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 (Clay Holmes, Jacob Stallings, Kevin Newman and Bryan Reynolds), 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 (Travis MacGregor, Nick Burdi and Stephen Alemais), 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 updated 2019 Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Mitch Keller, RHP, Pirates – In Majors
2. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, HR (10), RBI, BB
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Indianapolis – DNP
4. Oneil Cruz, SS, Altoona – 1-for-3, RBI, 2 SB
5. Travis Swaggerty, CF, Bradenton – DNP
6. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – DNP
7. Will Craig, 1B, Indianapolis – 1-for-4
8. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 2-for-4, 2 2B, 2 RBI
9. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
10. Calvin Mitchell, OF, Bradenton – DNP
11. Cody Bolton, RHP, Altoona – DNP
12. Tahnaj Thomas, RHP, Bristol – DNP
13. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
14. Lolo Sanchez, CF, Bradenton – DNP
15. Pablo Reyes, Util, Pirates – In Majors
16. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Bradenton – DNP
17. Michael Burrows, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
18. Jared Oliva, CF, Altoona – 1-for-3, SB
19. Ji-Hwan Bae, SS, Greensboro – DNP
20. Max Kranick, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
21. Luis Escobar, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
22. Osvaldo Bido, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
23. Eduardo Vera, RHP, – Released, article here
24. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Altoona – DNP
25. Aaron Shortridge, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
26. Blake Weiman, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP
27. Steven Jennings, RHP, Greensboro – DNP
28. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – 2.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO
29. Jesus Liranzo, RHP, Altoona – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
30. Rodolfo Castro, 2B, Bradenton – DNP
Indianapolis lost 12-4 to Toledo. Brandon Waddell tried to build off of his first strong start with Indianapolis, but things went south in a hurry. In two innings, he allowed seven runs, though just four were earned. He gave up six hits and three walks, while throwing 71 pitches. Dovydas Neverauskas followed with three no-hit innings, giving up a walk, while striking out four batters. Rookie Davis was next and he gave up four runs over his one inning. That brought out infielder Darnell Sweeney, who allowed one run over two innings.
The Indians got on the board first when Ke’Bryan Hayes launched his tenth home run of the season. Jason Martin’s double, followed by a single from Francisco Cervelli, brought in two more runs in the sixth. Martin would double in another run in the eighth. He now has 23 doubles on the season. Mitchell Tolman had a double and a triple and scored two runs. Cervelli finished 1-for-2 with a walk, but left after six innings, which coincided with Elias Diaz leaving early in Pittsburgh after taking a foul ball off his mask.
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Altoona won 3-0 over Hartford. Cam Vieaux made his second start since returning to Altoona and for the second time, he threw shutout ball. This time it was seven innings on four hits, two walks and six strikeouts. Jesus Liranzo threw a shutout eighth with two strikeouts and Matt Eckelman picked up his 22nd save.
The Curve put up three runs in the first and that was it for scoring from either team. A wild pitch scored the game winning run, while Oneil Cruz added one run on a single and Bligh Madris added another on a ground out. Altoona had just two hits (both singles) and no walks after the first inning. Brett Pope had two hits and a run scored.
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Bradenton had off on Monday.
Here’s the boxscore.
You can view the season preview here.
Greensboro had off on Monday.
Here’s the boxscore.
You can view the season preview here.
Morgantown came back from a 7-0 deficit, only to lose 8-7 in extra innings. Fourth round pick JC Flowers had his roughest outing in pro ball, giving up five runs on eight hits, with no walks and two strikeouts, over 3.1 innings. Francis Del Orbe followed with 2.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits. Cameron Junker threw a scoreless seventh, then gave the ball to Xavier Concepcion in the eighth. He had two crazy innings, with no runs or hits, but five strikeouts, four wild pitches, three walks, two turtle doves and one hit batter. Alec Rennard allowed an unearned run in the tenth for the loss.
