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Prospect Watch: Keller Looks Good in Debut, Heredia Hit Hard

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P2 Top 30

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 (Nick Kingham, Jacob Taylor), 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 mid-season update, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.

1. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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2. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List

3. Austin Meadows, CF, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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4. Josh Bell, 1B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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5. Alen Hanson, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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6. Reese McGuire, C, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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7. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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8. Harold Ramirez, OF, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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9. Cole Tucker, SS, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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10. Kevin Newman, SS, Morgantown -[insert_php]
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11. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, GCL -[insert_php]
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12. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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13. Clay Holmes, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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14. Stephen Tarpley, LHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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15. Max Moroff, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php]
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16. Barrett Barnes, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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17. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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18. Trey Supak, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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19. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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20. Adam Frazier, SS, Altoona -[insert_php]
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21. Willy Garcia, OF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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22. Steven Brault, LHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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23. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Morgantown -[insert_php]
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24. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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25. Adrian Valerio, SS, GCL -[insert_php]
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26. Connor Joe, 1B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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27. John Holdzkom, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List

28. Jordan Luplow, 3B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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29. Casey Hughston, OF, Morgantown -[insert_php]
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30. Billy Roth, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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P2 Top Performers

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Indianapolis Indians Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

Angel Sanchez continues to pitch well since joining Indianapolis and he’s actually been the best pitcher in the system this year. He allowed one run over 5.2 innings in this contest, lowering his Indianapolis ERA to 2.54 through 56.2 innings. With Altoona, he had a 2.79 ERA in 77.1 innings. Sanchez has not allowed more than three earned runs in a game since he gave up four in his AAA debut nine starts ago. Jeff Inman made his seventh straight scoreless appearance for the save.

Keon Broxton extended his on base streak to 26 games with a homer and two walks. He also stole three bases, making him 20-for-22 in steals with Indianapolis. He stole 11 bases with Altoona. Willy Garcia homered for the second straight game, a solo shot in the sixth inning. He has four homers with Indianapolis and had five with Altoona before being promoted. Josh Bell was the DH in this game after playing 13 innings at first base last night in his AAA debut. He is 1-for-9 with three strikeouts, though that lone hit was a walk-off single Saturday night.

 

Altoona Curve Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

Steven Brault had typical results with two runs over six innings, but the four walks he allowed isn’t something we have seen all season from him. In fact, he’s only walked four batters one other time in his pro career, his second game as a pro back in June of 2013. His strike % wasn’t bad in the game, as he threw 66 of his 103 pitches for strikes. Brault has improved his strikeout rate since moving up to Altoona. With Bradenton, he had 45 strikeouts in 65.2 innings. In AA, he now has 51 strikeouts in 47.2 innings. Until this start, his control was also better, with 12 walks now for Altoona and 29 for Bradenton.

Adam Frazier had his third straight two-hit game, giving him a .350 average. Erich Weiss had two walks and scored two runs. He is 2-for-10 in three games since being promoted to Altoona. Jose Osuna hit his tenth double for Altoona, giving him 22 on the year. Max Moroff went 0-for-3 and he is now 8-for-37 with 11 strikeouts in his last ten games. Hunter Morris drove in three runs in his first AA game since being demoted from Indianapolis, where he had just five RBIs in 38 games.

Jhondaniel Medina pitched a scoreless ninth. He hasn’t allowed a home run since June 28,2013. That streak is now up to 86 appearances, 122.2 innings, and 480 batters.
Bradenton Marauders Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

Game One: Luis Heredia was knocked out of the game after just two innings. He gave up seven hits and four runs, with almost all the damage coming in the second inning. Heredia retired the first two batters of the game on ground balls, needing just three pitches. He then gave up a double and a walk, before ending the frame scoreless 12 pitches later. In the second, everything fell apart, as Tampa put six hits on the board, plating four runs. He threw 34 pitches in the inning. This is the second time in his last three starts that he has allowed four runs on seven hits in two innings. Last time he was able to strike out two batters, but he came up empty in that department on Sunday.

Justin Maffei led off the game with a solo homer. The Marauders were only able to put one more run on the board, with Michael Fransoso driving in Jin-De Jhang in the second inning. That gave Bradenton an early 2-0 lead, but after that, it was all Tampa. Jhang and Fransoso each had two hits, while Chris Diaz contributed the only other hit besides Maffei’s homer. Jhang passed Austin Meadows in the batting race, raising his average to .305, two points ahead of the young center fielder. Harold Ramirez had a walk and has now reached base in 12 straight games, including every game since he returned from the Pan-Am tournament.

