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Prospect Watch: Williams Settles Down Quickly for a Quality Outing

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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, 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 2016 prospect guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.

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1. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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2. Austin Meadows, CF, Altoona – [insert_php]
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3. Josh Bell, 1B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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4. Jameson Taillon, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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5. Alen Hanson, 2B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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6. Harold Ramirez, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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7. Reese McGuire, C, Altoona -[insert_php]
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8. Elias Diaz, C, Pirates – Disabled List.

9. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List

10. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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11. Kevin Newman, SS, Bradenton – Disabled List

12. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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13. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – Disabled List

 14. Stephen Tarpley, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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15.Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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16. Chad Kuhl, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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17. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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18. Mitch Keller, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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19. Clay Holmes, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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20. Willy Garcia, OF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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21. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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22. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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23. Barrett Barnes, OF, Altoona -[insert_php]
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24. Trevor Williams, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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25. Gage Hinsz, RHP  – Extended Spring Training

26. Adrian Valerio, SS – Extended Spring Training

27. Adam Frazier, INF/OF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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28. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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29. Jordan Luplow, OF/3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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30. JT Brubaker, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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P2 Top Performers

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Prospect-Watch-Indy

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Trevor Williams did not get a nice welcome back to Indianapolis. The first batter of the game lined a single into right field. That was followed a couple pitches later by a long home run to left-center off the bat of Justin Maxwell. The ball probably traveled close to 450 feet. Williams followed that with two ground balls, then gave up a line drive to the right-center gap, which was hit well. The last batter of the inning hit a soft liner to Gift Ngoepe, who was stationed perfectly behind the second base bag. Williams was working down and in and most of his pitches early were sinkers to the bottom half of the strike zone. He was around the plate the whole time and worked quickly. The home run and the double were on pitches basically down the middle. He threw 18 pitches in the inning.

In the second, he was facing the bottom third of the lineup. Williams mixed his pitches to the first hitter, picking up a strikeout on a high fastball, which followed a called strike on a curve. Two pitches later, he had the second out on an easy grounder to second base. Williams struck out the third batter on a sinker that ran down and in. This inning was a huge difference from the first and he got out of it on 12 pitches.

The third started with the top of the order up. Williams walked the first batter on seven pitches. The next batter (Maxwell) grounded out one pitch later to shortstop, but it was hit too slow for a double play. That was followed by a shallow fly to center field that Adam Frazier dove for and caught on a short hop. They were able to get the out at second base, because the runner from first thought the ball was caught on the fly. Williams then got another easy grounder, this one to third base to end the inning. After the first batter saw seven pitches, the next three combined saw seven. Williams was at 44 pitches through three innings, 27 for strikes.

The fourth began with an easy grounder to shortstop for the first out. Williams got another sinker up that ended up as a fly out to the center field warning track. The next batter got jammed and grounded out weakly to first base for a quick six pitch inning. When Williams is on, you will see innings like this, except for the long fly ball of course. The first pitch speed was announced and it was 88 on a sinker. That’s just below the 89-92 MPH his sinker usually sits.

The first pitch of the fifth was lined right to Willy Garcia for the first out. Two pitches later, Williams had two outs, getting a bouncer to shortstop. This inning was even shorter than the previous, as the third batter lined out to deep right field. Pawtucket hit the ball hard twice, but Williams was done on four pitches. He hit 92 in this inning.

Williams started the sixth with a high fly ball to shallow center field. The next ball was hit right to the wall in the left-center gap for the second out. Williams missed his spot on a fastball, and that led to a two-out single on a low liner into left field. He would end the inning and his game on a grounder to first base for the third out. Williams came into the day on a 6 IP/85 pitch limit and he needed just 67 pitches (45 strikes) to get through six.

Well, there seems to be a common theme this week, with teams getting to pitchers early, then they settle down and nothing else happens. After the second batter of the game, Williams allowed two hits, no runs and a walk. He wasn’t missing many bats, but that’s how you get through six innings on 67 pitches, by throwing to contact. The only three pitch speeds announced were the 88 on the sinker, 92 for a fastball and 81 for a curve. He also throws a changeup (saw one really nice one) and a slider.

He did a good job of keeping the ball down, working quick and pounding the strike zone. There were definitely some well hit outs, but there were also a lot of easy grounders. Williams finished with a 10:3 GO/AO ratio. Considering that this was his first game back in Triple-A, a level in which he pitched 14.1 total innings before tonight, I’d call this a very successful outing.

Indianapolis lost this game 3-1, with the lone run coming from a Max Moroff home run with one out in the first inning. The Indians tallied just four hits total, with Adam Frazier, Josh Bell and Jason Rogers each picking up singles. Moroff’s homer was his fifth of the season. He also drew one of the two walks by Indianapolis hitters. Frazier has reached base safely in 18 straight games, in 17 of those games he collected at least one hit. Gift Ngoepe had four strikeouts in four at-bats, giving him 58 on the season in 128 at-bats.

Trey Haley followed Williams and allowed a run on two hits and a  walk in his only inning. Jhondaniel Medina threw a scoreless eighth.

