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, 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 2016 prospect guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
We’re working on a solution for the PHP stat codes not working in the app.
1. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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2. Austin Meadows, CF, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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3. Josh Bell, 1B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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4. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Pirates – In the Majors
5. Alen Hanson, 2B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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6. Harold Ramirez, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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7. Reese McGuire, C, Altoona -[insert_php]
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8. Elias Diaz, C, Pirates – Disabled List.
9. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List
10. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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11. Kevin Newman, SS, Altoona – [insert_php]
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12. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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13. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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14. Stephen Tarpley, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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15.Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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16. Chad Kuhl, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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17. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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18. Mitch Keller, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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19. Clay Holmes, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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20. Willy Garcia, OF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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21. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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22. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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23. Barrett Barnes, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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24. Trevor Williams, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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25. Gage Hinsz, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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26. Adrian Valerio, SS – Bristol – [insert_php]
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27. Adam Frazier, INF/OF, Pirates – In the Majors
28. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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29. Jordan Luplow, OF/3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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30. JT Brubaker, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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INDIANAPOLIS — Steven Brault had a rough return to the Indians rotation and not just because he didn’t make it out of the fourth inning against Buffalo.
He took a grounder off his left leg and later allowed a home run that appeared to go foul. Two runs also scored in the third inning, after it was extended by an error.
All in all, Brault is happy to be back with Indianapolis. And he feels completely healthy. But outside of those two aspects, not much went right in his return to the Indians.
Brault pitched 3.1 innings, allowing five hits and four runs, but only two were earned. He walked two batters and struck out three, while 43 of his pitches were a strike.
“He was rusty, it’s as simple as that,” Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor said. “I thought he made some good pitches, but his command wasn’t where he wanted it to be and where it needs to be.”
Brault was originally scheduled to make another rehab start with West Virginia on Saturday, but returned to Indianapolis for two main reasons: he performed well in his first rehab start, and the Indians pitching staff is stretched thin.
The plan was to stretch Brault out by having him throw up to 75-80 pitches, or five innings. But those plans quickly derailed due to a high pitch count.
“I threw the amount of pitches I was supposed to throw, it just took me a lot shorter innings that I would have liked,” Brault said.
Brault’s pitch count rose quickly against Buffalo. He needed 21 pitches to work around a hit and walk in the first inning. But he needed just 10 pitches to retire the side in the second inning.
And the third inning started with promise. Brault retired the first two batters on a strikeout and flyout. That’s when everything fell apart – starting with the arm of second baseman Alen Hanson. Brault induced what appeared to be an easy inning-ending groundout. But Hanson’s throw to first baseman Josh Bell was nowhere near the bag and extended the inning.
A walk and two singles later, Buffalo had scored two runs. The error led Brault to throw an extra 21 pitches after the point where the inning should have been finished.
“It’s adversity to us,” Treanor said. “We’re trying to get [Brault] through five and get him stretched out. And it winds up being a 33 pitch inning because of that [error by Hanson]. It just changed the whole way we wanted to do this tonight.”
And after the error, the Indians had two injury scares. Brault took a grounder off his left leg, but remained in the game and said afterwards he simply has a charley horse on his quad. Josh Bell also provided a scare, sliding awkwardly into the tarp while chasing a foul ball. He was not injured, but the play looked risky.
Brault’s night came to an end on David Adams’ controversial two-run home run, that appeared to likely have gone foul down the left field line. Treanor labeled the play as “the first foul home run” he has seen in awhile. Brault argued immediately, as did catcher Jacob Stallings. Treanor came out to argue, and the umpires briefly met before allowing the call to remain. Then Treanor argued again, but somehow did not get ejected.
“That pitch was right over the middle of the plate, so I can’t complain that much,” Brault said of the fastball he threw that led to the homer. “It was still a mistake on my part.
Brault said he felt his slider had better movement on Saturday than it did in his rehab start at West Virginia, but the command wasn’t as good.
“I’m still getting back to where I was,” Brault said. “The pitches just weren’t all there and all synced together. … It’s a bummer that it didn’t go well, but it’s something to build on.”
Indianapolis was shut out for the second consecutive game. The Indians had just six hits, with Josh Bell going 2-for-4 to lead the team. – Brian Peloza
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Tyler Eppler had an extremely tough first inning, which was all Bowie would need in their 4-1 victory. Eppler allowed all four runs in the first inning, throwing 34 pitches that frame. He actually settled down and followed up that inning with 5.1 shutout innings. That kept the bullpen fresh, as Josh Smith and Brett McKinley would record a total of five outs on only 14 pitches. Eppler has a 3.96 ERA in 88.2 innings this season.
