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 – 2-for-5, 2B, SB
3. Shane Baz, RHP, Bristol – DNP
4. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 0-for-3, BB
5. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 0-for-4
6. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – DNP
7. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 1-for-2, BB, RBI, SB
8. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – 1-for-3, 2 BB
9. Jordan Luplow, LF, Pirates – In Majors
10. Luis Escobar, RHP, Altoona – DNP
11. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
12. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
13. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, RBI, BB, SB
14. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 1-for-4
15. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 1-for-3, 2B, BB
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 – 0-for-5, RBI
21. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 1-for-3, RBI, BB, SB
22. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 2-for-4, 2B
23. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP
24. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Altoona – 7 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO
25. Mason Martin, 1B, Bristol – DNP
26. Conner Uselton, OF, Bristol – DNP
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 7-2 to Gwinnett.
Alex McRae came into tonight allowing just three earned runs in his last three starts. That total was surpassed in a four-run second inning by Gwinnett. McRae went four innings on the night, allowing six earned runs on nine hits and two walks, with two strikeouts. Damien Magnifico tossed two scoreless innings, then Josh Smoker took over in the seventh and allowed one run in his two innings of work.
Kevin Kramer and Adam Frazier led the way on the offense, picking up an RBI each. Frazier had two walks, a sacrifice fly and he scored on Kramer’s RBI hit. Kramer also had a walk and his eighth stolen base. Jason Martin had a single and a double, giving him a .316 average in his first 15 games in Triple-A.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona lost 7-5 to Bowie.
Eduardo Vera made the start and put up a strong start, with an odd stat. Vera is a fly ball pitcher, so it’s no surprise that he allowed two homers in the game. What was a bit odd is his 13:1 GO/AO ratio, which I’d just guess is his best game ever in that category. Vera gave up two runs on three hits, with no walks and four strikeouts, throwing 59 of his 86 pitches for strikes.
I talked to Vera after the game to get some insight into the high grounder total and he had this to say:
“I just got my confidence back. Some adjustments in my mechanics like breaking my hands on time so I can keep the ball down and with that adjustment my changeup is working great and slider and curveball are more down too so I think that why I got more ground balls.”
Geoff Hartlieb took the ball in the eighth and allowed a run to make it 4-3. Matt Eckelman looked for the save, but he gave up two runs in the ninth. Bret Helton took over in the tenth and gave up two more runs for the loss.
Cole Tucker, Christian Kelley and Bralin Jackson each had two hits. Tucker hit his 15th double and stole his 22nd base. Kelley hit his seventh home run, a three-run shot in the fourth. Jackson hit his first triple and stole his fifth base. Bryan Reynolds had a single and two walks. Stephen Alemais had a single, walk, RBI and run scored, plus his 13th stolen base. Will Craig picked up his 67th RBI.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 4-3 to Jupiter.
The Marauders had just six base runners on the night, but managed to get half of them across the plate. Jared Oliva hit his 21st double and Lucas Tancas hit his 13th. Adrian Valerio and Casey Hughston singled. Bligh Madris and Mitchell Tolman walked. Tolman had an RBI on a sacrifice fly and he scored a run. Tancas drove in a pair.
Evan Piechota got the start in place of Luis Escobar, who was promoted to Altoona. Piechota went six innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk, with six strikeouts. Blake Weiman followed and allowed one unearned run in his two innings. Angel German was next and he struck out the side in the ninth on just 12 pitches.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia defeated Delmarva by an 8-1 score.
Hunter Stratton started on Tuesday afternoon and allowed just one run over five innings, but he really had trouble throwing strikes. He gave up three hits, walked four and hit a batter, with just 42 of his 87 pitches going for strikes. Drew Fischer made quick work of the sixth before the rain came and ended the game early.
Ben Bengtson was our Player of the Week in Monday’s The 21, and he had two hits and two runs scored in this game. Ryan Peurifoy had a single, double and an RBI. Fabricio Macias drove in two runs with his first triple. He also had a walk and a run scored. Lolo Sanchez had a single, walk, RBI and his 20th stolen base. Calvin Mitchell hit his 19th double, walked and scored two runs.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Morgantown lost 4-3 to State College.
Mike LoPresti got the start and he lasted just 2.1 innings, allowing runs in each of the first three frames. LoPresti gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk. Francis Del Orbe took over and stranded two inherited runners. He would go 3.2 scoreless innings total. Ryan Valdes threw two shutout innings, striking out four batters. Cam Alldred pitched the ninth.
The Black Bears went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 men on base. They scored their runs on a Nick Valaika home run, an RBI double from Grant Koch and a sacrifice fly by Raul Siri. Valaika, Koch and Luke Mangieri each reached base three times. Robbie Glendinning hit his eighth double and drew a walk, but he also committed two errors.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bristol had off on Tuesday.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The GCL Pirates won 10-8 over the Blue Jays.
Noe Toribio got the start after going six shutout innings with eight strikeouts in his last outing. He couldn’t come close to that performance on Tuesday, allowing five runs on four hits and two walks in 4.2 innings. He did manage to pick up six strikeouts, giving him 28 strikeouts in 29.2 innings this season. Hai-Cheng Gong followed in the fifth and allowed a run on three hits before he could record the final out of the inning. Gong was replaced by Andres Arrieta after a walk and an out in the sixth inning. He recorded two outs, then gave way to Saul de la Cruz in the seventh. He allowed two runs in two innings, then Kleiner Machado pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.
The Pirates trailed 6-0 during this game, going into the final three innings. They then put up six in the seventh, one in the eighth and three more in the ninth. Kyle Mottice had a big day in the lead-off spot, with two hits, two walks, two stolen bases, a HBP, an RBI and three runs scored. Matt Morrow, Steven Kraft and Justin Harrer each had two hits. Harrer drove in two runs. The Pirates were helped from five Blue Jay errors and five Pirate hitters were hit by pitches.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The DSL Pirates1 had off on Tuesday.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
The DSL Pirates2 lost 1-0 to the Royals2
Braham Rosario got the start and allowed one unearned run in four innings on one hit and two walks, with two strikeouts. He now has a 1.42 ERA in 25.1 innings. Yeison Santos followed and had two scoreless innings before the game was delayed due to rain. Denny Roman took the last two innings and struck out five of the six batters he faced. In 11.2 innings, he has 23 strikeouts.
The offense had six hits (all singles) and no walks. Two of those runners were thrown out attempting to steal, while another was erased on a double play. No one had more than one hit. Edgar Barrios had a single and his ninth stolen base. Angel Basabe went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview for both teams here.
