got the morning start on Thursday. He came into the game allowing six earned runs over his last six starts. He looked strong in this outing, striking out ten batters over six innings of work. He gave up two runs on six hits and two walks, while throwing 65 of his 94 pitches for strikes. Hearn now has a 3.57 ERA through 63 innings, with 71 strikeouts, a .205 BAA and a 1.14 WHIP. Tate Scioneaux threw two shutout frames and Logan Sendelbach retired the side in order in the ninth.
Will Craig has been on fire lately and it continued in this game. He hit his ninth homer and 15th double, driving in two runs. He also singled, walked and scored three runs. He has homered in three straight games. Jordan George and Christian Kelley each drove in a pair of runs. Bralin Jackson is now hitting .300 after four hits today, including two doubles. He scored three runs. Jason Martin had a single, walk and scored twice. Cole Tucker stole his 11th base.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 8-2 to Florida.
Luis Escobar started Bradenton’s final game before the All-Star break. This was one of his worst career starts, with six earned runs on five hits and four walks in three innings, while failing to pick up a strikeout. Escobar threw just 27 of his 55 pitches for strikes. He now has a 4.45 ERA through 62.2 innings. Jordan Jess and Evan Piechota each allowed a run in relief. Angel German and Matt Eckelman, who will be headed to the All-Star game, each threw a scoreless frame.
The Marauders had just five hits and an RBI double by Luca Tancas was the only extra-base hit. Albert Baur had two hits. Alfredo Reyes walked twice. Hunter Owen had a single and a walk. Jared Oliva had a single and his 20th stolen base.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia won 6-3 over Augusta.
The big hit in this game was a three-run homer in the fourth inning by Rodolfo Castro. It was his sixth home run of the season. John Bormann had a single, double and an RBI. Ryan Peurifoy had a single, triple, walk, RBI and scored two runs. Oneil Cruz had two hits and a run scored. Ben Bengtson went 1-for-5 to extend his crazy hit streak to 15 games. He is 16-for-54 (.296) during the stretch.
Hunter Stratton got the start and he was nearly unhittable, but wasn’t throwing many strikes either. In five innings, he allowed two runs on one hit and six walks, with six strikeouts, a hit batter and three wild pitches. He threw just 45 of his 87 pitches for strikes. Drew Fischer followed with one run over two innings while striking out four batters. Beau Sulser retired all six batters he faced for the save.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The DSL Pirates1 won 9-8 over the Indians/Brewers co-op team.
Arlinthon De Dios made his third start and allowed three runs over five innings, with five strikeouts. Two of those runs scored in the fourth before he recorded an out. Yoelvis Reyes and Valentin Linarez combined to toss 3.2 scoreless innings. Lizardy Dicent gave up five runs in the eighth, but Wilger Camacho shut down the opposition with 1.2 scoreless for the save.
Juan Pie was one of four players who collected two hits. He drove in two runs with his second home run, and also drew a walk. Yoyner Fajardo, Rayvi Rodriguez and Daniel Angulo each had two hits and scored two runs. Farjardo had a double and a walk, while Angulo added a walk, his first stolen base and an RBI.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
The DSL Pirates2 lost 14-11, dropping them to 2-9 on the season.
Angel Suero got his third start and lasted 3.1 innings, allowing one earned run on three hits, two walks and two hit batters. He struck out three batters. Braham Rosario gave up one run in 3.2 innings, then things fell apart. Oscar Echarry recorded just two outs, but not before allowing five runs. He was followed by Xavier Concepcion, who got out of the eighth with no more damage to Echarry’s line, but then surrendered six runs of his own in the ninth.
Bryan Mateo and Matthew Mercedes each had three hits. Mercedes also had a run scored and a walk, while Mateo scored three runs and picked up an RBI. Angel Basabe had a single, double, walk and drove in two runs. Edgar Barrios had four walks and scored twice. Fleury Nova had a two-run single and a stolen base. Pedro Castillo had an RBI double.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview for both teams here.
