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, 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 updated 2018 Mid-Season Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Mitch Keller, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
2. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 3-for-5, RBI
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 1-for-3, 2 BB
4. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – DNP
5. Travis Swaggerty, CF, Morgantown – 0-for-4
6. Shane Baz, RHP, Bristol – DNP
7. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 1-for-5, 2B
8. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 5-for-5, 2 2B, 3B, HR, 3 RBI
9. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 0-for-2
10. Luis Escobar, RHP, Altoona – DNP
11. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
12. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – 1-for-4, BB
13. Jordan Luplow, LF, Pirates – In Majors
14. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 0-for-5
15. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 3-for-5, 2B, 3B, 2 RBI
16. Nick Burdi, RHP, Altoona – DNP
17. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, GCL Pirates – DNP
18. Travis MacGregor, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
19. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
20. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 1-for-3
21. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
22. Jared Oliva, CF, Bradenton – 1-for-2, HBP
23. Ji-Hwan Bae, SS, GCL Pirates – 1-for-5
24. Cody Bolton, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
25. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP
26. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – DNP
27. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 1-for-5
28. Max Kranick, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
29. Sherten Apostel, 3B, Bristol – DNP
30. Mason Martin, 1B, Bristol – 1-for-4, HR, RBI, BB
Indianapolis won 12-5 over Lehigh Valley
Kevin Newman and Jacob Stallings aren’t the most likely players to hit for the cycle. Newman rarely hits homers, or triples for that matter. Stallings is a catcher, so triples don’t happen often. They both ended up with a cycle on the same day tonight, which amazingly already happened in the minors this year back in April. I wouldn’t put stock in this being just the second time teammates have hit cycles in the same day, mostly because a large portion of minor league stats over the years are unknown, but it’s obviously EXTREMELY rare.
Newman added a second double, giving him 29 on the year. Both Newman and Stallings drove in three runs and scored twice. Wyatt Mathisen, Eric Wood and Max Moroff each drove in a pair of runs. Wood homered for the eighth time, which is more than Newman and Stallings combined this season.
Tyler Eppler got the start and came out strong in this game, striking out five batters in the first three innings and throwing shutout ball through six frames. He didn’t end well though, finishing with four runs on four hits and two walks, with five strikeouts in 6.1 innings. Tanner Anderson allowed one run in 1.2 innings. Steven Brault followed with his Indianapolis debut and threw scoreless ball in the ninth, working around two hits and a walk, while striking out two batters.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona won 5-1 over Trenton.
Scooter Hightower got the start, but didn’t last long in this game. He was ejected in the second inning by the home plate umpire. It reportedly happened when a Trenton batter called time while Hightower was in his windup and he threw the ball anyway, nearly beaning the hitter. Logan Sendelbach took over in the second and had an outstanding outing. He gave up just a single and a walk in 4.1 shutout innings. Geoff Hartlieb pitched after a weather delay and allowed one run in two innings. Yeudy Garcia handled the ninth.
Will Craig missed the cycle by a homer, hitting his 23rd double and third triple. He drove in two runs to give him 91 RBIs on the season. Ke’Bryan Hayes had three singles, two runs scored and an RBI. Cole Tucker had a single, two walks and a run scored. Jin-De Jhang returned to Altoona today and drove in a pair of runs.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 4-0 to Charlotte.
Pedro Vasquez got his first start since July 15th, when a right forearm strain landed him on the Altoona disabled list. Now back in Bradenton, he gave up two runs on four hits and two walks in 3.1 innings. Adam Oller took over in the fourth and allowed one run over two innings. Jordan Jess gave up a run in his 1.2 innings, then Deivy Mendez retired the side in order in the eighth.
The Marauders were facing Brendan McKay, the fourth overall pick from last year, who also has a .741 OPS as a 1B/DH when he isn’t pitching. He shut them down on offense for five innings, then two relievers combined to allow one runner in four innings. Jared Oliva had a single and a HBP. He also left early, which could be related to the HBP two innings earlier. Adrian Valerio and Bligh Madris each had singles. John Bormann drew the only walk.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia lost 8-1 to Greensboro.
