Prospect Watch: Max Kranick Throws Two Shutout Innings in His Pro Debut

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160713′,’alt’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Altoona is on their All-Star break until Thursday.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160713′,’bra’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Bradenton had their bats going on Wednesday night, as they beat Dunedin by an 8-5 score. Everyone in the lineup contributed with at least one hit and only Kevin Kramer failed to score a run and/or drive in a run. Elias Diaz had four singles and scored a run. He caught seven innings in his fifth rehab game behind the plate (he was also the DH once). Cole Tucker hit a two-run homer in the first inning. He also had two walks and scored two runs.

Jerrick Suiter and Pablo Reyes each drove in two runs. Reyes had two walks and his 16th double. Elvis Escobar had two hits, including his fourth homer. Chase Simpson hit his 14th double, while also picking up a single, a walk, an RBI and a run scored.

Austin Coley started and allowed four runs in the first inning. After that, he threw five shutout innings. Coley now has a 3.79 ERA in 97.1 innings. Tate Scioneaux allowed one run over two innings and then Luis Heredia picked up a save with a scoreless ninth.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160713′,’wva’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

CHARLESTON, WV – Impressed by Gage Hinsz’s seven innings of six-hit, shutout ball last night? Well, then Mitch Keller’s performance tonight will knock your socks off. Keller, who has struggled with his control in his last few starts after a sterling beginning to the season, posted seven innings of two-hit shutout ball to lead the Power to their third straight win. Now, consider that Hinsz and Keller hung these zeroes on the SAL Southern Division leading Augusta GreenJackets, a team that features the top hitter in the league.

Keller’s dominance shouldn’t come as a surprise, but tonight’s game featured a different Keller than the pitcher who struck out 23 batters in his first three starts this year. Tonight, he struck out only four batters. The typical Keller start features blazing fastballs that can be turned into line drives and fly balls by opposing sluggers, but tonight, Keller took a bit off his fastball and worked it low in the zone for a 12:5 GO/AO ratio.

The key tonight was Keller’s use of his three pitches; when the GreenJackets started to hit his fastball for more fly balls in the later innings, he went to the changeup and curveball to produce outs.

“He has the ability to throw both pitches to get hitters off the fastball early in the count,” said Power manager Brian Esposito. “He’s been good. He’s coming along.”

Offensively, the Power had to rely on gifts given by the GreenJackets’ sloppy defense. The Power leapt to an early lead, plating two in the second inning on an error and a wild pitch. Another Augusta error scored Casey Hughston in the fifth inning after Hughston used his speed to turn a sure double into a triple.

Hughston is now hitting .253 since his return to the Power on June 16. He has shown flashes of power, as well, with seven extra base hits in that span. That said, Hughston’s strikeout struggles have continued, and he added two more tonight to bring his season total to 81 in 55 games. Since his return, he has avoided a strikeout in only three games.

The three runs were sufficient, although this streak of offensive failure certainly won’t carry the Power when the Power pitchers finally come down to earth. The reliable bullpen slammed the door after Keller’s departure. Jess Amedee and Seth McGarry each tossed a perfect inning, earning McGarry his fourth save of the year. The Power last had back-to-back shutout wins in May of 2010. – Abigail Miskowiec

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160713′,’wev’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Morgantown dropped to 11-15 on the season with a 10-3 loss to Hudson Valley. The Black Bears are now 5-15 in their last 20 games. The scoring in this game started off slow, as Morgantown had a 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the fifth. Starter Stephan Meyer allowed four runs over six innings, giving him a 6.28 ERA through six starts and 30.2 innings. Eighth round pick Dylan Prohoroff followed him and his outing was a disaster. He allowed six runs on four hits and two walks, failing to get through one inning of work. Billy Roth finished the game with 1.1 scoreless innings.

