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Morning Report: A Busy Day of Prospect Watching Today

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Today should be a busy day of me avoiding the heat outside by watching a few games on MiLB.tv. West Virginia will have their game on at 1:00 PM during their last day in Rome. It’s been good to see Mitch Keller and Gage Hinsz the last two days, even if Keller didn’t live up the billing. I have now watched Keller pitch seven times this season, including twice in person. This was just the second time I’ve seen Hinsz and he has looked solid each starts. The Power still have two road series left this season against teams that broadcast their games online, so I’m hoping these two pitchers line up for both of those series. Today’s starter is Dario Agrazal, who was hitting 94-95 consistently when I saw him live two weeks ago.

After the West Virginia game ends, Morgantown has a doubleheader. I’m hoping to see James Marvel, who has been pitching well in his return from Tommy John surgery. He is scheduled to pitch one of the games and I’m assuming it will be the first game at 5:05 PM. I saw Marvel once earlier in the year when Morgantown played in Staten Island. That isn’t a good team for watching games online, but it beats not seeing a game. Their video is poor quality and they had one camera that sits well above and behind the plate. It makes it tough to get a good read on what a pitcher is throwing. So this will almost be like seeing him for the first time besides video we had from Extended Spring Training.

At 7:00 PM it’s on to the Indianapolis game to watch Trevor Williams pitch, and a lineup full of prospects hit. I usually watch Clay Holmes pitch, but Sean McCool will be providing live coverage in Altoona, so I’ll go back and watch his start on replay. Williams is the player who could help the Pirates sometime this year, so it will be good to have eyes on his game, as Indianapolis plays on the road in Gwinnett. Over the last three weeks, he has been the best pitcher in the system.

Basically, the Prospect Watch tonight should be one that you shouldn’t miss. It will also include a live report from Tim Williams for the GCL Pirates. He will get a chance to see Miguel Hernandez, a pitcher who didn’t get a mention in our top 50 article, but he is someone worth keeping an eye on. The 6’5″, right-hander sits 91-94 MPH and has been dominant in starts where his command is strong. He has had some control issues, but this is also just his second season of pro ball, so there is plenty of time for his to work that out and possibly add more velocity as he fills out.

So weather permitting in all of these towns (and Morgantown starting Marvel first), the Prospect Watch will have two live reports and three reports from me for games I watched online.

** Since strikeouts are such an accepted part of the game, I wanted to point out some players who are doing a good job of not being part of the “in” (or is it out?) crowd. Felix Vinicio has five strikeouts in 97 plate appearances down in the GCL. Ty Moore has 16 in 203 plate appearances. I’m impressed by this next one because he played in Bristol last year and he’s been moving all around this season. Tomas Morales has ten strikeouts in 103 plate appearances. That’s really impressive for someone who has taken at-bats three, four and five levels higher than last season.

Some not surprising ones are Reese McGuire with 24 strikeouts in 288 plate appearances, Kevin Newman with 24 in 310 plate appearances, and Jin-De Jhang with 11 strikeouts in 138 plate appearances. I feel like I’ve seen all of those for Jhang because numerous times I remember thinking that what I just saw doesn’t happen often.

PIRATES GAME GRAPH

The Pirates were off on Monday

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates were off yesterday. Francisco Liriano matches up against Felix Hernandez tonight, as the Pirates and Mariners play a two-game series in Pittsburgh. Liriano allowed two runs over 6.2 innings in his last start, walking no one and striking out 13 batters. In his prior start, he allowed three runs over six innings and walked four batters. Hernandez has a 3.23 ERA in 69.2 innings, with 55 strikeouts and a 1.28 WHIP. He spent nearly two months on the disabled list with a strained right calf, then allowed five runs on ten hits in 6.2 innings in his first game back last week.

In the minors, Trevor Williams and Clay Holmes get the starts today. Williams has been on a hot streak lately, allowing one earned run on 12 hits and two walks over his last 28 innings (four starts). Holmes had been pitching well, but then he allowed five runs over four innings in his last start. James Marvel starts for Morgantown, as they will play a doubleheader today after a rain out last night. Marvel has a .207 BAA, an 0.99 WHIP and a 2.21 GO/AO ratio. The second starter is listed as Danny Beddes, though that could change if they don’t want two pitchers from their rotation going on the same night.