Game Two: Cody Dickson pitched poorly and the Marauders went with a Sunday lineup in game two, but they managed to win 10-5 in this seven inning contest. Dickson gave up four runs on seven hits and three walks in only 2.2 innings. Junior Lopez calmed things down with 2.1 scoreless and Montana DuRapau closed it out, although he allowed a solo homer. He has been the best reliever in the system, almost unhittable all season, but DuRapau has now allowed runs in three of his last five appearances. His control has been outstanding as usual, as he has issued just four walks all year in 59.1 innings.

There were numerous games this year where the Marauders had prospects in every spot in the batting order, but with JaCoby Jones, Barrett Barnes and Erich Weiss leaving recently, the lineups haven’t been as great. The good thing about that for their playoff hopes, is that the players that are considered fillers, are usually solid/older players with low upside. With just three prospects in the lineup for this game, they put ten runs on the board(in seven innings), collecting 11 hits and six walks. That’s with Harold Ramirez going 0-for-4 in the three spot in the order. This game broke the on base streak mentioned above for Ramirez. Reese McGuire had two hits and scored two runs. He has just three walks and three strikeouts since the start of July.

West Virginia Power Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

Colten Brewer has an electric fastball, with the ability to hit 96-97 MPH on a regular occasion. However, the stats don’t match up to his velocity. When I saw him back in May, he was working more often in the mid-90s. Today he was more in the low 90s, while hitting 96 a few times. This is due to a change recently where he’s been throwing a two-seam fastball a bit more often.

Brewer wasn’t getting much hard contact today, and had a lot of ground balls. This was a result of relying on that two-seamer more often. He looked great through three innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth. He walked the first two batters, then gave up a single to load the bases. It was a sacrifice attempt, and Brewer didn’t have much time to make a decision on where he was going to go. He hesitated thinking about third, then threw to first and couldn’t get the runner. Brewer bounced back with two strikeouts in a row, but gave up a grand slam with two outs for his only damage of the day. The control has also been an issue for Brewer at times, and it hurt him in the fourth inning.

Offensively, West Virginia looked good early on. They got on the board first when Connor Joe doubled and scored on a Michael Suchy single. Joe finished the day with two doubles, and his approach at the plate has looked good the last two games. I’ve been really impressed with Suchy, who makes solid contact and has some good speed for his size. Chase Simpson also added to the offense with two doubles, including one that was hit hard to the opposite field. The Pirates have been preaching opposite field hitting to their minor leaguers, and you can tell that this West Virginia team has bought in to that approach, as a lot of their damage is done with opposite field hits. – Tim Williams

 

West Virginia Black Bears Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

 

Dario Agrazal Jr. had made eight starts since Opening Day with two earned runs or less coming into this game. He ended up allowing three earned runs on eight hits and three walks in five innings. All eight hits were singles and he gave up solo runs in four of his innings, with one unearned run mixed in due to Kevin Newman’s sixth error. Agrazal still has a 2.87 ERA and has gone at least five innings in every outing, so he is having a strong season after pitching in the GCL last year.

Kevin Newman hasn’t really got the attention that a first round pick usually gets in these write-ups and that’s because he hasn’t done much of note. Along with the error, he went 0-for-4 in this game, dropping him to a .224 average. He has a .634 OPS in 33 games.

Mitchell Tolman had three hits, raising his average to .250 through 30 games. He is actually doing fairly well at getting on base, despite the low average prior to this game. Tolman has drawn 21 walks, giving him a .744 OPS. Logan Hill hit his ninth double and drove in his 34th run.

 

Bristol Pirates Prospect Watch1

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P2 Game Notes

Mitch Keller made his season debut on Sunday and went three innings, allowing one run on four singles, walking none( two hbp) and striking out four batters. The 2014 second round pick missed the start of the season due to mild forearm tightness that occurred at the end of Extended Spring Training. He has recently been building up, throwing a simulated game earlier this week, followed by three innings today, which was his limit going into the game. Keller threw 36 of his 48 pitches for strikes, getting a lot of swing and misses.

He worked out of trouble in the first after he hit two batters in a row, then allowed a run in the third on three straight singles. The run was scored as earned although it came on a single hit with a man on second and the outfielder misplayed the ball to allow the other two runners to move up, so I’m guessing the official scorer assumed the runner would have scored regardless of the bobble. The next batter struck out and the last hitter grounded out. Keller only reached two balls once in the 14 batters he faced. He was mostly working fastball, throwing off-speed pitches more often later in the outing.

Tenth round draft pick Logan Sendelbach gave up three runs over three innings. He has been very disappointing for a 21-year-old college pitcher in the Appalachian League. Sendelbach has a 9.43 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in 21 innings, with 35 hits allowed. He was in the starting rotation until this outing.

 

GCL Pirates Prospect Watch

 

The GCL Pirates are off on Sunday.

DSL Pirates Prospect Watch

The DSL Pirates are off on Sunday.

 

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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