A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors and loses his prospect eligibility, 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 mid-season update, 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, Pirates -[insert_php]
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2. Austin Meadows, CF, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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3. Josh Bell, 1B, Pirates – [insert_php]
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4. Kevin Newman, SS, Altoona – [insert_php]
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5. Mitch Keller, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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6. Nick Kingham, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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7.Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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8. Chad Kuhl, RHP, Pirates – [insert_php]
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9. Will Craig, 3B, Morgantown – [insert_php]
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10. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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11. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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12. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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13. Clay Holmes, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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14. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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15. Gage Hinsz, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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16. Trevor Williams, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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17. Alen Hanson, 2B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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18. Tito Polo, OF, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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19. Stephen Tarpley, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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20. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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21. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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22. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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23. Taylor Hearn, LHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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24. Adrian Valerio, SS – Bristol – [insert_php]
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25. Braeden Ogle, LHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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26. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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27. Travis MacGregor, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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28. Max Kranick, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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29. Frank Duncan, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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30. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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On Saturday night, Tyler Glasnow moved up to Indianapolis after two rehab starts for Altoona. He looked decent in the first inning, then had no control the next two innings and was pulled early due to his pitch count. Glasnow got through the first inning on eight pitches, although he was mostly up in the zone. That was a sign of things to come for the next two frames.
In the second, Glasnow loaded the bases on a double and two walks, yet he still got out of the inning with no damage. He threw 30 pitches in this inning, with less than ten of them actually in the strike zone, though impatient Toledo hitters chased a lot of high fastballs and couldn’t catch up to the pitch. In the third, he needed 20 pitches and an outfield assist from Willy Garcia to get out of the inning. The last three batters of the inning ended up with a double, a walk and a single.
Toledo doesn’t have a radar on screen, so they only gave three fastball velocities and they were all 92 MPH, though that deserves an explanation. The first reading was the first pitch of the game. For each of the next two pitches, the announcer said that he took something off that pitch, so he was likely sitting higher than 92 MPH. Glasnow had no control over his curve in this game. He threw seven of them and not one was close to the strike zone. Overall it was just a bad looking outing. Of his 58 pitches, 31 went for strikes, though at least ten of those strikes were chased out of the zone. So he had no fastball control at all, no control of his curve and he only threw a couple changeups, which were out of the zone.
I thought if he pitched well that we could possibly see his next game in Pittsburgh, but I’m going to assume he will make another start for Indianapolis.
Trevor Williams was on next and he looked good through four shutout innings, breezing through on 50 pitches, with 34 going for strikes. He posted an 8:2 GO/AO ratio. Williams came into this game with a 1.61 ERA in 61.2 innings over his last ten starts.
The Indians won 2-0, scoring one run in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Jose Osuna and Jason Rogers. They added an insurance run on a solo homer by Gift Ngoepe in the eighth inning. The double was the 34th of the season for Osuna, tops in the system. Ngoepe hit his eight homer. He also had a single and a walk in his only other two plate appearances.
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ALTOONA, PA – With Mick Foley, the current on-screen general manager of WWE Raw, in the house, the Altoona Curve played an epic 14-inning game and put Erie in the Socko Claw and won on a Stetson Allie walk-off single.
Completely asinine wrestling references aside, Tomas Morales singled in the bottom of the 14th and moved to second after Barrett Barnes reached on an error. Stetson Allie lined a shot to left field, and Morales got underneath the tag from Erie catcher Grayson Greiner to clinch the win.
“They fought hard tonight,” Curve manager Joey Cora said. “The pitching was very good, and they had to be tonight. They only gave up nine hits and only walked two guys. They gave us a chance, and they played extremely hard.”
Alex McRae accumulated a 10.25 ERA in his first six Double-A starts, where batters hit .388 and had a 1.100 OPS against him. Over his last eight appearances going into tonight (seven starts and one scheduled relief appearance), McRae has a 2.76 ERA in 49 innings pitched. Subsequently, McRae has a 56% ground ball rate in that span, and his OPS-Against went down almost 400 points to .710.
Tonight, McRae built upon his impressive six inning, no earned runs appearance in Harrisburg last Monday by working 7+ innings and only allowing two earned runs. The first earned run came in the first, and it probably should have never happened after McRae couldn’t make a clean play on a play that went as a lead-off single. That run eventually came in to score after a single. In the fourth, McRae walked the lead-off batter, and Erie manufactured a run against him.