Sergio Cubilete got the start and went 4.2 innings, getting roughed up in the process. He allowed eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. Ike Schlabach recorded the final out of the fifth. The game was called in the middle of the sixth due to rain.
Deon Stafford had some last minute heroics to prevent the shutout, homering just before the game was stopped. It was his seventh home run of the season. The Power had four other hits in the game (all singles) and Stafford drew the only walk.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Morgantown lost 1-0 to Batavia.
Osvaldo Bido got the start and went five innings, allowing one run on four hits and a walk, with nine strikeouts, which is a new career high. He threw 59 of 84 pitches for strikes and had a 3:1 GO/AO ratio. John Pomeroy tossed a scoreless sixth, with two walks and a strikeout. Conner Loeprich followed with two shutout innings, then Cam Alldred, who was named to the NYPL All-Star team on Tuesday, retired the side in the ninth while striking out two batters.
The Black Bears were dominated on offense. They collected singles from Daniel Amaral, Mike Gretler and Zack Kone and that’s it. Amaral stole his 17th base and was the only runner in scoring position.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bristol lost 12-5 to Johnson City.
Roger Santana got the start and went 5.2 innings, allowing four earned runs on eight hits and one walk, with seven strikeouts. It’s the fourth time in his career that he has struck out a high of seven batters, with three of those games coming in the last five weeks. Jacob Webb followed and allowed three runs (two earned) on four hits and three strikeouts in 1.1 innings. Vince Deyzel has been strong so far this season, but not tonight. He allowed three runs in 1.1 innings. Austin Shields recorded the final two outs.
On offense, Mason Martin hit his eighth home run, a solo shot in the first inning. He went 1-for-4 with a walk. Zac Susi, who was demoted from Morgantown to get more playing time, went 2-for-3 and scored two runs. Dean Lockery and Francisco Mepris had RBI singles. Mepris stole his tenth base.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The GCL Pirates lost 6-2 to the Tigers East.
Brad Case started and put together five strong innings, allowing one run while striking out seven batters, which tied his high set in his last outing. Juan Henriquez tossed a scoreless sixth, then Luis Arrieta gave up four runs in the seventh inning (boxscore currently says Andres Arrieta but I sent them a note to fix it). Wilmer Contreras allowed a run over the final 1.2 innings.
On offense, Steven Kraft reached all four times, with a single, double, walk and hit-by-pitch. Kyle Mottice had a single, double, walk and his 13th stolen base. Pat Dorrian drove in his 24th run. Ryan Haug returned from concussions to get plunked both time he batted today. He was fine after the game and only left early because he was scheduled for five innings.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The DSL Pirates1 lost 4-2 to the Dodgers Guerrero.
The good news on offense was that top prospect Juan Pie had two hits. The bad news is that the Pirates1 had a total of two hits in the game. They scored their first run on a Norkis Marcos walk, followed by his ninth steal and two ground outs. Their second run came in the seventh inning on a hit batter (Shendrik Apostel), followed by a walk, passed ball and wild pitch. Yoyner Fajardo stole his 11th base, Randy Romero stole his ninth and Germin Lopez picked up his 12th steal.
Valentin Linarez allowed two runs and both were unearned during his five innings of work. Yerry De Los Santos allowed two runs in the sixth, with one being earned. Joelvis Del Rosario had 1.1 shutout frames and Miguel Diaz retired the side in order in the ninth.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
The DSL Pirates2 lost 12-1 to the Mariners.
Estalin Ortiz got the start and went 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks, with four strikeouts. Eddy Vargas allowed five runs while recording just two outs, though three of those runs were unearned. Christian Charle allowed an unearned run in his 1.1 innings. The flamethrower Oliver Mateo had two walks and two strikeouts in his one inning. In his 19.2 innings, he has 29 walks and 35 strikeouts. Wander Romero allowed two runs in the ninth, one of them earned.
Ronaldo Paulino smacked a solo homer for the only run. It was his fifth homer of the season and he also added a single. Eduar Ramirez hit his sixth double. Fleury Nova had a single and a walk. Angel Basabe went 1-for-4 with a single.
This loss officially eliminated the Pirates2 from the playoffs.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview for both teams here.
