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 – 0-for-3, BB
3. Shane Baz, RHP, Bristol – DNP
4. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 0-for-4
5. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 2-for-4, 2 SB
6. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – DNP
7. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 2-for-7, RBI, BB
8. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – 2-for-4, 2B
9. Jordan Luplow, LF, Pirates – In Majors
10. Luis Escobar, RHP, Altoona – 6 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO (Tuesday’s line)
11. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
12. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
13. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 0-for-2, 2 BB
14. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 0-for-3, 2 BB
15. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 4-for-7, RBI, 2 BB
16. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 1-for-5, 2B, RBI, BB
17. Nick Burdi, RHP, Altoona – DNP
18. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
19. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
20. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 0-for-4
21. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – DNP
22. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 2-for-3
23. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP
24. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Altoona – DNP
25. Mason Martin, 1B, Bristol – 1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
26. Conner Uselton, OF, Bristol – 1-for-4
27. Cody Bolton, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
28. Steven Jennings, RHP, Bristol – DNP
29. Max Kranick, RHP, West Virginia – 2 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO
30. Domingo Robles, LHP, West Virginia – 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO
Indianapolis won 3-1 over Rochester.
JT Brubaker got the start and put together what is possibly his best outing in Triple-A. He went seven innings, allowing one run on four hits and one walk, with four strikeouts. He posted a 10:4 GO/AO ratio and threw 58 of 90 pitches for strikes. Brubaker now has a 3.74 ERA in 79.1 innings with Indianapolis. Tanner Anderson followed with two shutout innings for his fourth save.
Indianapolis had nine singles, four walks and a hit batter, so they had a lot of runners on first base and managed to bring three of them home. Kevin Newman, Austin Meadows and Jason Martin each had two hits. Meadows had a run scored, an RBI and his tenth stolen base. Newman stole two bases to give him 24 steals on the season. Kevin Kramer walked twice. Christopher Bostick had a single, walk and hit-by-pitch.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona had their Tuesday game suspended leading Akron 8-2 in the eighth due to power failure at the park. When play resumed, they added two more runs for a 10-2 win.
Luis Escobar made his second start for Altoona and it went a lot like the first game. Both games included wildness and a high pitch count in the first inning, followed by him settling in and getting a lot of soft contact. Escobar finished with two runs on three hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out three batters for the second straight game and had a 6:4 GO/AO ratio. Geoff Hartlieb handled the seventh and Logan Sendelbach took the final two innings to finish out the win.
Will Craig had a huge day last night with two doubles and a homer. That gave him 20 doubles and 17 homers. He added a single on Wednesday and was also hit by a pitch, as he reached base in all five plate appearances. Bryan Reynolds had two hits and drove in two runs. Cole Tucker was 1-for-2 with two walks, a sacrifice fly and his 27th stolen base. Christian Kelley had a single, double, walk and two runs scored. Logan Hill hit his 13th home run of the season after play resumed.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
In the regularly scheduled game from Wednesday, Cam Vieaux got the start and got hit around, going 4.2 innings with five runs on seven hits and three walks. He had two strikeouts and threw 57 of his 94 pitches for strikes. Vieaux now has a 3.21 ERA with Altoona in 53.1 innings. Bret Helton followed with 2.1 shutout innings, then Matt Eckelman worked around two hits for a scoreless eighth. Altoona lost 5-1 to Akron.
The offense was fairly quiet with just one run and five hits. Bryan Reynolds hit a single and his 13th double, which was the only extra-base hit for the Curve. Reynolds scored the lone run on a Logan Hill single in the sixth inning. Logan Ratledge had three of Altoona’s four walks (Cole Tucker had the other) and he stole his first base of the season. Tyler Gaffney had a single and a stolen base.
Stats in the top 30 at the top of this article are for this game only.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 9-6 to Tampa.
Gavin Wallace had a forgettable fourth start with the Bradenton Marauders on Wednesday night. He gave up at least one run in all five innings he pitched, finishing with nine runs on 11 hits and three walks, with three strikeouts. Jordan Jess retired all six batters he faced, while Jake Brentz struck out two in a scoreless inning.
The offense was working fine for the Marauders. Jared Oliva and Mitchell Tolman each had three hits. Oliva hit his 22nd double and drove in a run. Tolman hit his ninth double and drove in two runs. Albert Baur, Hunter Owen and Garrett Brown each had two hits. Baur drove in two runs. Owen doubled and picked up an RBI. Adrian Valerio walked twice and scored a run.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia lost 6-2 to Kannapolis.
Domingo Robles put together one of the best starts of the season when you factor in how it came about. Robles was supposed to start on Saturday when last week started, but an early rain out pushed it back a day. He was then set up for Sunday, but that was rained out. The team then traveled from Lexington to Kannapolis and two more times he got rained out. Then he got the ball today and went seven innings, allowing one run on five hits and one walk, striking out four batters, while posting a 10:3 GO/AO ratio. He threw 61 of 93 pitches for strikes.
This first game of a doubleheader was a pitching duel until the relievers entered the game in extra innings. The Power scored once in the top of the eighth, then Beau Sulser allowed the tying run to score before giving up a walk-off grand slam. He failed to record a single out.