McRae had been inconsistent from start-to-start earlier this summer, but he has found quite a but of consistency within the last month. There have been moments where McRae has looked like one of the Curve’s best starting options since mid-July. Although he had a 6-6 groundout-to-flyout ratio tonight, he has done a great job utilizing his two-seamer to keep the ball on the ground.
“For the past month, he has been awesome,” Pitching Coach Justin Meccage said. “His mentality has been great, and he attacks hitters. The slider has come a long way, and his misses with the fastball have been down, which is what we are looking for. I like where he’s at, and I hope he can continue to improve through the end of the season.”
McRae threw 93 pitches, 60 of them for strikes.
Jared Lakind relieved McRae with a runner on first in the eighth inning, and he faced the minimum to get six outs in the eighth and ninth innings. Since getting tagged with five earned runs against him in 1/3 of an inning on July 19th, Lakind has been back to his normal self with 11 appearances, 15 innings pitched, and only three runs allowed.
Barrett Barnes extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a line drive single to right field in the fourth inning. He also hit a line drive single to left field in the sixth inning. Over the span of this hitting streak, Barnes is batting .413 (19-for-46). Not only has Barnes been the best hitter in the Eastern League over the past two months, he has the leads all of Double-A baseball in almost every hitting category since July 5th. Considering every level of minor league full season baseball, Barnes has the fourth best average and sixth best OPS since July 5th.
Erich Weiss didn’t start the game, but was used as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning, and he came through with a two-RBI double that tied the game.
“He came in and was aggressive,” Cora said about Weiss. “Lately, he has been too passive and taking pitches he should swing at. He got a couple of sac bunts, too.”
Jon Schwind had four hits tonight for the Curve as the designated hitter, all singles. Schwind did his part in the extra innings, as he got on base to lead-off both the 11th and 13th inning.
“Schwind was getting hits; he was getting jam shots,” Cora said. “You know Schwind is going to give you everything he’s got, and it’s good to see a guy like him have a game like that.”
The Curve’s two and three hole hitters tonight, Anderson Feliz and Eric Wood, struck out four and three times, respectively. Feliz, however, was able to redeem himself in the tenth with a home run to center field that tied the extra inning affair at four.
Defensively, Jin-De Jhang threw out Erie shortstop Gustavo Nunez trying to steal second in the fourth inning, which was Jhang’s 16th CS this season in 35 tries (32%). Erie twice stole second off of Jhang tonight otherwise; however, his throws look stronger and more accurate than earlier in the season.
Elvis Escobar has played a very good center field for the Curve since his promotion. He regularly can turn around and run backwards for long fly balls, and he can settle under them easily for long outs. He also made a very nice sliding catch in the 11th inning on a sprint towards the infield.
Anderson Feliz got the start at shortstop, a day after starting in right field and playing extremely strong defense in the outfield. Feliz made a tremendous play in the seventh inning, laying out to make a diving catch going out towards left field.
Montana DuRapau came in to pitch the tenth inning with the game tied at 3-3, and he allowed a double and a triple to give Erie the 4-3 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Anderson Feliz blasted a long home run to center field to tie the game at four.
Brett McKinney and Jason Creasy both pitched two quick, efficient innings in extras to hold Erie at four runs, and the Curve were able to walk it off in the bottom of the inning off of Allie’s bat.
“That was a blast,” Allie said. “The two at-bats before that, I was trying to make the last swing and win the game with one hit. To be able to get that hit and get out of there is awesome, especially with the W.”
The Curve created a 2.5 game gap between Akron with the win tonight and a Rubberducks loss. Harrisburg also lost, and they drop to 3.5 GB of the Curve in the Western Division. -Sean McCool
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Bradenton was rained out and will play a doubleheader tomorrow.
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CHARLESTON, WV – The Power’s early offensive struggles continued tonight against the Lakewood Blueclaws, but the team, no stranger to late-inning theatrics, put on a show late in the game. When scoring fewer than three runs, the Power are 3-46 this year, and in their last five games, the Power have been outscored 9-6 in the first four innings. In the final five innings of the last five games, though, the Power bats hold a 13-9 advantage.
Powerful pitching was on display, with Lakewood and West Virginia combining for 18 strikeouts on the night. Starter Bret Helton looked sharp early, but in the top of the fourth, he took a grounder off his pitching hand and struggled to maintain control. The Blueclaws plated three runs on four hits, a walk, and a wild pitch. Power trainer Dom Cappozzo and manager Brian Esposito examined the hand and elected to leave Helton on the mound. No immediate news of Helton’s condition was available after the game.
