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, Pirates – In Majors
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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The last start for Tyler Glasnow was a disaster, so there was nowhere to go but up from that game. He walked five, struck out one and gave up a double off the center field wall, before being removed due to his pitch count. This game had a much better start, getting a slow grounder back to him on 1-2 pitch, then another slow grounder to shortstop on the next pitch, so he had two outs on five pitches. He got a third grounder just two pitches later to get out of the frame in a very quick manner.
Glasnow started the second with a swinging strikeout. That was followed by a hard line drive right to Gorkys Hernandez in center field. The next pitch could have been an out, but Dan Gamache dropped a foul ball. Glasnow still got the out on a strikeout, with the batter swinging through a big curve. He hit 96 mph this frame and needed just 12 pitches, giving him two efficient innings.
The third inning started with a slow grounder to second base. He then struck out the pitcher on a curve, then gave up a solo homer to the ninth place hitter on the next pitch. Glasnow got a two-pitch grounder to second base to end the inning. He was up to 33 pitches through three innings, which is as efficient as he’s been since joining Indianapolis.
The fourth started with a great play by Alen Hanson to get the out on a slow grounder up the middle. Glasnow got another swinging strikeout, this time on a high fastball. He couldn’t get a 1-2-3 inning though, giving up a line drive into the left field corner for a double. After a stolen base, Glasnow got another slow grounder for the third out. He threw 11 pitches in this inning.
The first pitch of the fifth was lined into center field for a base hit. Glasnow got another strikeout swinging on a curve. The pitcher was up next and he dropped down a sacrifice bunt. With two out, the next batter hit a hard grounder up the middle, but second baseman Alen Hanson was positioned right there for the easy out. This inning was just ten pitches, giving him 54 through five, with 41 going for strikes.
The sixth started with his sixth strikeout and again this one was on the curve, using it for the last two pitches, both swinging strikes. He made it seven strikeouts, this time throwing three straight curves with two strikes. He hung the first two(one ball, one foul), then dropped a nice one in for the out. He couldn’t get through the inning clean though, giving up another double. Glasnow kept Louisville off the board, getting a long fly to center for the final out. He threw 14 pitches in the frame.
The seventh began with a swinging strikeout on a high fastball, clocked at 96 mph. Glasnow got a broken bat grounder to second base for the second out. He pitched a great game, but had trouble with two outs obviously. That didn’t change in the seventh with a soft liner into left field for a single. Once he had someone on base though, he quickly worked around it, this time getting a grounder to Hanson for the third out. Glasnow ended the inning with 85 pitches.
He came out for the eighth and gave up a sharp single up the middle to start the inning. One pitch later, he got a slow grounder to shortstop that only got an out at second base. That ended Glasnow’s outing. He went 7.1 innings, giving up six hits, no walks and struck out eight batters. He had a 12:1 GO/AO ratio, which is outstanding considering he came into the game with one of the worst ground ball rates in the system. He did give up some hard hits, including three extra-base hits, but this was an outstanding outing with no sign of any control issues at any point.
Josh Bell only batted once in this game, but was able to continue his on-base streak, reaching 20 games with a two-run triple in the ninth inning. Travis Ishikawa started the game at first base and went 0-for-3 in his second rehab start. Bell replaced him in the field to start the seventh inning. Glasnow drove in two runs with a double in the second inning. Gustavo Nunez had three singles and scored three runs. Gorkys Hernandez had two hits and drove in a run.
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Altoona won 4-1 to win the wild card in their division. Austin Meadows hit a double, triple and walked. He has three triples in five games with Altoona. For the second game in a row, Barrett Barnes followed a Meadows triple, with an RBI double. Adam Frazier went 1-for-4 with a walk and a solo homer. He has a .321 average now and should win the Eastern League batting title. He has lead big enough that he can go 0-for-5 tomorrow before losing the lead. With Altoona winning the wild card, Frazier could finally get a day off to get some rest before the playoffs. Max Moroff drove in two runs with his 28th double.
Jason Creasy finished with a great start, allowing one run over six innings. It’s been a tough season and very strange for him. Last year, his BB/9 rate was 1.3, which was the best among all starters in the Pirates’ system. With two walks tonight, he finished with 52 free passes on the season, which leads the system. Somehow, he went from the best control last year, to having poor control this season. Creasy finished the year with a 4.41 ERA in 147 innings.
