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Prospect Watch: Altoona Bats Wake Up, As Zack Dodson Throws a Gem

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TOP OF THE SYSTEM

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 early season update, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.

1. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Altoona – DNP

2. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List

3. Austin Meadows, CF, Bradenton – 1-for-2, RBI, BB

4. Josh Bell, 1B, Altoona – 1-for-4, RBI

5. Reese McGuire, C, Bradenton – 1-for-3, BB

6. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

7. Alen Hanson, 2B, Indianapolis – DNP

8. Cole Tucker, SS, West Virginia – DNP

9. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis – DNP

10. Mitch Keller, RHP, Extended Spring Training

11. Harold Ramirez, OF, Extended Spring Training

12. Stephen Tarpley, LHP, Extended Spring Training

13. JaCoby Jones, SS, Bradenton – 1-for-4, RBI

14. Adrian Sampson, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

15. Trey Supak, RHP, Extended Spring Training

16. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Extended Spring Training

17. Barrett Barnes, OF, Extended Spring Training

18. Clay Holmes, RHP, Bradenton – Disabled List

19. Cody Dickson, LHP, Bradenton – 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR

20. Willy Garcia, OF, Altoona – 3-for-4, 2B, RBI

21. John Holdzkom, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

22. Jordan Luplow, 3B, West Virginia – DNP

23. Connor Joe, 1B/3B – Extended Spring Training

24. Wyatt Mathisen, 3B, Bradenton – 1-for-3

25. Casey Sadler, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

26. Steven Brault, LHP, Bradenton – DNP

27. Tito Polo, OF, West Virginia – DNP

28. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Extended Spring Training

29Luis Heredia, RHP, Extended Spring Training

30. Taylor Gushue, C, West Virginia– DNP

DAILY SUMMARY

Top Pitcher: Zack Dodson, LHP – 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR

Top Hitter: Willy Garcia, LF – 3-for-4, 2B, RBI

Home Runs: None

 

AAA: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS    

Indianapolis had their game postponed today.

AA: ALTOONA CURVE

Box Score

Result: Altoona 7, Akron 0

Starting Pitcher: Zack Dodson, LHP – 6.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 0 HR

Top Hitter: Willy Garcia, LF – 3-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R

Other Notable Performers:

Stetson Allie, RF – 2-for-4, RBI

Edward Salcedo, 3B – 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI

Josh Bell, 1B – 1-for-4

Game Notes: Zack Dodson had a great start today, continuing the stretch of solid starts from the Altoona rotation. Dodson worked mostly with his two-seam fastball, sitting 87-90 MPH, and did a good job of working inside against both left-handers and right-handers. He used the four seam fastball to pitch inside to right-handers, setting up the sinker on the outer half of the plate. The curve wasn’t sharp today, which prevented him from putting a few batters away. He was also working with a slider that he started throwing in the second half of last year.

Dodson got some help from Gift Ngoepe, who put on a show defensively at shortstop. Ngoepe showed a ton of range to both sides, including a few plays that he fielded on the second base side of the bag. Altoona’s offense had a good day against Akron left-hander Ryan Merritt. Willy Garcia was hunting the fastball early in the count and delivered three hits on the day. Max Moroff and Josh Bell both did a good job of using the opposite field. That was a trend for Moroff the entire series. – Tim Williams

Recap #2-  The Curve’s starting pitching staff continues their dominance as Zack Dodson threw six scoreless innings to bring his season total to twelve innings without giving up a run in this young season (eleven innings as a starter and one in relief). Dodson continues the organizational trend of pitching to contact and getting ground balls with a groundouts-flyouts ratio of 12-2 today. Dodson finished the game without any walks or strikeouts.

Through the first ten games of the season and twice through the rotation, Curve starters have only given up two earned runs in 54 innings pitched for an ERA of 0.33.
Curve hitters only struck out twice against Akron start Ryan Merritt, a number that stands out because Merritt struck out eight in his last start against a Trenton team that strikes out far less than Altoona so far this season. Hitters seemed to approach the plate more aggressively, resulting in a lot of seeing-eye singles and good hitting counts. They frequently hit balls coming in the middle-to-outside of the zone resulting in plenty of opposite field hits.
Willy Garcia had himself a day all around going 3-for-4 from the plate with all three hits being hit hard (including a double to the left center field gap). He also displayed his arm strength on an outfield assist to home when an Akron runner attempted to score from second on a single to left. Garcia made a perfect throw to the plate that beat the runner by ten steps.
Gift Ngoepe showed off defensively at shortstop all afternoon with three high difficulty plays all converted to outs (including a 6-3 double play). – Sean McCool

 A+: BRADENTON MARAUDERS   

Box Score

Result: Jupiter 7, Bradenton 2

Starting Pitcher: Cody Dickson, LHP – 6.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 HR

Top Hitter: Austin Meadows, DH – 1-for-2, RBI, BB

Other Notable Performers:

JaCoby Jones, SS – 1-for-4, RBI

Reese McGuire, C – 1-for-3, 2B, BB

Game Notes:   After a forgettable Opening Day start, Cody Dickson has looked strong in two straight outings. He has given up two earned runs in his last 11 innings and he is keeping the walk total down, issuing four in 14 innings this year. Ryan Hafner gave up three runs on five hits in the ninth inning to put the game out of reach. The Marauders came into the game with a .312 team average, but they managed just five hits on Sunday and no one player had more than one hit. Reese McGuire hit his fourth double of the season, while Austin Meadows extended his hitting streak to seven games with a single. He has a .381 average and has reached base in all ten games. JaCoby Jones drove in his tenth run, tops among all players in the Pirates’ system.

A: WEST VIRGINIA POWER   

West Virginia has their game postponed today.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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