A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time (Colin Moran and Edgar Santana), or loses his prospect eligibility (Kyle Crick and Dovydas Neverauskas), 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, 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 2018 Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Mitch Keller, RHP, Altoona – DNP
2. Austin Meadows, CF, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, RBI, BB
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 0-for-4
4. Shane Baz, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 0-for-4
6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-4
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO
8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 1-for-4
9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – Disabled list
10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, 3B
11. Luis Escobar, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
12. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
13. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
14. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
15. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 2-for-4
16. Max Moroff, INF, Pirates – In Majors
17. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 2-for-4
18. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 1-for-4
19. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – DNP
20. Nick Burdi, RHP, Pirates (disabled list) – DNP
21. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – DNP
22. JT Brubaker, RHP, Altoona – DNP
23. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 1-for-4
24. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 1-for-4, 2B
25. Jason Martin, OF, Altoona – 0-for-4
26. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – DNP
27. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Bradenton – 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 SO
28. Mason Martin, 1B, West Virginia – 0-for-4
29. Conner Uselton, OF, Extended Spring Training – DNP
30. Cody Bolton, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
Indianapolis was supposed to play a doubleheader today, but only got in the first game. Nick Kingham made his third start of the season, one day after being named the International League Pitcher of the Week. This start wasn’t as good as the first two, but it was still a quality outing and that’s despite the game having a snow delay in the fourth inning. Kingham threw six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk, with five strikeouts. He threw 57 of his 82 pitches for strikes and posted a 10:2 GO/AO ratio. He now has a 1.59 ERA, an 0.76 WHIP and a .158 BAA.
The offense came from the entire lineup, with everyone except Kingham collecting a hit. The Indians won 4-2 by scoring two runs in the first, another in the third and they added an insurance run in the sixth. Kevin Kramer had two hits and a run scored. Austin Meadows had an RBI double, a run scored and a walk. Jose Osuna had an RBI double and Jordan Luplow collected a triple.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona got great pitching from starter Taylor Hearn on a night that their offense couldn’t put anything together in a 2-0 loss to Akron. Hearn pitched terrific in his first outing, giving up just one hit over five innings. He surrendered an earned run in this game, but he also went six innings with four hits, no walks and seven strikeouts. That was an improvement on the 4:3 SO/BB ratio from last week. Hearn threw 58 of his 90 pitches for strikes.
The offense had just four hits and a walk (you might sense a pattern when you read the Bradenton recap). Elvis Escobar, who was 2-for-27 coming into this game, picked up two singles. Will Craig and Stephen Alemais (double) accounted for the other two hits. Altoona went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 2-1, as the offense was shut down, but starter Eduardo Vera kept them in the game with a brilliant outing. Vera allowed one run on two hits in six innings of work. He didn’t walk anyone, struck out six batters, threw 53 of his 72 pitches for strikes and he had a 9:4 GO/AO ratio. The only run Vera allowed came on a ground ball single, a bunt and another grounder that found a hole in the infield.
Bo Schultz continued his dominating pitching as he returns from Tommy John surgery. He retired all six batters he faced, four by strikeout. He has allowed two hits and one walk in 7.2 shutout innings.
The offense was nearly non-existent with four singles and one walk. Adrian Valerio had two of those hits, Casey Hughston and Jared Oliva had the others. Oliva stole his second base. Hunter Owen had the only walk.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia lost 1-0 and that one run was very tough to watch. Starter Sergio Cubilete got hit with a line drive in the face from the second batter of the game. He was down for about five minutes according to those in attendance (see video below). Cubilete was taken to the hospital shortly after being helped off the field.
Oh my gosh… Horrific looking injury to West Virginia Power pitcher Sergio Cubilete. Really hope he is OK. Line drive directly back at him, off his face. Down for about 5 minutes, just helped off field. Hope he OK. Hit him squarely pic.twitter.com/y4q0yl6Ym6
— Scott Eisberg (@SEisbergWCIV) April 17, 2018
Evan Piechota came in under unfortunate circumstances and put together an absolute gem. In six shutout innings, he allowed two singles, no walks and had seven strikeouts. Piechota faced the minimum 18 batters, erasing the two runners on a double play and a caught stealing.
Ryan Peurifoy had a nice night at the plate with two doubles. The rest of the team had four singles and two walks. Calvin Mitchell had a single and an outfield assist.
Here’s the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
