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Prospect Watch: Altoona Debut For Tyler Eppler Doesn’t Go Well

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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, Altoona -[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 – Disabled List

10. Kevin Newman, SS, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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11. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Morgantown -[insert_php]
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12. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bristol -[insert_php]
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13. Clay Holmes, RHP, Bradenton – Disabled List

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, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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24. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Altoona -[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 – Disabled List

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

INDIANAPOLIS – While some players take some seasoning to adjust to Triple-A, Josh Bell is way beyond his experience at the plate. In a game that decided which team would take first place in the division, Bell reached base three times and drove in a pair of runs. Over the past month, Bell has been patient when he needed to and jumped on pitches when available. In his last 100 plate appearances, Bell has reached base in half of them. He also has an 18-game on base streak.

Wilfredo Boscan has been strong over the past month for Indianapolis, after some mid-season struggles. Boscan pitched to plenty of contact in the first three innings, allowing seven hits. However, he also struck out five over the span to allow just one run. He responded by retiring 11 hitters in a row, en route to a strong 6.1 inning outing, allowing nine hits and three runs.

While Willy Garcia has come back to earth of late, he added his fourth triple of the season in Indianapolis, driving in a key insurance run.

Gustavo Nunez and Dan Gamache added two hits each. Gamache picked up his fifth double already with Indianapolis and John Bowker added his sixth home run.

Alen Hanson went 0-for-3, breaking an eight-game hitting streak. However, he made a rangy play at second base to save a run in the second inning.

A.J. Morris, Jeremy Bleich, Josh Wall and Blake Wood tossed shutout frames the rest of the way to nail down the win. – Ryan Palencer

 

Altoona Curve Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

 

BOWIE, Md. – Tyler Eppler struggled in his AA debut as Altoona lost to Bowie, 6-3. Eppler retired the side in the first two innings, although there were a couple of balls hit very hard. In the 3rd, his command went south and he allowed five runs. He fell behind repeatedly and then got some pitches over the middle of the plate. Two walks and two singles brought in two runs, and then Eppler threw a fastball down the middle on a full count to former Pirate minor leaguer Quincy Latimore, who launched a three-run HR.

Eppler hung on to pitch scoreless frames in the 4th and 5th, then gave up a leadoff double in the 6th, with the runner scoring on a sacrifice fly after Eppler left. He finished with six runs allowed on four hits and three walks in five and a third innings. He struck out three. Altoona wasn’t able to counter sufficiently against a soft-tossing Bowie lefty. Most of the offense came from Jacob Stallings, who had an RBI double off the wall in left and a solo HR, his third. The rest of the lineup managed only three singles, although there were a number of hard hit outs.

Eppler – His fastball was 94-96 in the 1st inning, but gradually lost velocity until it was 91-93 from about the 4th inning on. His command was fair at best, as he didn’t get ahead in the count consistently and got some pitches out over the plate. He did work inside to hitters a lot with some effectiveness. Eppler threw a lot of mid- to upper-80s sliders, but he bounced many of them and, with the hitters not chasing, the pitch wasn’t very effective. He threw only a couple changeups that I saw.

Montana DuRapau – Made his AA debut with a scoreless 8th, getting two strikeouts and a groundout. His first couple fastballs were 95 mph, but after that he sat at 91-93. He threw a lot of sliders and the pitch showed some good break. DuRapau’s control was shaky, leading to full counts on the first two hitters. He throws with a good deal of effort.

Adam Frazier – He hit the ball hard every time up except once when he bunted. He got only one hit to show for it.

Barrett Barnes – Bowie has a lot of sidearm pitchers for some reason and Barnes struggled with them throughout the three games I saw him play over the past couple weeks. He hit better against the soft-tossing lefty starter today, with a couple of loud outs.

Austin Meadows – He wasn’t getting good swings against the lefty starter or in his one at-bat against a righty reliever. He popped out three times and struck out once. – Wilbur Miller

 

Bradenton Marauders Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

Luis Heredia made his last start of the season on Thursday. In the first inning, he issued three walks and threw 23 pitches, but kept St Lucie off the board. In the second, he gave up a single and double, but did not allow a run. The third started off with two quick ground outs, then Heredia issued a four-pitch walk. The next batter flew out to right field on the first pitch. The fourth was a very easy inning, two quick fly outs and a foul out behind the plate.

