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 – 0-for-5
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 2-for-4, 3B, RBI, SB
4. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – DNP
5. Travis Swaggerty, CF, West Virginia – 1-for-4, RBI
6. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, SB
7. Kevin Newman, SS, Pirates – DNP
8. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 0-for-4
9. Luis Escobar, RHP, Altoona – DNP
10. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
11. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – 1-for-3, 2B, BB, RBI
12. Jordan Luplow, LF, Pirates – DNP
13. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 0-for-4
14. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 2-for-4, 2B, BB
15. Nick Burdi, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
16. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, GCL Pirates – DNP
17. Travis MacGregor, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
18. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
19. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 0-for-3
20. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
21. Jared Oliva, CF, Bradenton – DNP
22. Ji-Hwan Bae, SS, GCL Pirates – 0-for-4, SB, HBP
23. Cody Bolton, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
24. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – 6 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO
25. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – DNP
26. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – DNP
27. Max Kranick, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
28. Sherten Apostel, 3B, Bristol – 1-for-4, HR,RBI
29. Mason Martin, 1B, Bristol – 0-for-3, 2 BB
30. Steven Jennings, RHP, Bristol – 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO
Indianapolis lost 6-5 to Lehigh Valley.
Brandon Waddell got the start and allowed one run in each of the first three innings, before finishing his day off with three scoreless frames. Waddell allowed four hits and three walks, while striking out four batters. He was followed by Clay Holmes in his first appearance since his spot start with the Pirates. Holmes went just one inning, needing 15 pitches to get through his night. Dovydas Neverauskas followed with one run in the eighth and Jesus Liranzo allowed a two-run walk-off homer to former Pirate Danny Ortiz.
Kevin Kramer and Jose Osuna each doubled and drove in two runs. It was the 30th double for Kramer and 26th for Osuna. Both players also singled and scored a run, while Kramer stole his 12th base. Pablo Reyes had two hits and scored a run. He has a .301 average in 97 games. Max Moroff walked three times and scored a run.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona lost 7-6 to New Hampshire.
Eduardo Vera got the start and he’s been good for two runs allowed in almost every start since June, so by his standards, this was an off night. He went six innings, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks, with two strikeouts. Yeudy Garcia allowed three runs (two earned) in the eighth and Tate Scioneaux served up a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth.
Tyler Gaffney had the big hit of the game for the Curve, giving them a 3-0 lead in the second inning on his third homer. Jin-De Jhang and Bryan Reynolds each doubled and drove home a run. Cole Tucker had a single, his sixth triple, his 30th stolen base and an RBI. Will Craig hit his 26th double. He also had a single and a walk.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 5-0 to Clearwater.
Pedro Vasquez got the start and went five innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits, with no walks and one strikeout. Most of the damage against him was done by Pedro Florimon, who was there on a rehab assignment. He hit a single, double and triple off of Vasquez in three at-bats. Blake Cederlind, Blake Weiman and Adam Oller each tossed scoreless innings.
This was the tenth straight loss for the Marauders (a new franchise record) and they weren’t doing well before this streak either. They had eight singles and two walks, but they went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Brett Pope made three extra outs with a caught stealing and he grounded into two double plays. Albert Baur and Hunter Owen each had two hits. Owen also drew a walk.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia won 3-2 over Columbia.
Oddy Nunez got the start and allowed two runs over seven innings on seven hits and a walk. He had two strikeouts, a 9:4 GO/AO ratio and he threw 59 of 83 pitches for strikes. Elvis Escobar followed with a scoreless inning. He has a 2.57 ERA in 21 innings over 12 appearances. John Pomeroy handled the ninth for his first save. He was hitting 97 MPH in his last appearance.
Travis Swaggerty played his second game with the Power and picked up his first RBI. Dylan Busby had a triple and a run scored. Rodolfo Castro had a double, RBI and run scored. Luke Mangieri hit a double. Raul Hernandez picked up an RBI. Connor Kaiser had two singles.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Morgantown lost 8-4 to Batavia.
Mike LoPresti got the start and had a tough outing, giving up five runs on seven hits in just 1.2 innings. Argenis Romano followed with two runs in two innings, while striking out five batters. Cody Smith was next and he threw 2.1 scoreless while striking out five batters. Miguel Hernandez was next and he gave up one run in two innings.