Altoona only pushed one run across the plate, coming on an Edwin Espinal ground out that scored Jose Osuna in the seventh inning. Osuna’s 17th double was the only extra-base hit for Altoona. If Espinal had enough plate appearances to qualify, his .322 average would be tied for the league lead. He’s about 12 plate appearances short. The Curve went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position. That lone hit came in the eighth when they loaded the bases with one out on singles by Barrett Barnes, Kevin Newman and Harold Ramirez. Newman had two hits in the game and he’s batting .333 with Altoona.
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Bradenton won game one of their doubleheader by a 3-1 score. Stephen Tarpley got the start and continued his recent stretch of success by allowing one run over six innings of work. His control wasn’t as sharp as his last three games, as Tarpley walked three batters and hit another. He only allowed two hits though and the one run scored on walk, followed by a single to right field, which scored the runner all the way from first base. Tarpley has allowed two earned runs in his last 22 innings. Nick Neumann got the save in the seven inning contest by loading the bases on three singles, before getting a pop out and a double play to end it.
The offense was led by Elvis Escobar and Wyatt Mathisen, who each homered in this contest. Escobar hit his third of the season, a solo shot in the third inning. Mathisen’s first homer of the season was a two-run shot in the seventh that broke a 1-1 tie. Mathisen also drew a walk, while Escobar added his 11th double. Kevin Kramer hit his 13th double. Tito Polo went 0-for-3 in his second game with Bradenton.
GAME TWO: As good as Tarpley pitched in game one, Yeudy Garcia was even better in game two, as the Marauders got the sweep with a 4-1 victory. Garcia pitched the seven inning complete game, allowing one unearned run on four hits and a walk. He struck out nine batters and had a 6:3 GO/AO ratio. More importantly for him, he threw strikes and kept his pitch count down, with 56 strikes among the 84 pitches. Garcia’s long for innings this season was six, which he did twice. His previous high for strikeouts before tonight was six, which he did nine times. He now has a 2.24 ERA this season and hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any game.
The offense for the Marauders came in the third inning, when they scored all four of their runs. The first run scored on a double steal, with Tito Polo stealing second base and Jeff Roy crossing the plate. After a walk to Kevin Kramer, Chase Simpson topped off the scoring with his sixth homer of the season, a three-run shot. The home run was actually the last hit of the game for the Marauders.
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West Virginia lost 8-4 to Asheville on Saturday night. They went into the bottom of the sixth with a 4-1 lead and starter Bret Helton pitching well. He ended up allowing a run in the sixth, then two more in the seventh before being removed. Reliever Daniel Zamora came up and had no luck in his 1.2 innings, giving up four runs.
This game saw the end of two impressive streaks. Backup catcher John Bormann failed to reach base for the first time all season, this being his 22nd game. He did however drive in a run on a sacrifice fly. Mitchell Tolman saw the end of his 28-game on base streak, which dated back to May 19th.
Ryan Nagle had two singles and a walk, while Carlos Munoz had two walks and a single. Both players scored a run. Danny Arribas had a single, a walk and a run scored. Ke’Bryan Hayes hit his tenth double of the season.
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Morgantown went down 3-1 early to State College and ended up losing 5-2 for their third straight defeat after starting the season with a 6-0 record. Tenth round draft pick Matt Anderson got the start and lasted just 1.2 innings before getting knocked out of the game with two runs to his credit. He’s on a limited pitch count at this point, but this outing ended on 26 pitches due to a small cut on a finger on his pitching hand, which got worse as the outing went along. I was told it was a minor issue. Hard-throwing left Christian Mota followed Anderson and allowed three runs on six hits over 3.1 innings.
Eighth round pick Dylan Prohoroff made his second appearancs, following up a shutout inning earlier in the week with two shutout frames tonight.
The offense was led by Ty Moore, who went 3-for-4 with a run scored. No one else on the Black Bears reached base more than once. Moore is hitting .353 in eight games. Will Craig went 0-for-3 with a walk. He is hitting .167 (4-for-24) through seven games, though he does have four walks and five HBP. Sandy Santos went 1-for-4 with a run scored. Despite a 1-for-9 in his last three games, he still has a .448 average.
