A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time or loses his prospect eligibility (Colin Moran, Edgar Santana, Kyle Crick, Max Moroff 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, Pirates – In Majors
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 1-for-5
4. Shane Baz, RHP, Bristol – DNP
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 1-for-4, HR, RBI,BB
6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, SB
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – DNP
8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 1-for-3, BB
9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – 1-for-4, RBI, BB
10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
11. Luis Escobar, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
12. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
13. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
14. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
15. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 2-for-4, BB
16. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 0-for-4
17. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – DNP
18. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 2-for-4, HR, RBI, BB
19. Nick Burdi, RHP, Pirates (disabled list) – DNP
20. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – DNP
21. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – 5.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
22. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 2-for-5, 2B, RBI
23. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 1-for-3, BB
24. Jason Martin, OF, Altoona – 3-for-5, 2B, RBI
25. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP
26. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Altoona – DNP
27. Mason Martin, 1B, Bristol – 2-for-3, 2 HR,3 RBI, BB
28. Conner Uselton, OF, Bristol – DNP
29. Cody Bolton, RHP, West Virginia – DNP
30. Steven Jennings, RHP, Bristol – DNP
Indianapolis won 7-6 in ten innings over Durham.
JT Brubaker had his second straight tough outing on Saturday. He went 5.2 innings, allowing six earned runs on nine hits, including two homers. There were two positives in his poor outing. His 5:1 SO/BB ratio is much better than what we have seen since he joined Triple-A. He also posted a very impressive 10:0 GO/AO ratio, while throwing 62 of 96 pitches for strikes. The bullpen of Enny Romero, Josh Smoker and Bo Schultz put together 4.1 shutout innings.
Jung Ho Kang returned after missing three days with a wrist injury. He played shortstop and went 1-for-4 with a single, walk, RBI and run scored. Ryan Lavarnway hit his fourth home run, a three-run shot. Jordan Luplow, Max Moroff and Kevin Kramer each had two hits. Luplow hit his 22nd double. Moroff hit his seventh, and Kevin Newman added his 18th double and also his 16th stolen base.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona won 5-3 over Erie.
Ke’Bryan Hayes returned yesterday after missing a week due to a knee injury caused by a hit-by-pitch. His first game back was quiet, but he hit his fourth home run of the season in his first at-bat tonight. He later added a walk. Will Craig had two hits, including his 16th double, and he drove in his 52nd run. Bryan Reynolds and Jason Martin each drove in a run. Martin had three hits and scored two runs. Jin-De Jhang left with an injury, which was described as a leg injury in the boxscore, but those who were there said he got hit with the follow through from a swing on the helmet.
Pedro Vasquez started and went five innings, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk, with six strikeouts. He served up two solo homers in the first inning. Vasquez has a 5.73 ERA through 44 innings. Sean Keselica and Geoff Hartlieb each had two scoreless innings, with Hartlieb picking up five strikeouts.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 8-3 to Fort Myers.
Jared Oliva had a nice game on offense, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and his 22nd stolen base. He now has a .299 average through 62 games. Casey Hughston hit a two-run homer, his second of the season. Bligh Madris had two singles and a run scored. Mitchell Tolman had a single, RBI and a walk.
Mike Wallace got the start and allowed five runs (four earned) ten hits and three walks in 5.1 innings. He had three strikeouts, and 8:3 GO/AO ratio and threw 61 of his 92 pitches for strikes. Jordan Jess was out next and allowed three runs in 2.2 innings. Angel German worked a scoreless ninth.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia won 8-6 over Hickory.
Brett Pope had the big hit, with a three-run homer in the fifth inning. It was his third homer already after not hitting one last year in his first season of pro ball. Oneil Cruz continued to be a monster at the plate, hitting his tenth home run. He also had a single and a walk, scoring two runs. He now has a .318/.375/.547 slash line through 66 games. Lolo Sanchez had a single, walk and two runs scored.