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

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BOWIE, MD – Clay Holmes survived a shaky start to go seven innings as Altoona dropped Bowie, 5-3. Holmes gave up solo home runs in each of the first two innings and generally got hit fairly hard. After allowing four hits and a walk in those two innings, though, he gave up just two hits in the next five, although one of the hits was a third home run. Holmes had less trouble throwing strikes than he has in other outings, doing so in 50 of 83 pitches and issuing only the one walk. He didn’t strike out a batter and if he got a single swing and miss the whole game, I didn’t see it. Holmes primarily relied on his fastball, as his curve and change mostly weren’t effective. As the game went on, he did a better job of keeping the fastball down and getting weaker contact.

The Bowie starter, John Means, was making his first appearance in Double-A after pitching very well so far this year in High-A. He’s a lefty with a fringy fastball who relies heavily on a change. The Curve had trouble with him early, but in the fourth started catching on. Consecutive singles by Reese McGuire, Edwin Espinal, and Stetson Allie brought in a run in the fourth, and a triple by Erich Weiss in the fifth scored Harold Ramirez, who singled. Anderson Feliz doubled in two runs in the sixth to put Altoona ahead for good and Allie belted his fifth home run in the eighth. For the game, Weiss consistently made hard contact and went 3-4. Allie was 2-3, Feliz 2-4 and Austin Meadows 2-5 with two steals. Ramirez and McGuire each went 1-5. McGuire also cut down two runners at second with very accurate throws.

Jared Lakind and Montana DuRapau each threw an inning after Holmes departed. Lakind has fairly good velocity for a lefty and a changeup with good deception. He’s a converted first baseman who’s getting a shot at Double-A this year despite never previously having pitched above Low-A. He’ll be eligible for minor league free agency after the season, so the Pirates are probably taking the chance to take a look at him against advanced competition. He’s done well so far, apart from some minor control issues. In this game he walked one and struck out one in a scoreless inning. – Wilbur Miller

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

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Austin Coley gave up two runs in the first inning on Saturday night, then followed that up with six scoreless frames to close out his day. He allowed just three base runners after the first inning, all on singles. In his last eight starts combined, he has given up 11 earned runs. That stretch followed the nine runs he allowed between his first two starts of the season. Coley didn’t walk anyone in this game, threw 67 of his 91 pitches for strikes, and he had an 8:5 GO/AO ratio, to go along with five strikeouts.

Pablo Reyes has been at shortstop all three games since Kevin Newman left and he had a big doubleheader yesterday. That was followed by two hits and a walk tonight. He collected his 12th double of the season, tops on the team, and drove in two runs. Reyes is going to lose that shortstop spot soon, with Cole Tucker getting promoted to Bradenton. Since he has been playing well, expect to see him at shortstop when Tucker rests, second base when Kevin Kramer rests and possibly in the outfield or at DH, as he has shown he deserves a regular spot in the lineup.

Bradenton won 4-2, with Chase Simpson collecting his second homer of the year, and Jeff Roy driving in the other run. Roy also scored a run on the Reyes double. Michael Suchy had a single, a double and scored a run. Connor Joe hit his ninth double of the season.

Tate Scioneaux threw two no-hit shutout innings, allowing two walks and striking out four batters. He began the year with West Virginia, but since being promoted, he has allowed one run over 14.1 innings, with six hits and 20 strikeouts.

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

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CHARLESTON, WV – Have we returned to peak JT Brubaker? Pitching coach Matt Ford seems to think so.

“He’s pitching down,” said Ford after a masterful outing by Brubaker. “When he keeps his pitches low, he’s going to have success.”

He added, “Sometimes we’re not pitching coaches. We’re pitching reminders, and he just needed a reminder.”

The big right-hander has been stuck in a rut for the last month, losing five straight starts. He has been plagued by home runs, and in his last start, he lasted a mere two innings and gave up six runs. Over that five-game span, his ERA was 6.38.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re throwing 100 miles per hour,” said Ford. “If you throw the ball thigh high, the batter’s going to take advantage of that.”

Tonight Brubaker looked much more like the pitcher who started the season with a 2.14 ERA. He allowed a single run in his six innings on the mound, and the few moments of trouble came as a result of fielding errors and slow rollers on the infield.

The difference? Brubaker had near-total control of his fastball. He went to three balls on only three of the 25 batters he faced, and he set a new career high with nine strikeouts. In the sixth inning, his fastball still touched 93 MPH.

Of course, the Power would have been fine even if the bad Brubaker showed up. The team scored a season-high 12 runs. Four players crossed the plate at least twice, and Daniel Arribas went 5-for-5 with a trio of singles, a double, a homer, five RBI, and two runs scored.

Arribas has been hot all month. In April, he hit a decent .242, but in May, he’s hit .329. His on-base percentage has increased as well, from .337 in April to .473. Finally, his slugging percentage rose from .470 to .557.

Only one Power player failed to get a hit: Logan Hill. Hill was recently demoted from Bradenton, and he has struggled mightily. So far, he only has two hits with West Virginia, and he has struck out 14 times in eight games.

Ultimately, the Columbia Fireflies could only muster two runs, one set up by an error and the other by a walk. The Power go into tomorrow’s series finale with a 2-1 series advantage. – Abigail Miskowiec

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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