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Bristol broke out on offense against Bluefield, putting a 14 spot on the board in the one-sided win. Victor Fernandez had himself a day, going 4-for-5, with four runs, three RBIs, a double, triple and a walk from the lead-off spot. Top prospect Adrian Valerio had three hits, including two doubles. He also drove in three runs. Alexis Bastardo hit clean-up and had two hits, a walk, an RBI and scored three runs. Jhoan Herrera had two doubles, two walks and scored two runs. Huascar Fuentes had two hits and drove in two runs. Bristol scored runs in six different innings.
Ike Schlabach started the game and went five innings, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk. He also threw two wild pitches and had an error, all of which contributed to the scoring. Schlabach failed to record a strikeout, but he had an impressive 9:3 GO/AO ratio. After signing an over-slot deal as a 19th round pick last year, he made four starts in the GCL in August and pitched 11.2 innings, posting a 5.40 ERA.
He was followed by David Whitehead, who is there on a rehab assignment. His control issues weren’t that bad (by his standards) in this game, as he threw three shutout innings with one hit, one walk, one hit batter and one wild pitch. Luis Paula followed him with a shutout inning to finish the game. He was injured for most of Spring Training and Extended Spring Training.
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BRADENTON, Fla. – The GCL Pirates had their game with the GCL Tigers East suspended in the eighth inning due to rain. The Tigers scored just in time, pushing across a run in the top of the eighth inning, just as the downpour was starting. The inning ended, and the Pirates came up in the bottom of the eighth, with the game getting suspended with a runner on first and two outs.
Miguel Hernandez got the Pirates off to a good start, throwing five innings with just one unearned run on three hits, along with a walk and three strikeouts. He was sitting 91-93 MPH with his fastball, touching 94, while mixing in a slider at 85-88 MPH with some nice tight break, and an 83-85 MPH changeup. Hernandez has had some control problems recently, but didn’t have many issues today, working very efficiently, with 54 pitches total, and 41 strikes.
One guy who really stood out defensively was Victor Ngoepe, who plays a strong defensive shortstop, just like his older brother. Ngoepe went 0-for-3 at the plate with two strikeouts, but showed off a lot of range, smooth fielding skills, good hands, and a plus arm on the field. He had a throw in the dirt that Johan De Jesus couldn’t field on the hop, after Ngoepe ranged far up the middle, making the throw from the right side of the second base bag with his momentum carrying him to right field. He had a similar play yesterday, which the first baseman also couldn’t field on the hop. He shows the range to field balls up the middle and extend to the other side of the bag, but will need to work on his control on those plays going forward.
Felix Vinicio had a good day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double. Nelson Jorge, who was drafted out of Puerto Rico in 2014 and is spending his third year in the GCL, homered on his only hit of the day. It was his first professional home run, and it was a no doubter. Jorge looks like he’s bulked up this year. I’m not sure how much that will help his offense, since he had some alarming strikeout numbers in the past, but it could help his power going forward. Yondry Contreras dealt with strikeout issues last year, and struck out twice in three at-bats today. One of those came on three pitches, where he was looking at two, and fouled off the middle pitch. So it wasn’t a case of free swinging today, as much as it was recognizing breaking pitches. – Tim Williams
Check out the season preview here with information on the top ten prospects, as well as a few other players of interest on the team.
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The DSL Pirates won 3-2 over the Indians on Saturday to move to 7-12 on the season. Starter Leandro Pina went five innings, allowing two unearned runs on four hits and no walks. he had five strikeouts in this game and has yet to allow an earned run in 20 innings. Pina signed on July 2nd last year for a $115,000 bonus. He’s a 6’3″, right-handed pitcher, who is just 17 years old. Wilmer Contreras followed him with 3.2 shutout innings, giving up just one hit. Oliver Garcia recorded one out a got the win.
The Pirates won this game on a walk-off single from Sherten Apostel with two outs. They went into the ninth down 2-1 and the first two batters were quickly retired before Kevin Sanchez picked up his third hit of the game. That was followed by a double from shortstop Rodolfo Castro and then the winner from Apostel. Sanchez is now hitting .333 through 11 games. His $450,000 bonus was the top one paid out by the Pirates last July 2nd. Apostel had the best game of his young career, walking twice and picking up two hits, including a double.
Cristopher Perez went 2-for-2, hitting his third double. That gave him a .372 average this season. He batted .199 in his rookie season last year, and even that took a late hot stretch to get it that high.
