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Morning Report: The Best and the Worst from the First Half for Indianapolis

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Last up for the best and worst lists, we have the Indianapolis Indians. We went through Altoona yesterday, Bradenton on Tuesday and West Virginia on Monday. Same rules apply, these might not be the best and worst prospects, but the players who performed over and under my expectations for them.

BEST

1. Jameson Taillon – This was the easiest choice to make because I don’t think anyone expected Jameson Taillon to look ready for the majors before anyone else. They say command is the last thing to come back after Tommy John surgery, but he never even had a really bad inning as far as command. He filled the strike zone, looking better than ever, and has already made three Major League starts. I wouldn’t have had a hard time believing that he would still be in the minors at this time if it played out that way, only because it’s tough to predict what two years off from regular season action would do to him. In the future, I wouldn’t expect the same results from others.

2. Adam Frazier – Putting him here just shows how average this season has been for Indianapolis. He is hitting .333, which is definitely higher than I expected. It actually leads the league, but it’s coming from someone who hit about the same last year for Altoona, so it shouldn’t be too surprising. A few days ago in the Top Performers article, I mentioned that his defense has improved a lot in the outfield since early in the season. He has made a liar out of me in the very short time since then because he has looked awful on four plays, with two of them proving to be costly. Frazier is also having an extremely difficult time trying to steal bases and it seems to be getting worse. Yes, I meant to put him second on the best list and it’s because of the hitting and his approach at the plate, but it just shows that Indianapolis isn’t seeing a lot of players exceed expectations. I think Taillon more than made up for that though.

3. Frank Duncan – I know he made the Altoona list already, but a 3.00 ERA in Triple-A and a ground ball machine, who has probably done a better job than anyone at controlling his pitch count, deserves to be on two lists. Duncan has really exceeded expectations, I just couldn’t put him ahead of Frazier because Duncan has only been around for seven starts. Not that this helps his case because it’s nothing new to him, but Duncan’s command has been stellar as usual.

4. Curtis Partch – I didn’t expect to see Partch in the majors, but he earned his two call-ups by pitching great. He has a 1.36 ERA in 33 innings, with an 0.97 WHIP and 37 strikeouts. He also had a .177 BAA and hasn’t given up a home run.

5. Josh Bell – His stats are about what I expected, so that isn’t why he is here. It’s how he got to where he is at this point, and that’s by hitting left-handed pitching better than ever. Bell went nearly two years without hitting a homer from the right side, but that power has emerged this season. He has also made a huge jump in his defense since the end of last year. It’s not where you want it to be yet, but it’s a lot closer than it was last September. It might be disappointing to some that he’s still in Triple-A with the super two safe deadline passing two weeks ago. I don’t consider that his fault because the bat looks ready. Pirates have five games coming up next week in American League parks. Wouldn’t be a bad idea to give those DH starts to Bell to get his bat in the lineup.

WORST

1. Injuries – The Pirates  could clearly use some starting pitching help besides Taillon, so it would have been nice if their five prospects were all healthy. Some people forget Chad Kuhl was injured and missed a start (and returned early with a limited pitch count) at the beginning of the season. That was followed by Trevor Williams missing eight starts and Steven Brault getting hurt and just returning in a rehab start this week. Brault still has the best pitched game I’ve seen this year and I just watched Tyler Glasnow throw seven no-hit innings, plus saw Mitch Keller’s two best starts against helpless teams. You never know what would happen if they were all healthy all season. Oh yeah, Elias Diaz would be in the majors right now if he was healthy.

2. Mel Rojas Jr. – His end finally came and he went out with a whimper. Rojas was doing well early on during this last winter, leading the Dominican League in homers for awhile. He really fell off at the end of the winter and then he was barely playing for Indianapolis when they finally cut ties and gave him to the Braves, where he actually went to Double-A until injuries forced them to call him up to Triple-A this week. There was such hope when he played well in 2014 for Indianapolis, and then he teased us again this off-season, but the Pirates got nothing from their toolsy third round pick in 2010.