Ryan Peurifoy hit two doubles and drove in a run. Rodolfo Castro hit his fourth triple and scored both runs for the Power. Raul Hernandez picked up two hits. Both Deon Stafford and Ben Bengtson left early due to possible concussions (both are going through concussion protocol).
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
In game two, Max Kranick got the start and was on a limited pitch count. He threw two shutout innings, then the first four batters reached against him in the third on just ten pitches and he was done. All four runners scored. Joel Cesar and Elvis Escobar each threw two innings in the 8-7 loss to Kannapolis.
Fabricio Macias went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and three runs scored. Lolo Sanchez was 2-for-3 with a double, RBI and a walk. He scored two runs. Calvin Mitchell, who has been slumping recently, had three hits and a walk in four trips to the plate. Oneil Cruz hit his 20th double.
You can view the season preview here.
Morgantown lost 5-1 to Aberdeen.
Travis Swaggerty accounted for the lone run with his third home run of the season. He also added a single, giving him a .287 average through his first 22 games. Luke Mangieri had a single and a double. Four other players had one single. Grant Koch went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
Zach Spears got the start and lasted more than three innings for the first time as a pro. In his sixth start, Spears went four innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits, with no walks and three strikeouts. He posted a 7:1 GO/AO ratio and threw 71 pitches, with 45 going for strikes. Miguel Hernandez gave up one run over two innings. Will Gardner tossed two shutout frames in his Morgantown debut. Conner Loeprich retired the side in order in the ninth.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bristol lost 6-3 to Bluefield in the first game of a doubleheader.
Oliver Garcia started and allowed five runs (four earned) in four innings. He gave up six hits and a walk, with one strikeout and a 9:0 GO/AO ratio. John O’Reilly handled the final two innings and allowed one run.
The Pirates had four hits and four walks, with two runners thrown out on the bases. Mikell Granberry walked twice and scored a run. Christian Navarro had a single, walk and an RBI. Brendt Citta had a double, walk, RBI and a run scored. Francisco Mepris had a double and a run scored.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
In game two, Roger Santana got the start and allowed two runs in the first inning, then threw one-hit/shutout ball over the next four innings to salvage his start. He had three strikeouts, a 5:3 GO/AO ratio and threw 44 of 78 pitches for strikes. Vince Deyzel lowered his ERA to 1.96 with no hits over two shutout innings, but he did walk four batters. Bristol won 5-2 over Bluefield.
Sherten Apostel (pictured) went 2-for-2 with two walks and hit his third home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth inning. His brother homered earlier in the day, making it the first time they homered on the same day. Mason Martin had a double, walk and two RBIs. Jonah Davis had two hits and a run scored.
You can view the season preview here.
The GCL Pirates lost 9-6 to the Tigers West.
Noe Toribio got the start and lasted just 2.2 innings, giving up four runs on five hits and two walks, with two strikeouts. Andres Arrieta followed and allowed two runs while recording just two outs. Hai-Cheng Gong retired the only two batters he faced. Randy Jimenez got the ball in the fifth and went 3.2 innings, allowing two runs. Luis Nova recorded the final out in the eighth, then gave up a run in the ninth.
Ji-Hwan Bae and Jack Herman led the offense. Bae had three hits, drove in two runs and scored once. He now has a .323 average through his first 19 games, with just four strikeouts in 73 plate appearances. Herman went 3-for-4 with his third double. He also walked, scored two runs, picked up an RBI and had an outfield assist. Kyle Mottice had a nice game as well, going 2-for-2 with two walks, a HBP, two stolen bases and two RBIs.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The DSL Pirates1 won 7-6 over the Indians
Yoelvis Reyes got the start and gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks in 3.2 innings. Enrique Santana stranded two inherited runners in the fourth, then threw a scoreless fifth. Yerry De Los Santos allowed two runs in his 1.2 innings, then Julio Rosario followed with four strikeouts over 2.1 scoreless innings for the win.
Shendrik Apostel had a big day, going 3-for-4 with a walk and his fourth home run. He drove in three runs. Daniel Rivero went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. Norkis Marcos had two hits, a walk and two stolen bases. Randy Romero had three walks and two runs scored. Jommer Hernandez went 1-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. He was tested a lot behind the plate, going 5-for-10 throwing out runners. Rayvi Rodriguez had a single, double, RBI and stolen base.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
The DSL Pirates2 lost 4-3 to the Mariners
Enmanuel De Los Santos got the start and went five innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks, with five strikeouts and a 5:1 GO/AO ratio. Oliver Mateo followed and gave up a run in his two innings, while striking out five batters. Raydel Valette threw a scoreless eighth.
On offense, the Pirates had seven singles and three walks. Edgar Barrios and Eduar Ramirez each had two hits. Barrios scored a run and stole his 11th base. Ramirez drove in a run. He now has a .350 average in his first 18 games as a pro. Matthew Mercedes drew two walks. Tilsaimy Melfor and Yeison Ceballo each had a hit and a run scored.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview for both teams here.
