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 (Austin Meadows, Colin Moran, Nick Kingham, 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. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 3-for-4, 3B, RBI
3. Shane Baz, RHP, Bristol – 3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 SO
4. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 2-for-4, RBI
5. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 0-for-3, BB
6. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – DNP
7. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – DNP
8. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – 0-for-3, BB
9. Jordan Luplow, LF, Pirates – In Majors
10. Luis Escobar, RHP, Altoona – 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 SO
11. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
12. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
13. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 0-for-1
14. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 1-for-4, 2 RBI
15. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – DNP
16. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – DNP
17. Nick Burdi, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
18. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – DNP
19. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
20. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
21. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 2-for-3
22. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 0-for-3
23. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – 5.1 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO
24. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Altoona – DNP
25. Mason Martin, 1B, Bristol – 2-for-3, 2 2B, BB
26. Conner Uselton, OF, Bristol – 2-for-4
27. Cody Bolton, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
28. Steven Jennings, RHP, Bristol – DNP
29. Max Kranick, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
30. Domingo Robles, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
Indianapolis lost 4-2 to Gwinnett.
Brandon Waddell was named the International League Pitcher of the Week after his last start. He went seven shutout innings, setting a career high with nine strikeouts. On Wednesday, he threw 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and two walks, while striking out six batters. Waddell now has a 4.95 ERA in 40 innings since joining Indianapolis. Dovydas Neverauskas followed and threw 2.2 shutout innings. Jesus Liranzo took over in the ninth and gave up a two-run walk-off homer to the second batter he faced.
The offense had a lot of trouble, not picking up their first hit until two outs in the fifth inning. That was a single by Waddell. It was followed by a Kevin Newman walk and a two-run double from Adam Frazier. The only other hit was a single by Pablo Reyes. Jackson Williams had two walks. Austin Meadows went 0-for-3 with a walk in his first game back with Indianapolis. Newman is 0-for-14 in his last four games.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona won 5-3 over Bowie.
Luis Escobar made his first start for Altoona and went six innings, allowing three runs on four hits and two walks. He had three strikeouts and an impressive 12:2 GO/AO ratio. Escobar started off shaky, loading the bases in the first before recording an out. He then got a double play and a second grounder, limiting the damage to one run. After that point, he gave up just two solo homers and walked one batter over the final five innings. Yeudy Garcia struck out four of the six batters he faced in two perfect innings. Tate Scioneaux worked around two hits in the ninth for his fourth save.
Cole Tucker collected three hits in this game. He hit his fourth triple and also had a run scored and an RBI. Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits, scored two runs and drove in a run. Will Craig drove in three runs to give him 70 RBIs on the season. He hit his 14th homer, which is tops in the system, and also added an RBI single. Stephen Alemais had two hits and scored a run.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 9-4 to Jupiter.
James Marvel came into this game with three straight starts in which he went seven innings. He went seven innings again, although he wasn’t as sharp in this outing. Marvel allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks. He had four strikeouts, a 9:4 GO/AO ratio and he threw 70 of 101 pitches for strikes. Ronny Agustin threw a scoreless eighth, then allowed five runs in the ninth, with two being unearned due to a Mitchell Tolman error. Three of those five runs scored off of Jordan Jess, who closed out the inning.
On offense, all four Bradenton runs scored in the second inning. Garrett Brown hit a two-run triple and Adrian Valerio hit a two-run double, his 21st two-bagger of the season. Brown also had a single, run scored and an outfield assist. Lucas Tancas had two hits, including his 14th double. Bligh Madris hit his 12th double. Every player in the Bradenton lineup had at least one strikeout.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia had off on Wednesday.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Morgantown lost 12-3 to State College.
Zach Spears made his fifth start and he still has yet to make it to the fourth inning as a pro. Spears allowed four runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out three batters. He has been on a limited pitch count so far, though he got up to 69 pitches tonight. Miguel Hernandez followed and gave up four runs in two innings. John Pomeroy gave up three runs in the sixth while recording two outs. Juan Henriquez allowed a run in his 2.1 innings and Logan Stoelke handled the ninth. The five pitchers combined for 16 hits, eight walks and one hit batter.