The GCL Pirates will go with Miguel Hernandez. Nicholas Economos is scheduled to start for Bristol.

MLB: Pittsburgh (51-47) vs Mariners (50-48) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Francisco Liriano (4.96 ERA, 62:106 BB/SO, 105.1 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (53-50) @ Gwinnett (46-56) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Trevor Williams (2.85 ERA, 15:38 BB/SO, 66.1 IP)

AA: Altoona (56-45) vs Erie (42-61) 7:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Clay Holmes (4.54 ERA, 45:74 BB/SO, 101.0 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (52-46) @ St Lucie (52-45) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: JT Brubaker (5.35 ERA, 11:23 BB/SO, 35.1 IP)

Low-A: West Virginia (51-49) @ Rome (42-57) 1:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Dario Agrazal (4.35 ERA, 13:55 BB/SO, 101.1 IP)

Short-Season A: Morgantown (18-18) vs Lowell (21-15) 5:05 PM DH(season preview)
Probable Starter: James Marvel (3.78 ERA, 8:23 BB/SO, 33.1 IP)

Rookie: Bristol (15-16) @ Burlington (17-14) 7:00 PM (season preview)

GCL: Pirates (12-15) vs Braves (11-16) 12:00 PM (season preview)

DSL: Pirates (16-27) vs Yankees1 (21-21) 10:30 AM (season preview)

HIGHLIGHTS

Here is a strikeout from Gage Hinsz on Sunday. He threw six shutout innings.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

7/25: Ke’Bryan Hayes placed on the disabled list.

7/24: Tyler Glasnow placed on disabled list. A.J. Schugel recalled.

7/23: Tyler Glasnow recalled. A.J. Schugel optioned to Indianapolis.

7/23: Eric Fryer placed on paternity list. Elias Diaz recalled.

7/22: Erik Kratz clears waivers. Elects free agency.

7/21: Chris Diaz placed on temporary inactive list.

7/20: Jose Regalado assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.

7/20: Ryan Vogelsong assigned to Indianapolis on rehab.

7/19: Francisco Cervelli activated from disabled list. Erik Kratz designated for assignment.

7/19: Jameson Taillon activated from disabled list. Chad Kuhl optioned to Indianapolis.

7/19: Frank Duncan placed on disabled list.

7/19: Elias Diaz assigned to Indianapolis.

7/19: Justin Topa assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.

7/17: Jonathan Schwind assigned to Altoona.

7/16: Elias Diaz assigned to Altoona on rehab.

7/16: Gerrit Cole activated from the disabled list. Josh Bell optioned to Indianapolis.

7/15: Pirates sign Austin Shields. Assigned to GCL Pirates.

7/15: Pirates sign Boomer Synek. Assigned to GCL Pirates.

7/14: Francisco Cervelli assigned to Indianapolis on rehab.

7/14: John Kuchno assigned to Altoona.

7/14: Jordan George promoted to West Virginia

7/13: Daniel Zamora placed on West Virginia disabled list.

7/13: Colten Brewer activated from temporary inactive list. Nick Neumann placed on Bradenton disabled list.

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

Four former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus a trade of note. First the trade, and on this date in 2008, the Pirates sent Damaso Marte and Xavier Nady to the New York Yankees for Jose Tabata and three pitchers, Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens and Daniel McCutchen. The Pirates got decent use out of the three pitchers, with both Karstens and Ohlendorf looking really good at times. Jose Tabata was still around until last season and he ended up signing a deal that looks bad now with the way he performed, but it could have been a good deal if he lived up to his potential. The Yankees didn’t get much from the deal. Marte was a free agent at the end of the 2008 season. Nady had another year on his contract, but he ended up getting injured just seven games into the 2009 season and missed the rest of the year.

The players born on this date include 1969-70 infielder Jose Martinez, 1949-51, 1955 outfielder Tom Saffell, 1948-49 third baseman Eddie Bockman and 1947 second baseman Jimmy Bloodworth. Saffell, Bockman and Bloodworth all served in the military during WWII, missing a combined nine years of their playing career. You can read more about those players in this link.

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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