The fifth started off with a strikeout, the second for Heredia. He then gave up a double off the wall in right field, followed by a fly out to nearly the same spot, which got the runner to third with two outs. Heredia got a pop out to shortstop to end the inning. At this point, it became the first time he got through five innings in his last seven starts. He was at 76 pitches through five.

Heredia came out for the sixth and got a grounder to Wyatt Mathisen, which ended up in an error. The next batter put down a sacrifice bunt. Heredia picked up his third strikeout, then hit a batter. That ended his day with 5.2 innings, three hits, four walks, three strikeouts and a hit batter. He threw 92 pitches, 56 for strikes. After the first two innings, it was a strong outing, especially the way he has pitched all season. Heredia finished with a 5.44 ERA in 86 innings over 21 starts this season, barely averaging four innings per start.

Bradenton won 4-2 behind some power from the most unlikely source. Junior Sosa has been in the Pirates’ system since 2008 and before Thursday, he had five career homers. In fact, he last homered on June 13,2012, so they probably weren’t expecting him to homer in this game. He homered in the fifth inning, then did it again during his next at-bat in the seventh inning, driving in three runs. He matched his season high for homers on two swings and gave the Marauders a much needed win. With a loss from Palm Beach, Bradenton now moves within one game of the division lead with three to go. They need to win the division though, as the Cardinals hold the tie-breaker.

Harold Ramirez went 2-for-4 with his 13th double and he drove in the other run for the Marauders. He is now hitting .339 and the league leader in batting went 0-for-5 on Thursday, dropping him to a .319 average. Ramirez is currently 37 plate appearances short of qualifying for the league lead, but with a 20 point lead, he still has an outside shot at winning if he finishes strong in the last three games. However many plate appearances he falls short at the end for qualifying, will be added to his at-bat total(for calculation purposes only), then his average will be recalculated and if it’s higher than the leader, Ramirez wins the batting title. Adding an 0-for-37 to his total now would give him a .301 average, but if he adds about 15 plate appearances and picks up some hits over the next three days, he could win.

West Virginia Power Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

West Virginia lost 10-6, with a couple costly errors accounting for almost all of the difference in the score. Colten Brewer went seven innings, allowing six runs(five earned) on seven hits and no walks. He had four strikeouts and 12 ground ball outs. Jared Lakind came in next and gave up four runs in his only inning, although two were unearned. A couple errors on the other side led to five unearned runs for the Power, so it was not a well played game.

Tyler Filliben had a career day, collecting three hits and driving in three runs. Jerrick Suiter scored three runs. Kevin Newman ended up leaving this game one inning after getting hit by a pitch. Pablo Reyes hit his 21st double and stole his 26th base. He also drove in two runs and drew two walks. Kevin Kramer had two hits, a walk and a stolen base. He is hitting .235 in his first eight games with West Virginia, after batting .305 in 46 games with Morgantown.

West Virginia Black Bears Prospect Watch

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P2 Game Notes

Dario Agrazal Jr. made his 14th start and ended the season without allowing more than three earned runs in any game. On Thursday, he went six innings, giving up one run on a solo homer. He had four strikeouts and no walks, while posting an 8:3 GO/AO ratio. He came into the game with a 2.11 GO/AO ratio on the season. Agrazal finished the year with a 2.72 ERA in 76 innings. That ERA is third best in the NYPL and he has thrown the second most innings. His 1.08 WHIP currently ranks him fourth in the league. Stephan Meyer followed Agrazal with three shutout innings for the save.

Morgantown held on to a 2-1 victory, to keep them at the top of the wild card chase. Mitchell Tolman, Christian Kelley, Ryan Nagle and Danny Arribas each had two hits. Arribas scored both runs. He now has a ten-game hit streak, batting .378 during that stretch. Tolman is 14-for-32 in his last eight games, with six multi-hit games. Ke’Bryan Hayes had a nice game at the plate, with a single, walk, sacrifice fly and sacrifice bunt in four plate appearances.

Bristol Pirates Prospect Watch1

 

The Bristol Pirates have completed their season. The season recap will be posted soon.

GCL Pirates Prospect Watch

The GCL Pirates have completed their season. Season recap and top ten prospect list can be found here.

 

DSL Pirates Prospect Watch

The DSL Pirates have completed their season. You can read our full season recap here, with reports on 41 different players. There is also a list of 12 players to watch, which can be found here.

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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