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 (Clay Holmes, Jacob Stallings, Pablo Reyes, Kevin Newman 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, Nick Burdi 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, Pirates – In Majors
2. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Indianapolis – 1-for-4
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, BB
4. Oneil Cruz, SS, Altoona – 0-for-4
5. Travis Swaggerty, CF, Bradenton – DNP
6. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – DNP
7. Will Craig, 1B, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, RBI, BB
8. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, 3B, 2 RBI, BB
9. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
10. Calvin Mitchell, OF, Bradenton – 1-for-3, 2B, RBI
11. Cody Bolton, RHP, Altoona – DNP
12. Tahnaj Thomas, RHP, Bristol – DNP
13. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
14. Lolo Sanchez, CF, Bradenton – 2-for-4, HR (1), 2 RBI
15. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Bradenton – DNP
16. Michael Burrows, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
17. Jared Oliva, CF, Altoona – 1-for-3, BB, SB
18. Ji-Hwan Bae, SS, Greensboro – 0-for-4
19. Max Kranick, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
20. Luis Escobar, RHP, Indianapolis – 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO
21. Osvaldo Bido, RHP, Bradenton – 3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO
22. Eduardo Vera, RHP, – Released, article here
23. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Altoona – DNP
24. Aaron Shortridge, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
25. Blake Weiman, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP
26. Steven Jennings, RHP, Greensboro – 5.0 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 SO
27. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP
28. Jesus Liranzo, RHP, Altoona – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO
29. Rodolfo Castro, 2B, Bradenton – 1-for-4, BB
30. Cam Vieaux, LHP, Altoona – DNP
Indianapolis lost 11-3 to Toledo. Alex McRae put together a decent start, getting hurt by two homers. He went seven innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks, with five strikeouts. The game got out of hand after he left, as Dovydas Neverauskas allowed seven runs over 1.2 innings. Luis Escobar had to come out for the final out and he gave up two of those runs charged to Neverauskas, plus a run of his own.
Jason Martin drove in two runs with a sixth inning triple, his third three-bagger of the season. He also added a walk. Will Craig had an RBI single and a walk. He has driven in 72 runs this season. Cole Tucker had a single, walk and run scored.
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Altoona won 3-0 over Akron, shutting them out for the second day in a row. Pedro Vasquez got the start and he went seven innings, giving up three hits and a walk, with four strikeouts. He threw 63 of 92 pitches for strikes. Jesus Liranzo and Matt Eckelman had one scoreless inning each to finish off the game. Eckelman recorded his 23rd save.
Brett Pope got the scoring started with a second inning single that brought home Jerrick Suiter. Altoona added insurance runs in the eighth with a throwing error and a wild pitch bringing home both tallies. Jared Oliva didn’t factor into any of the scoring, but he had a single, walk and stole his 35th base. The Curve had five hits in the game, all of them singles.
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Bradenton won 9-0 over Palm Beach. Osvaldo Bido was working on a limited pitch count in his final start of the season and he had three strong innings, giving up a single, no walks and striking out four batters. He hit 97 MPH on this night. Conner Loeprich followed and finished off the game for the win. He was just as strong, giving up two singles, with no walks and six strikeouts.
Dylan Busby (pictured up top calling his shots) had a big night, hitting a three-run homer in the first inning and a two-run homer in the seventh, giving him 22 home runs on the season. Mason Martin hit his 35th home run of the season, 12th with Bradenton. Lolo Sanchez led off the game with a home run, his first with Bradenton. He also had a single and a sacrifice fly. Lucas Tancas had a 4-for-4 night, picking up his 27th and 28th doubles. Calvin Mitchell drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and also hit his 21st double. Rodolfo Castro had a single, walk and two runs scored.
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Greensboro won 3-0 over Rome. Steven Jennings has been pitching well recently and continued that trend on this night. He threw five shutout innings on six hits, with no walks and three strikeouts. Jennings has allowed just one run in his last three starts combined. Cam Alldred allowed three runners in the sixth, but kept them off the board. Cody Smith had four strikeouts over two scoreless innings. Oliver Garcia finished things off in the ninth.