3. Alen Hanson – It seems very odd to say a 23-year-old finally got called up to the majors, but Hanson has been on the prospect list for a long time. It turns out, his three day stint in the majors was probably the worst thing for him, though it’s his own fault. Hanson was on a nice streak when he got called up to fill in for Starling Marte, who went on three-day paternity leave. The Pirates told Hanson when he left to just continue doing what he was doing. He somehow heard “swing for the fences” and that’s what he did for a good two weeks, trying to get back to the majors with every swing, and that is not his game. It led to horrible results and his average plummeting. The defense is Major League quality and his base running/speed is a tool the Pirates could use in September if they are in a playoff race. If they aren’t, he should be seeing regular playing time for the experience. First though, he needs to go back to what was working right before he got called up.

4. Trey Haley – The Pirates obviously saw something they liked with Haley, which landed him a 40-man roster spot. I’ve watched him pitch often now and all I see is velocity. I also see a 1.77 WHIP and a 6.75 ERA, plus he got dropped from the 40-man roster.

5. Tyler Glasnow – Except for walks, stats suggest he shouldn’t be on this list. You can’t ignore the walks though, because they come from poor fastball command, which is why he has made (at least) three more starts in Triple-A than he should have made. He just had what I consider to be his best game as far as his stuff, so I wouldn’t be surprised if his next start is with the Pirates. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he is with Indianapolis for at least one more game because the command has changed drastically from bad to average to very good and back to bad for him this year. The other thing that gets him here is the fact they had to force him to throw more changeups after barely using the pitch early. Some pitcher would rather stick to what got them there, even if it won’t get them further. He has thrown 13 straight no-hit innings and used the changeup frequently (for him) and he didn’t get hurt. Maybe that will give him more confidence in the pitch.

PIRATES GAME GRAPH


Source: FanGraphs

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates lost 7-6 to the Giants on Wednesday night. Jon Niese gets the start this afternoon, coming off two starts in which he allowed a combined 12 runs on 17 hits and five walks in 10.2 innings. He is second in the NL with 17 home runs allowed. The Giants will counter with rookie Albert Suarez, who has a 3.69 ERA in 31.2 innings. In his last start, he allowed three runs over 4.2 innings against the Rays.

In the minors, James Marvel gets his second start for Morgantown, trying to follow up on six shutout innings in his pro debut. He signed an over-slot deal last year after dropping down to the 36th round in draft due to Tommy John surgery. JT Brubaker will make his second start for Bradenton after allowing four runs over seven hits over five innings in his debut.

Trevor Williams gave up one run over five innings in his start last weekend. It was his best outing for Indianapolis this season and he will try to build on that tonight. In his last start, Cody Dickson had a streak snapped of seven starts in a row with either no runs or one run

Bristol begins their schedule today with Nestor Oronel on the mound. Last year they rarely updated their probable pitchers, so we didn’t include that in the schedule. If we know ahead of time who is pitching, we will list it here. The Bristol preview will be posted today.

MLB: Pittsburgh (34-38) vs Giants (46-27) 12:35 PM
Probable starter: Jon Niese (4.74 ERA, 29:59 BB/SO, 81.2 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (39-33) @ Gwinnett (33-40) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Trevor Williams (4.73 ERA, 12:11 BB/SO, 26.2 IP)

AA: Altoona (39-31) @ Binghamton (28-41) 6:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Cody Dickson (3.48 ERA, 47:42 BB/SO, 67.1 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (38-30) vs Charlotte (33-36) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: JT Brubaker (7.20 ERA, 1:4 BB/SO, 5.0 IP)

Low-A: West Virginia (35-34) @ Asheville (34-35) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter:  TBD

Short-Season A: Morgantown (6-0) @ Staten Island (5-1) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable Starter: James Marvel (0.00 ERA, 0:5 BB/SO, 6.0 IP)

Rookie: Bristol (0-0) @ Bluefield (0-0) 7:05 PM

DSL: Pirates (5-11) vs Mets1 (6-9) 10:30 AM (season preview)

HIGHLIGHTS

Here is a highlight video from Morgantown’s game on Tuesday night.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

6/22: Pirates recall Kyle Lobstein. Wilfredo Boscan optioned to Indianapolis.