Hunter Stratton got the start and put together an impressive outing. In his last start, he allowed just one hit, but he also walked six batters. On this night, he went six innings, giving up two runs on four hits and no walks, while striking out six batters. The bullpen had a little trouble, with Ike Schlabach giving up three runs in his only inning. Samuel Reyes allowed his first run of the season in the eighth. Beau Sulser made things interesting by putting the tying run on in the ninth, but he settled down and got the save.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Morgantown won 9-5 over State College.
Travis Swaggerty had no hits in his debut on Thursday. He made up for that on Saturday, picking up three hits on three consecutive pitches to him. The first hit was a line drive double down the line. The other two were ground ball singles between the first baseman and second baseman. He picked up an RBI on the second hit.
Swaggerty may be the headliner, but Jhoan Herrera stole the show, driving in five runs. His big hit was a two-run homer in the seventh inning. He also had two more hits and scored two runs. Nick Valaika hit a two-run double, while Raul Siri and Luke Mangieri each added doubles.
Sixth round pick Michael Flynn was scheduled to start, but Michael LoPresti started instead. He went three innings, allowing an unearned run on two hits and three walks, with no strikeouts. Francis Del Orbe came out next and allowed four runs over three innings of work. John Pomeroy struck out three batters in a scoreless seventh for the win, while Logan Stoelke took care of the final two innings.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bristol won 4-0 over Elizabethton.
The debut for 16th round pick Colin Selby couldn’t have been any better. New draft picks have been limited to three innings and he made the most of his start, retiring all nine batters he faced, two by strikeouts. Yeudry Manzanillo was out next and he was just as strong, tossing five shutout frames on three hits, a walk and three strikeouts. Leandro Pina finished the game off with a scoreless inning.
Mason Martin was struggling in West Virginia, but he has fit in well at Bristol, which is where he would have ended up this year if he didn’t get an aggressive push from the Pirates. Martin homered twice to give him four homers in the first five games. He drove in three runs and also walked once. Victor Ngoepe had an RBI triple. Yondry Contreras hit a double. Jonah Davis had a single, walk and run scored.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The GCL Pirates won 5-3 over the Yankees East.
If I told you that the Pirates made eight errors and Yankees made zero, you probably wouldn’t have guessed that the Pirates won 5-3, but it happened. Noe Toribio went five innings, allowing one earned run on four hits and a walk, with five strikeouts. Kleiner Machado tossed three innings with one run that was unearned. He gave up three hits and a walk. Saul de la Cruz threw a scoreless ninth for the save.
On offense, Jean Eusebio had a single, walk, run scored and stolen base. Ji-Hwan Bae went 1-for-3 with an RBI and his second stolen base. He went 2-for-16 during his first week as a pro. Samuel Inoa made the score 3-0 in the first inning with a two-run triple. Fernando Villegas went 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
The DSL Pirates1 lost 1-0 to the Rays2.
Starter Miguel Peralta had a strong outing, throwing four shutout innings, with two hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Domingo Gonzalez allowed a run over his 1.2 innings, which turned out to be the only run in the rain-shortened game.
The Pirates had just three hits, with singles from Emilson Rosado and Rayvi Rodriguez, along with a double from Randy Romero. Rodriguez drew their only walk. They went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
The DSL Pirates2 lost 1-0 to the Giants.
Enmanuel De Los Santos made his pro debut as the starter in the game. He went 1.1 innings, allowing a run on one hit, three walks and two strikeouts. Luis Peralta (no relation to Miguel who started for the Pirates1) bailed him out of a jam in the second inning, stranding two runners. Peralta then threw three shutout innings before the game was called early due to rain.
The entire offense included walks to Omar Matos and Pedro Castillo. That’s it…yes, they got no-hit.
Angel Basabe, who received a $450,000 bonus, has been out since Monday with a shoulder injury. According to the two people I talked to, it doesn’t seem serious.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview for both teams here.
