A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. Note that this list doesn’t include players currently in the majors. If a player is in the majors, he will be removed, 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 (Nick Kingham, Jacob Taylor), 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 30 active prospects on the list. Rankings are from the mid-season update, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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2. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List
3. Austin Meadows, CF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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4. Josh Bell, 1B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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5. Alen Hanson, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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6. Reese McGuire, C, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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7. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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8. Harold Ramirez, OF, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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9. Cole Tucker, SS, West Virginia – Disabled List
10. Kevin Newman, SS, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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11. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Morgantown -[insert_php]
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12. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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13. Clay Holmes, RHP, Bradenton – Disabled List
14. Stephen Tarpley, LHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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15. Max Moroff, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php]
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16. Barrett Barnes, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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17. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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18. Trey Supak, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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19. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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20. Adam Frazier, SS, Altoona -[insert_php]
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21. Willy Garcia, OF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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22. Steven Brault, LHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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23. Kevin Kramer, 2B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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24. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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25. Adrian Valerio, SS, GCL -[insert_php]
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26. Connor Joe, 1B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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27. John Holdzkom, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List
28. Jordan Luplow, 3B, West Virginia – Disabled List
29. Casey Hughston, OF, Morgantown -[insert_php]
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30. Billy Roth, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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Vance Worley is still at Indianapolis in case the Pirates need him as a starter. On Saturday, he pitched well enough that he could be considered for that role if it comes up this month. He pounded the bottom half of the strike zone, throwing eight innings for the second straight start. Given an early lead, Worley looked like he was willing to let his defense do the work, but he still picked up six strikeouts. He gave up two runs on seven hits, one being a solo homer. Worley didn’t walk anyone, throwing 67 of his 96 pitches for strikes. He recorded eight ground ball outs and that was with a couple misplays in the infield, including Josh Bell’s second error since being promoted to Indianapolis.
Tony Sanchez had a big game at the plate, driving in four runs with three hits, including his 20th double. Travis Ishikawa played his first rehab game and collected two doubles. Gorkys Hernandez had two hits, a walk and drove in three runs. Alen Hanson had two hits, though neither left the infield. Josh Bell had a single, two walks and scored two runs. He has reached base in 19 straight games.
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Zack Dodson may have made his last start in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system on Saturday. If he did, he made it count. Dodson was a fourth round pick in 2009, signed to an over-slot deal out of high school. He hits minor league free agency once the season is over, so he could choose to sign elsewhere. It’s unknown how the playoff rotation will go at this point, and just how long Altoona will even last, but there is still a chance he makes 1-2 postseason starts. Either way, he finished out the regular season with seven shutout innings, giving up four singles, no walks, and he struck out seven batters, one short of his season-high. In his last five starts, he has picked up at least six strikeouts in each game.
Dodson threw 162 innings this season, which will lead the entire Pirates’ minor league system. He finished with a 3.67 ERA, but he didn’t finish with a win in this game because John Kuchno came in and allowed three runs to put the Curve behind in the eighth. They couldn’t do anything in the ninth and they took the 3-2 loss.
The Curve scored solo runs in the fifth and the sixth, in what was an otherwise quiet game on offense. In the fifth, Austin Meadows hit a triple, which was immediately followed by a double from Barrett Barnes. In the sixth, Max Moroff and Jose Osuna hit back-to-back doubles. For Moroff, it was his 27th double of the season. Altoona’s only other hit was Adam Frazier’s 20th double in the eighth inning. Frazier has a .322 average now and probably wrapped up the batting title. He would need to go 0-for-6 to lose the lead and there are only two games left, with a possibility he doesn’t play one so he can get a break in before the playoffs. Altoona still needs to clinch the playoffs though, as a loss in this game left the magic number at one over Richmond.
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Bradenton won 4-1 on Saturday behind some strong pitching from Felipe Gonzalez, who just like Dodson, could be making his last start in the organization due to impending minor league free agency at the end of the season. Gonzalez allowed one run over 6.2 innings, giving him a 3.28 ERA in 107 innings. Junior Lopez and Dovydas Neverauskas combined for 2.1 scoreless frames to close it out.
Harold Ramirez had two hits in this game, as he makes a last ditch effort for a batting title the hard way. He is going to fall short in plate appearances to qualify for the leaders, so he will get a little help from mathematics. Ramirez is 29 plate appearances short going into the last day and his average is 23 points higher than the league leader. By adding an 0-for-29 to his current stats, Ramirez would have a .307 average. What that means is if he can get three hits tomorrow(assuming the other player doesn’t play or stays at .314) Ramirez would win the title. He could also win with two hits and a couple plate appearances that don’t count in his at-bats, such as a walk, HBP or a sacrifice.
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Stephen Tarpley had what would be considered a very bad start for him. He gave up three earned runs over five innings, surrendering nine base hits. It’s just the fourth time all season that he has given up three or more earned runs in a game. Tarpley did a few things right in the game despite the hits and runs. He had an 8:3 GO/AO ratio and he didn’t walk any batters. A quick look at his hits allowed shows that all nine were singles, but they were being hit pretty well, with seven called line drives in the play-by-play. Tarpley finishes the season with a 2.48 ERA in 116 innings, which will probably rank him fifth in the league when the season ends on Monday. He went at least five innings in 19 of his 20 starts.
Jerrick Suiter scored five runs over his previous two games, but did that while only collecting one hit. On Saturday, he collected three hits and all of them were doubles. He scored twice and drove in three runs. He has a .296 average and 19 doubles. Pablo Reyes collected his 23rd double. Tito Polo stole his 46th base, which leads all Pirates’ minor league players. Kevin Kramer was at shortstop again for Kevin Newman and he went 1-for-4, with a stolen base and a run scored.
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Morgantown had 14 hits and Brandon Waddell pitched well in a 10-3 victory. Waddell allowed one run over five innings, finishing on a high note after a couple bad outings. He ends his abbreviated season with a 5.75 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 20.1 innings over six starts. Morgantown is tied for the wild card lead with two games to go. There are also two other teams behind them that still have a chance to win, so this was a big victory.
Danny Arribas had the big game on offense, continuing his recent hot streak. He went 2-for-3, walked twice and drove in three runs. He hit a solo shot in the third inning, his third homer of the season. Arribas has a 12-game hit streak.
Mitchell Tolman had three hits and scored three runs. He hit his 15th double and drove in his 21st run. Christian Kelley and Ty Moore each had two hits, scored twice and drove in a run. Logan Hill, who has been in a slump the last three weeks, went 1-for-3 and drove in two runs.
Ke’Bryan Hayes had one of his toughest games as a pro, possibly the worst. He went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and committed his first error with Morgantown. Carlos Munoz struck out for the sixth straight game, doubling any streak he had before in his five-year career. He hit .396 in July when he won the Appalachian League Player of the Month, but over the last month, he has a .190 average.
The Bristol Pirates have completed their season. The season recap will be posted soon.
The GCL Pirates have completed their season. Season recap and top ten prospect list can be found here.
The DSL Pirates have completed their season. You can read our full season recap here, with reports on 41 different players. There is also a list of 12 players to watch, which can be found here.