6/22: Jhondaniel Medina assigned to Indianapolis.

6/21: Pirates recall Wilfredo Boscan. Curtis Partch optioned to Indianapolis.

6/21: Pirates sign Braeden Ogle.

6/20: Trace Tam Sing and Erik Lunde added to Bradenton roster. Pablo Reyes placed on temporary inactive list.

6/19: Steven Brault sent to Morgantown on a rehab assignment.

6/19: Pirates purchase the contract of Jacob Stallings. Jason Rogers optioned to Indianapolis.

6/19: Tomas Morales promoted to Indianapolis.

6/18: Pirates option Rob Scahill to Indianapolis. Recall Jason Rogers, Jorge Rondon and Curtis Partch.

6/18: Cory Luebke designated for assignment.

6/18: Juan Nicasio placed on restricted list.

6/17: Pirates released Garrett Russini and Guido Knudson.

6/17: Pirates sign Matt Frawley, Stephen Owen and Arden Pabst.

6/16: Pirates sign 13 draft picks.

6/16: Casey Hughston and Logan Sendelbach assigned to West Virginia. Julio Vivas and Billy Roth assigned to Morgantown.

6/15: Pirates sign Will Craig, Matt Anderson and nine other draft picks.

6/15: Pirates release Nick Buckner.

6/15: Trey Haley sent outright to Indianapolis.

6/15: Dovydas Neverauskas promoted to Indianapolis. John Kuchno placed on disabled list.

6/14: Pirates place Gerrit Cole on the disabled list. Recall Jameson Taillon.

6/14: Kevin Newman and Wyatt Mathisen activated from disabled list. Trace Tam Sing assigned to GCL Pirates.

6/14: Miguel Rosario promoted to Altoona.

6/14: Pirates release Robert Zarate.

6/13: Sam Street activated from Temporary Inactive List. JT Brubaker assigned to GCL Pirates.

6/11: Pirates acquire Erik Kratz from Angels for cash considerations. Trey Haley designated for assignment.

6/11: Clay Holmes added to Altoona roster. David Whitehead placed on disabled list.

6/11: Pirates place Francisco Cervelli on disabled list.

6/11: Pirates option Kyle Lobstein and Cole Figueroa to Indianapolis. recall Rob Scahill and Arquimedes Caminero.

6/10: Mitch Keller added to West Virginia roster. Logan Sendelbach assigned to GCL Pirates.

6/10: Alex McRae promoted to Altoona.

6/9: Pirates option Jameson Taillon to Indianapolis. Kyle Lobstein recalled from Indianapolis.

6/9: Frank Duncan promoted to Indianapolis.

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

Two former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus a trade of note. Both players were pitchers, Ken Jungels (1942) and Bill Harris, who pitched for the Pirates from 1931 until 1934. Harris was used mainly in relief for the Pirates, starting 22 times and coming out of the bullpen 61 times. He had a 3.45 ERA in 276.2 innings. He didn’t have a great Major League career, but if you throw in his minor league stats, he had 281 career wins.

On this date in 1956, the Pirates sent second baseman Curt Roberts and pitcher Jack McMahan to the Kansas City A’s in exchange for second baseman Spook Jacobs. This trade did almost nothing for the Pirates, as Jacobs started 11 games and struggled with the bat. That got him a demotion to the minors, which opened a spot for minor league second baseman Bill Mazeroski to make his Major League debut.

On this date in 1909, the Pirates won 3-1 over the Cardinals to push their record to 39-13 on the season, the best record in baseball. In the last 100 games of that season, which was every game after June 23rd, Pittsburgh went 71-29. That was also the best record in baseball over that time. Hall of Fame pitcher Vic Willis threw a complete game against the Cardinals and Honus Wagner had two walks and two hits, including a double that drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.

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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