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 (Kevin Newman, Nick Burdi and Bryan Reynolds), 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 (Travis MacGregor and Stephen Alemais), 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 2019 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, Indianapolis – DNP
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, RBI
4. Oneil Cruz, SS, Bradenton – DNP
5. Travis Swaggerty, CF, Bradenton – 2-for-4, BB, SB
6. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 1-for-4
7. Will Craig, 1B, Indianapolis – 0-for-4
8. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, RBI
9. JT Brubaker, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
10. Calvin Mitchell, OF, Bradenton – 2-for-5, 2B, HR (9), 3 RBI
11. Cody Bolton, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
12. Tahnaj Thomas, RHP, Bristol – DNP
13. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
14. Lolo Sanchez, CF, Greensboro – DNP
15. Pablo Reyes, Util, Indianapolis – DNP
16. Clay Holmes, RHP, Pirates – In Majors
17. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Greensboro – DNP
18. Michael Burrows, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
19. Jared Oliva, CF, Altoona – 0-for-3, 3 K
20. Ji-Hwan Bae, SS, Greensboro – DNP
21. Max Kranick, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
22. Luis Escobar, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
23. Osvaldo Bido, RHP, Greensboro – DNP
24. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Indianapolis – 5.1 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO
25. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Altoona – DNP
26. Aaron Shortridge, RHP, Bradenton – 5.0 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO
27. Blake Weiman, LHP, Indianapolis – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 SO
28. Steven Jennings, RHP, Greensboro – DNP
29. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – DNP
30. Jesus Liranzo, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
Indianapolis lost 6-3 to Buffalo. Eduardo Vera got the start and went 5.1 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits. He had no walks and five strikeouts, while throwing 58 of 81 pitches for strikes. Dovydas Neverauskas followed and allowed two hits and a walk, allowing one run charged to him and an inherited run charged to Vera. Blake Weiman made his Triple-A debut and had one walk and two strikeouts in a scoreless inning. Sean Keselica finished things off with a scoreless eighth.
The offense put together six hits and two walks, while also striking out 12 times. Cole Tucker and Jason Martin each drove in a run. Darnell Sweeney had two hits and a run scored. JB Shuck had a triple and run scored. He also picked up an outfield assist.
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Altoona won 3-1 over Harrisburg. James Marvel had a great start, going 7.2 innings, with one run on four hits. He had no walks and nine strikeouts. Marvel threw 67 of 98 pitches for strikes and he had a 9:3 GO/AO ratio. He now has a 3.36 ERA, 71 strikeouts and a 1.14 WHIP in 85.2 innings. Blake Cederlind struck out the final batter of the eighth, then Matt Eckelman picked up his tenth save with a scoreless ninth.
Hunter Owen and Bligh Madris each collected their 15th double of the season. Owen also had a single, run scored and an RBI. Mitchell Tolman had three hits and scored two runs. Robbie Glendinning had two hits and drove in two runs. He now has a .998 OPS in 13 games with Altoona, six points higher than his league leading number with Bradenton.
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Bradenton lost 12-7 to Clearwater. Aaron Shortridge was named Florida State League Pitcher of the Week for his seven shutout inning performance last week. He may have had his worst career start tonight. Shortridge allowed seven runs on eight hits and two walks over five innings. That raised his ERA from 3.38 to 3.95 in one night. Gavin Wallace got the tough luck loss when an error caused two unearned runs. He allowed one earned run in his three innings. His season ERA has dropped from 8.64 to 4.82 in the last month. Logan Stoelke allowed two runs in the ninth.
Calvin Mitchell (pictured above) had himself a nice day at the plate, collecting his 14th double and his ninth home run. He scored twice and drove in three runs. Mitchell is hitting .280/.316/.457 this season. Travis Swaggerty had two singles, a walk, his 11th stolen base and two runs scored. Chris Sharpe collected his 17th double and stole his 15th base. Deon Stafford hit his fifth home run of the season. He also had a single, walk, two runs scored and two RBIs.
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Greensboro is on their All-Star break until Thursday.