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Bradenton won their season finale by a 5-2 score. Frank Duncan started and gave up two runs over six innings, picking up six strikeouts and seven ground ball outs. He finished the season with 152 innings pitched, second in the FSL. His 111 strikeouts places him fourth in the league and he walked just 19 batters all season. Duncan did better across the board in the second half of the season, so while the overall stats aren’t great is some areas, he did show some improvements. His 1.95 GO/AO ratio is one of the best in the system, including starters and relievers. In the second half, he had a 2.25 GO/AO ratio. Those improvements, along with the high ground ball rate can be attributed to a switch he made mid-season. He started throwing his sinker more often and started throwing a blend of his slider and curve, but today was an interesting development with that second switch.
I talked to Duncan after the start and he said that he used his slider for the first time since the switch back in July. He threw about 85 pitches in this game and was using his sinker about 80% of the time. He used his change about ten times and his slider was used 8-10 times. The interesting part about that last fact is that all six of his strikeouts came on the slider, so it was obviously effective. The Pirates don’t believe it will work at a higher levels though, so Duncan will go to the Instructional league and concentrate more on his slider/curve combo pitch(he didn’t call it a slurve, so I won’t either).
The Marauders sent out the Sunday lineup, which was vastly different from the prospect-laden lineup we saw early in the year. Harold Ramirez didn’t play, taking away his slim chance at winning the FSL batting title. He needed a three-hit game, or two hits and a couple plate appearances that didn’t count as at-bats, such as two walks. Junior Sosa had his second big game this week, in what also might be his last game in the system since he is a minor league free agent. Sosa had a double and triple, driving in three runs. His first season was back in 2008 in the VSL. Jin-De Jhang had a single and RBI, finishing his season with a .292 average.
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Yeudy Garcia gave up two runs over four innings in his final season start and it was good enough to win his the South Atlantic League ERA title. He had a no-hitter going through three innings, then gave up three hits and a walk, which brought in two runs. His 2.10 ERA is three points lower than the second place pitcher, who is done for the season. No one else is close enough to catch Garcia on the final day. He finished with 112 strikeouts, which puts him fourth in the league and one ahead of Austin Coley for the team lead.
Kevin Newman returned to the lineup after missing 2 1/2 games due to a hit-by-pitch. He went 2-for-6 with a double, giving him a .301 average through 22 games with West Virginia. Kevin Kramer returned to second base after playing shortstop the last two days. He went 3-for-5, raising his average 44 points. Michael Suchy, Jerrick Suiter and Elvis Escobar each had two hits. Suiter has a .299 average, while Escobar is just three points behind him. Escobar collected his 27th double and drove in three runs. Suchy hit his 32nd double. Pablo Reyes hit his 12th homer and drove in three runs. He has a six-game hit streak and he’s driven in 13 runs over his last ten games.
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Luis Escobar made his second start for Morgantown after coming up from the GCL. He is a raw pitcher with huge upside, so the extra work at a higher level is probably setting him up for an assignment to West Virginia next season. He gets to do road trips, which are much different from the DSL/GCL, where everything on the road is a bus trip there, followed by a bus trip back to the academy right after the game. It also gives him a chance to play night games and in front of big crowds.
On Sunday, Escobar was his own worst enemy in the first inning. He gave up a single that hit off his glove and went into center field. The runner stole second, then went to third and scored on two consecutive wild pitches. In the second inning, he gave up a legit run, with two hard hit doubles back-to-back. Escobar picked up two strikeouts and a grounder back to him that he caught this time for the final out.
In the third, he walked the lead-off batter, then picked him off. The other two batters hit two harmless pop-ups. He came out for the fourth inning after throwing three scoreless in his first game with Morgantown. Escobar gave up a lead-off double, then got a weak fly ball to right field for the first out. He walked the next guy, then gave up another loud double that ended his day. It wasn’t a great outing for Escobar, but we are still talking about a 19-year-old that was in the GCL less than ten days ago. He threw 60 pitches, 36 for strikes.
The offense was hot this game, with everyone in the lineup collecting at least one hit. Morgantown won 12-8 in this big game, guaranteeing that Monday afternoon will decide the wild card winner. Casey Hughston had two big hits, driving in four runs. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 2-for-4, collecting his first extra-base hit with the Black Bears, a first inning double that brought home two runs. Hayes drove in three total runs and also drew a walk.
Logan Hill had three hits and scored three runs, helping him break his three-week slump. He also stole his 13th base of the season. Carlos Munoz scored three runs and drove in a run. Mitchell Tolman went 2-for-4 with a walk, giving him a .301 average. Danny Arribas extended his hit streak to 13 games.
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.