Grant Koch had two singles, two walks and an RBI. Brett Kinneman hit his 12th double and drove in two runs. Ben Bengtson had a single and a sacrifice fly. Edison Lantigua had two hits. Daniel Amaral stole his 19th base, while going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk. Fabricio Macias had a single and a walk.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bristol won 8-4 over Burlington.
Steven Jennings got the start and it was his best one yet. After giving up a total of 13 runs over 17.1 innings in his last three starts, he allowed just one unearned run in seven innings tonight and he struck out seven batters. He allowed five hits and a walk, while throwing 61 of 85 pitches for strikes. The only odd part of his start was a 2:8 GO/AO ratio, which is as bad as you will see, but obviously didn’t keep him from a brilliant performance. Allen Montgomery ran into trouble in the ninth, giving up four runs before Joe Jacques put out the fire.
Bristol put on a power display in this one. Jonah Davis hit two homers and drove in four runs. He now has 11 homers on the season, which is more than twice as many as any other 2018 Pirates draft pick. Mikell Granberry hit a two-run homer, his fifth of the season. Sherten Apostel hit a solo shot, his seventh of the season. Christian Navarro had a double, walk and two runs scored. The opposing relief pitcher who followed the starter, threw 6.1 no-hit innings after Bristol put up eight runs already.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
Prior to the first game, Bristol finished off a game from last month that they were losing 10-8 with two outs in the top of the tenth. Vince Deyzel recorded the final out of the top of the inning, then Bristol scored a run and had the bases loaded with no outs. Mason Martin grounded into a double play and Dean Lockery grounded out to give them the tough 10-9 loss.
Here’s the boxscore. I didn’t include these stats up in the top 30 because they were already official stats before today, since they already played at least five innings.
You can view the season preview here.
The GCL Pirates won 11-10 over the Tigers East
Noe Toribio got the start and he was roughed up, allowing five runs in two innings. Lizardy Dicent was next and he too had some trouble, giving up four runs in 2.2 innings. Kleiner Machado went 2.1 innings and the only run he allowed was unearned. Yerry De Los Santos threw two shutout frames and Juan Henriquez handled the top of the tenth for the win.
This game included a little beanball war at the beginning, as Toribio injured their cleanup hitter in the first inning, then the Tigers came back and drilled Ji-Hwan Bae leading off the bottom of the first. The Pirates got the last laugh though, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game, then winning on a fielding error in the tenth.
Fernando Villegas had easily his best day as a pro. He drove in six runs, two more RBIs than he had prior to this game. He had four hits, including his second triple of the season. Pat Dorrian had three hits, scored three runs and drove in a pair. His 31 RBIs leads the Pirates. Bae scored two runs and stole his ninth base.
Jack Herman continued his push for a batting crown at 18 years old. He went 2-for-4 with a walk, RBI and three runs scored. He now has a .371 average with eight games left. That’s 24 points above second place. A player with a .353 average now appears in second, but he won’t have the plate appearances to qualify for the league lead after being promoted two weeks ago.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The DSL Pirates1 lost 10-8 to the Red Sox1.
The Pirates had an 8-1 lead in this game through the first 5 1/2 innings. Jose Maldonado started and gave up one run in four innings before things went bad for the bullpen. Jesus Valles gave up three runs in the sixth inning, then Julio Rosario allowed five runs in the seventh. Joelvis Del Rosario served up the final run in the eighth.
Juan Pie didn’t start this game, but he ended up walking in all three plate appearances and scoring a run. Randy Romero drove in three runs with a bases loaded triple. Yoyner Fajardo also drove in three runs. He hit his 12th double, walked twice and scored two runs. Carlos Arroyo had two hits, two runs scored, a walk and his 13th stolen base. Rayvi Rodriguez had two hits and two runs scored. Daniel Rivero stole his tenth base.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
The DSL Pirates2 lost 9-2 to the Tigers2.
Starter Angel Suero got knocked out in the first inning due to a high pitch count, so Yeison Santos stepped in and pitched a gem. He went 5.1 innings in relief, allowing an unearned run on three hits, with no walks and six strikeouts. Santos now has a 1.13 ERA and has given up one run in his last 28.2 innings. Oliver Mateo allowed two runs in his only inning. Eddy Vargas allowed the final four runs.
Angel Basabe provided the offense on a slow day, with a single, his ninth double and his seventh stolen base. He also walked and scored a run. Edgar Barrios picked up his 14th stolen base. Catcher Danny Angulo had a single, walk and he stole home plate.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview for both teams here.