Here’s the boxscore.
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Morgantown lost 7-4 to Mahoning Valley. Will Kobos got the start and was wild, which led to five runs (four earned) on three hits and four walks, in 2.1 innings. Denny Roman followed and gave up two runs in 2.2 innings (more on this below). Xavier Concepcion, who hits triple digits, tossed two scoreless innings on one hit and one walk, needing just 25 pitches to get through his night. That was after picking up just two outs on 23 pitches (ten strikes) in his debut. Eighth round pick Austin Roberts made his pro debut and recorded two strikeouts in his inning of work. Alec Rennard handled the ninth and put up the exact same pitching line as Roberts, right down to the eight pitches/seven strikes.
Some draft picks debuted tonight. Second round pick (72nd overall) Jared Triolo played shortstop in his debut. He was a third baseman in college. He went 0-for-4 at the plate. Seventh round pick Blake Sabol played center field and went 0-for-2 with two walks. He badly misplayed a ball into a triple, one that clanked off his glove. It was originally scored correctly as an error, but the official scorer later changed it, which added an earned run to the total for Denny Roman. There was no need to change it. Catcher Kyle Wilkie (13th round) went 1-for-4 in his debut. Juan Pie is now hitting .357 after collecting a single and his third double. Of note, Nick Patten absolutely destroyed a ball that curved foul and landed a good 100+ feet past the left field fence
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Bristol lost 1-0 to Burlington. One day after giving up 15 runs, the pitching was strong for the Pirates. It was led by starter Luis Ortiz in his pro debut. The 20-year-old right-hander gave up just two hits and a walk over five shutout innings. He threw 47 of 70 pitches for strikes, picking up four strikeouts, while posting a 6:2 GO/AO ratio. Luis Arrieta took the loss due to wildness, walking four batters in his 2.2 frames. Yordi Rosario, who came over in the Ivan Nova deal, retired all four batters he faced, two on strikeouts.
The offense was very bad for a second straight night. They had three hits and five walks, while going 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Aaron Shackelford (14th round) debuted with a double. Eli Wilson (16th round) had a single in four trips to the plate. Josh Bissonette (31st round) went 0-for-3. All three draft picks were making their pro debuts. Jean Eusebio and Matt Morrow each had two walks.
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The DSL Pirates1 lost 5-4 to the Dodgers. Andy Maldonado started and allowed two runs over four innings. His career is off to a slow start, now sporting a 14.09 ERA, so this was a nice step in the right direction. Yeison Santos followed with three runs on eight hits in three innings. He had no walks and five strikeouts. Lefty Raul Mora finished things off with two shutout innings and five strikeouts.
Top prospect Sergio Campana ($500,000) hit his first pro triple on Wednesday. He also walked, scored a run and picked up an RBI. Osvaldo Gavilan ($700,000) went 0-for-5 with an RBI. He’s hitting .196/.237/.357 in 13 games. Luis Tello had three hits and a run scored. Franrielis Bastardo hit his third double and drove in a run. Yeison Ceballo also picked up an RBI.
The DSL Pirates2 moved to 14-2 on the season with a 13-3 win. Shortstop Dariel Lopez ($400,000) have five singles and drove in four runs. That raised the 17-year-old to a .400 average through 12 games. Alexander Mojica ($350,000) went 2-for-4 with two walks, an RBI and three runs scored. He collected his sixth double. He has an 1.150 OPS through 14 games. Mojica doesn’t turn 17 years old until August.
Jauri Custodio had three singles and a run scored. Bryan Mateo had a single, double, two walks and two RBIs. Jommer Hernandez drove in two runs. Rayber Romero had a double and his seventh stolen base. Randy Romero was a late defensive replacement, but still managed to collect his second triple, score two runs and pick up an outfield assist.
Francisco Hodge started and allowed two runs, though they were both unearned, keeping his ERA at 0.00 through 16.1 innings. Luis Gonzalez gave up an unearned run during his two innings of work. Wilbur Martinez and Joel Blanco each tossed a scoreless frame.
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