The offense scored three runs in the third inning on a Zack Kone single, Edison Lantigua triple, Mike Gretler walk, Travis Swaggerty’s seventh double and an RBI ground out by Jhoan Herrera. The Black Bears had just two hits over the last six innings, which were doubles by Gretler and Connor Kaiser.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bristol lost 11-0 to Burlington.
Shane Baz made his sixth start of the season and he had a lot of trouble in this contest. Baz went 3.2 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits and four walks. He had three strikeouts and a 7:1 GO/AO ratio, while throwing 40 of 70 pitches for strikes. He now has a 4.88 ERA in 27.2 innings, with 29 strikeouts and 15 walks. Allen Montgomery followed with one run over 1.1 innings. Adonis Pichardo served up three runs in two innings. Austin Shields allowed two runs in the eighth, then picked up two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth. The four pitchers combined to give up 15 hits and ten walks to a team that had a 6-21 record coming into the game.
There were actually two nice games on offense despite no runs being scored. Jonah Davis raised his average to .420 by collecting three hits. Mason Martin had two doubles and a walk. Conner Uselton had two singles. Brendt Citta had a single and a hit-by-pitch, which caused him to leave the game.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The GCL Pirates won 5-3 over the Braves.
Randy Jimenez is one of the biggest projects in the system, but he also has a lot of potential. His cutter/sinker combo gives him two pitches in the low-90s with a lot of movement. He also has some major control issues, although they are improving. That can lead to games like his last two outings where he gave up ten earned runs over 4.1 innings, or a start like today when he threw five shutout innings on three hits, a walk and six strikeouts. A game like today shows you why he is in a starting role.
Jacob Webb followed Jimenez and had two strikeouts in his one inning. Luis Nova was next and he allowed two runs (one earned) over two innings. Lizardy Dicent came out for the ninth and gave up one run, but still got the save.
The Pirates scored five runs and just one was earned. Ji-Hwan Bae had three hits and scored two runs. It’s his second career three-hit game. He’s batting .280/.351/.360 through his first 50 at-bats. Christopher Bostick played his second rehab game and had a single, double, walk and drove in two runs. Patrick Dorrian stole home on the front end of a double steal that netted Fernando Villegas his first career stolen base.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The DSL Pirates1 won 8-5 over the Indians/Brewers.
Juan Pie hit two doubles, drove in a pair and scored a run. He has nine doubles this season, which leads all DSL Pirates. Daniel Rivero drove in his 21st run, which also leads all Pirates in the DSL. He hit his fourth double and stole his eighth base. Carlos Arroyo drove in two runs. Jommer Hernandez had a double, walk and run scored.
Starlyn Reynoso, who has been pitching in relief, started today and went three shutout innings. Bryan Torres threw in relief for the first time and he gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits in two innings. He had his start on Monday washed away, but since he warmed up for that game, which was delayed by rain in the top of the first, he pitched on his normal throw day today. Four relievers then combined to allowed two runs on two hits and seven walks in the final four innings.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
The DSL Pirates2 lost 8-5 to the Giants.
The Pirates had nine hits, though all of them were singles. They also walked four times and had one hit batter. They went 4-for-10 with runners in scoring position. Omar Matos had three hits and a run scored. Pedro Castillo had two hits, a walk, a run scored and his sixth stolen base. Juan Mena had two hits and an RBI. Daniel Angulo had a single, two walks and a run scored. Edgar Barrios scored two runs and stole his tenth base.
Xavier Concepcion made his first start and it did not go well. He went 2.1 innings, allowing five runs (two earned) on one hit and four walks. Mario Garcia, who has been starting this season, went 3.2 shutout innings following Concepcion. Carlos Campos threw the final three innings and allowed three runs (one earned) on three hits and three walks. The Pirates committed five errors, which led to the five unearned runs.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview for both teams here.