The Black Bears started their comeback in the sixth inning with a Blake Sabol sacrifice fly, followed by a Kyle Wilkie RBI double. Jared Triolo singled in two runs in the seventh. A Brett Kinneman ground out made it 7-5 in the eighth. Wilkie singled home a run in the ninth, then Kinneman recorded another RBI ground out, this time tying the game. Triolo, Wilkie and Matt Gorski each had three hits, with all three collecting a double. Triolo now has 19 doubles.
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Bristol won 6-5 over Bluefield. Adrian Florencio threw shutout ball, though he wasn’t exactly pounding the strike zone. Over four scoreless innings, he gave up two hits, three walks and struck out two batters, throwing 72 pitches. He lowered his ERA to 4.26 through his first 44.1 innings as a pro. Yoelvis Reyes followed with three scoreless innings, before giving up five runs (four earned) in the eighth inning. Enrique Santana recorded the final two outs of the eighth, before giving the ball to Samson Abernathy, who picked up his fifth save with a scoreless ninth.
The Pirates had 11 hits and seven walks, with only Jesus Valdez not reaching base in the game. Jake Snider, Aaron Shackelford, Matt Morrow, Chase Murray and Daniel Rivero each had two hits. Francisco Acuna failed to get a hit, but he walked three times, scored a run and picked up an RBI. Josh Bissonette picked up his 12th RBI and drove in two runs.
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The GCL Pirates were officially eliminated from the playoff chase with a 1-0 loss to the Twins in game one of a doubleheader. It was a very quiet game on offense, with Jasiah Dixon bringing most of it, collecting two singles and a walk in three trips to the plate. Carlos Canache had the only other hit. Andres Alvarez had the only other walk, plus a hit-by-pitch.
The pitching side was a different story, as Domingo Gonzalez dominated for six innings. The only run was unearned and he gave up two hits and a walk, while collecting ten strikeouts. His previous career high was eight strikeouts set back in June. Gonzalez pitched last year in the DSL and never put up more than four strikeouts in a game, which he did once. This season he has nine games with at least four strikeouts. Yandy Vega threw a scoreless seventh inning.
I talked to catcher Dylan Shockley after the game to get an idea of how Gonzalez had so much success. Here’s his response:
“He commanded the zone very well. He was hitting spots, mixing well. Very rarely did he get into deep counts. He was attacking hitters and everything was working for him today.”
The pitches used for strikeouts:
“First time around it was curveball then the second time around it was fastballs inside. That’s how he was able to keep the hitters off balance and get that many K’s.”
In game two, Mario Garcia got the start and went two innings, allowing four earned runs, all of them coming in the third inning. Julio Rosario came in and gave up two more runs of his own in his only inning of work. Bryan Torres pitched the final three innings and gave up one run, while striking out four batters. The Pirates got swept in the doubleheader, losing game two by a 7-2 score.
Norkis Marcos hit his second home run of the season. Deion Walker had two hits and drove in the other run. Juan Pie hit his third triple and scored on a single by Walker. Daniel Angulo had two hits, including his second double. Sammy Siani walked to lead off the game and it ended up being the only walk for the Pirates.
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The DSL Pirates1 won 1-0 over the Red Sox2. Listher Sosa had a strong outing, going six shutout innings on three hits, no walks and eight strikeouts. That lowered his ERA to 2.72 in 53 innings, with a 1.04 WHIP and 51 strikeouts. Luis Peralta lowered his ERA to 2.01 in 40.1 innings with three shutout innings.
Jhan Polanco singled home the only run. He also added a walk. Luis Tello’s double was the only extra-base hit, and he scored the lone run. He also stole his seventh base. Sergio Campana collected two hits.
The DSL Pirates2 won 6-3 over Colorado. Jorge Ramos started and went five shutout innings on five hits, a walk and four strikeouts. Ramos, who was still 16 years old on Opening Day, has a 3.35 ERA in 48.1 innings, with 42 strikeouts. Miguel Toribio threw two shutout innings to give him a 1.19 ERA in 37.2 innings. Carlos Campos went the final two innings and gave up a three-run homer in the ninth.
Deivis Nadal went 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. That got him up to an .800 OPS. Rodolfo Nolasco had two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Jommer Hernandez had an RBI double and a run scored. Fabian Urbina had a double and a walk.
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