Luke Mangieri went 1-for-3 with a single, but he drove in runs on both of his outs. He started the scoring in the second inning with a ground out and capped off the scoring in the sixth with another ground out. Fabricio Macias hit an RBI single for the other run. He also collected his 23rd double and 17th stolen base. Zack Kone had two hits. Ji-Hwan Bae had a hitless night, but still leads the league in hitting by four points. The second place player is on the injured list and no one else is close, so the batting title is Bae’s to win or lose in the last six games.
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Morgantown won 6-3 over State College in ten innings. Quinn Priester made his Morgantown debut and went four innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on three hits, four walks and four strikeouts. The first inning was rough to watch, as he was all over the place and gave up three runs. He threw two wild pitches and walked three batters. Catcher Elys Escobar had two passed balls, one accounting for the unearned run. Despite that, he still blocked 10+ pitches in the dirt through the first two innings. Priester settled down in the third. While he missed badly on a few pitches, he still retired the side in order and picked up two strikeouts. The fourth was even better with two ground outs and a strikeout.
There weren’t many radar readings for the game, but the announcer said an early fastball was 92 MPH, one late in the second was 90 MPH. Another in the third was “his fastest pitch of the night” at 94 MPH, and then he hit 92 in the fourth. One changeup registered at 86 MPH. He threw 76 pitches (39 strikes) so it’s not a big sample size from the game. The best part of the game, besides the fact that he finished strong, is that there was no hard contact. One hit was an infield single. Another was a soft liner that landed just after the infield grass, going against the shift. The third hit was a grounder up the middle that he almost played. Priester posted a 7:0 GO/AO ratio and all of those outs were soft contact.
Trey McGough and Cameron Junker had outstanding relief outings to help the Black Bears earn the win. McGough tossed four shutout innings on three hits, with no walks and eight strikeouts. Junker retired all six batters he faced, five of them on strikeouts.
Blake Sabol had two hits and two runs scored at the top of the lineup. He hit his sixth double. Brendt Citta and Cory Wood each had two hits and an RBI. Citta collected his eighth double, while Wood also added a walk. Jared Triolo went 0-for-5, but managed to score two runs and pick up an RBI.
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Bristol lost 5-4 to Danville. Luis Ortiz started and there was horrible defense early in this game, which helped lead to three runs in the first inning. Ortiz went four innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits and five walks, with one strikeout. He threw just 34 of 64 pitches for strikes. The bullpen settled things down with two scoreless innings each from Ryan Troutman and Saul de la Cruz. Both of them picked up three strikeouts. Alex Roth allowed an unearned run in the ninth, which proved to be the difference in the game.
Samuel Inoa had the big hit for the Pirates, belting a two-run homer in the fourth inning. Yoyner Fajardo had two singles, a walk and a ninth inning RBI that made it 5-4 and put the winning run on first base. Jesus Valdez followed with a ground out to end the game. Aaron Shackelford hit his 18th double.
With the loss, Bristol moved to third place with just one game to go. The top two teams in each division make the playoffs. The Pirates need to win tomorrow and they will make the playoffs. That’s because the top two teams both have a 1/2 game lead on them and they are playing each other. So the Pirates hold their own fate. Win and they are in.
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The GCL Pirates won 5-3 over the Braves. Mario Garcia got the start and allowed two runs over three innings. He entered the game with a 6.00 ERA in the GCL (He began the season in the DSL) and he ended his season with a 6.00 ERA. Willy Basil tossed a scoreless fourth, then Michael Flynn made his third appearance and went two innings for the first time. He gave up one run (steal of home) on three hits, with no walks and three strikeouts. Orsen Josephina had his best outing to pick up the win, retiring all nine batters he faced, five on strikeouts.
Sammy Siani had a big game, going 3-for-4 with a walk and three runs scored. He collected his third triple and fourth stolen base. Siani is now hitting .246/.375/.315 in 38 games. Jasiah Dixon had a single, walk, RBI and two stolen bases, giving him seven steals. Juan Pie drove in two runs with a single and also walked. Kaleb Foster hit his sixth double and also walked twice.
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The DSL Pirates1 finished their season with a 34-36 record.
The DSL Pirates2 finished their regular season with a 56-16 record. They have a first round bye in the playoffs, so their upcoming schedule is still to be determined.
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