Helton’s struggles continued when Blueclaw Jan Hernandez clubbed a solo shot in the fifth.
Including Hernandez’s dinger tonight, Helton is tied for second most home runs allowed on the team with 11. His fastball has little movement and rests in the low 90s, making him incredibly prone to giving up the long ball.
The Power pushed for a rally in the eighth inning. Logan Ratledge leapt aboard on a hit-by-pitch, and Casey Hughston hit his 11th home run of the year to cut the Lakewood lead to 4-2. Mitchell Tolman followed with a single and crossed the plate on a Carlos Munoz double.
Carlos Munoz fell a home run short of the cycle. His first hit, in the fourth inning, lodged in the left field corner, and in the confusion, the lead-footed Munoz made it to third. He laced a single in the seventh.
Munoz has struggled compared to his 2015 performance in Bristol when he was named the Appalachian League Player of the Year, but manager Brian Esposito has noted a determination in the young player.
“He’s doing what he has to do,” commented Esposito. “He’s fighting right now, just like the rest of us are.”
The 4-for-5 night is an encouraging sign for Munoz, whose struggles with weight and fatigue are well documented. In past seasons, his numbers have dropped as the season grind wore on, but this year, his August numbers are the best yet. His slash line after tonight’s win is .307/.358/.455 with 12 RBI.
Newcomer Stephen Alemais got his second hit of the game by leading off the bottom of the ninth with a triple and scored on a one-out sacrifice by John Bormann. Alemais now has a four-game hit streak after going 0-for-10 to start his Power career.
In the bottom of the 10th, Lakewood quickly disposed of the first two Power batters, and then Carlos Munoz hit his second double of the game. Tyler Filliben replaced Munoz as a pinch runner, setting up a walk off single by Daniel Arribas. This is West Virginia’s 11th walk off win of the year. – Abigail Miskowiec
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Morgantown won 6-4 on Saturday night behind a strong start for James Marvel and a nice game at the plate for Will Craig. Marvel went six innings, allowing one run on four hits and one walk. He had two strikeouts and a 10:3 GO/AO ratio. He hasn’t had a start this strong since his last outing in June. Marvel posted a 5.60 ERA in July and had a 7.20 ERA in two August starts prior to tonight.
Will Craig went 3-for-4 in this game. Mahoning Valley sent Brady Aiken to the mound. He was the first overall pick in the 2014 draft, but didn’t sign until the following season. He allowed one run over five innings and that run came on a solo homer from Craig, his second home run of the season. Craig now has a .783 OPS, which ranks tenth in the NYPL, and his .409 OBP ranks him fourth in the league. He has reached base safely in 50 of his 54 games.
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The good news for Bristol is that the only have five more games left before this dreadful season is over. They dropped to 24-39 and had three runners on base all game. Raul Siri and Garrett Brown each had a single, while Henrry Rosario drew a walk. Bristol had a league worst .637 OPS coming into this game and that will obviously drop. Adam Oller started and allowed all three runs in his six innings. He now has a 4.17 ERA in 49.2 innings.
Juan Diaz is a pitcher now and he threw a scoreless seventh. You might remember him from the time you questioned “Who is Juan Diaz?” while watching a Spring Training game and saw him come out in the sixth inning on defense at third base. David Whitehead pitched two innings without walking anyone, which is probably what I should have led with for this recap.
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The GCL Pirates won their first game in nearly two weeks, scoring seven runs before the first out in the second inning, then holding on for a 7-2 win. The Pirates had ten hits total in this game and eight of them came in the first two innings. The big hits were a two-run triple by Paul Brands in the first, and an RBI triple from Jeremias Portorreal in the second inning. Portorreal also walked twice, scored twice, and drove in two runs. It’s his third straight game with an extra-base hit. Victor Ngoepe had two hits and scored two runs.
Over-slot signing Austin Shields got his first start and worked quickly through the first inning, then ran into trouble after that. Shields is a big, raw pitcher out of high school in Canada, who can hit 94-95 MPH, but he has some control issues. He walked two batters in the second, then walked the first two batters in the third inning before being removed. Those two runs came around to score after he left. Tim Williams had a chance to talk to him a couple weeks ago about his progress before the draft. Shields should get a chance to make one more appearance before the GCL season ends next Thursday.
Hector Garcia continued his successful (so far) return from Tommy John surgery, throwing two shutout innings. He has now thrown six shutout frames over four appearances. Domingo Robles threw shutout ball over the last four innings.
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The DSL Pirates had their game canceled due to rain. Their season is now over.