The offense didn’t do a bad job of getting on base, with six hits and six walks. They scored one run in three different innings, so they couldn’t get a rally going. In the second, Hunter Owen reached on an infield single, then scored on a triple by Arden Pabst. In the fifth, Owen was again the catalyst. He doubled to lead-off the inning, then was sacrificed to third base, before scoring on a ground out by Nick King.

In the eighth, the Black Bears had a run handed to them, with an error followed by three consecutive walks. Ty Moore picked up the RBI in that frame. He has 86 plate appearances this year for Morgantown and only three strikeouts. Will Craig went 0-for-2, but he drew two walks. He has 14 walks and 11 hits. On defense, he committed his fourth and fifth errors.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160713′,’bri’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Bristol lost 7-4, overshadowing some outstanding work by their bullpen. Fifth round draft pick Blake Cederlind allowed six runs in the first, retiring just one batter. After that, Mike Wallace, Shane Kemp and Jordan Jess allowed one run over 7.2 innings. Cederlind had some average results in his first three starts, all on limited pitch counts. This game however, raised his ERA to 9.72 in 8.1 innings.

Michael de la Cruz had the only multi-hit game for the Pirates, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. He is batting .304 in 17 games this year, with 11 walks and 4-for-4 in stolen bases. On the downside, he has struck out 21 times already. Adrian Valerio had a single, run scored and an RBI. He is hitting .299 through his first 18 games, with six doubles and a homer.

Raul Siri has had a surprisingly tough time with Bristol, after playing some games for the team last year. He was the DSL team MVP in 2014, then moved to the GCL last year and had some trouble adjusting to the better pitching. That was despite being one of the better hitters in the entire DSL in 2014, tying the league record with 25 doubles. He is also 21 years old (22 in October) so he’s on the old side for the Appalachian League. He is hitting .155 this year in 16 games. He had a walk and a single on Wednesday night, but also struck out twice and made two errors.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160713′,’pir’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

BRADENTON, Fla. – Nick Kingham made a rehab start today for the GCL Pirates, going four innings with just one run allowed. I talked with Kingham after the outing, and you can read the latest on his rehab here.

After Kingham finished, Max Kranick came on to make his pro debut. Kranick went two shutout innings, throwing 31 pitches with 17 strikes. His fastball was touching as high as 94 MPH, sitting in the 89-92 range. He was mostly working with his two-seam fastball, only throwing the four seam fastball a few times. That pitch comes in at 93-94, while the two-seamer was the one sitting 89-92.

There were some command issues, and Kranick said he was dealing with some adrenaline today with his pro debut. He was leaving his two-seamer up a bit, and also missing just off the plate a few times, with the pitch showing a lot of run. He only threw two curveballs, both coming in around 73 MPH, and one changeup at 81. The curveball was inconsistent on the two pitches he threw, which makes sense, as it’s a new pitch for him this year. The focus today was pitching to contact and trying to run it inside on hitters.

“Especially with wood bats, I’m going to try to bust in a lot more than I did to get weak ground ball outs,” Kranick said of his approach.

Here was some video on Kranick, including his lone strikeout of the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPkpyFYtSDY&feature=youtu.be

The plan for Kranick is to build up from here, going three innings in his next outing.

The Pirates won 8-3, fueled by a five run inning in the bottom of the eighth. Catcher Raul Hernandez knocked in the go ahead run, hitting a single to score Melvin Jimenez, who started the inning off with a walk. Edison Lantigua and Yondry Contreras followed up with singles, and Paul Brands knocked in a second run with a single of his own. Johan De Jesus reached on an error to bring in another run. Then, Victor Ngoepe broke it open with a triple to right field, scoring the final two runs. – Tim Williams

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20160713′,’dpi’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

The DSL Pirates won 3-2 behind the pitching of Leandro Pina, who is having an incredible season. Pina began his career by throwing five innings without an earned run in each of his first five starts. He then gave up two runs over four innings last week. On Wednesday morning, he returned to form with five shutout innings. Pina allowed three hits, with no walks and three strikeouts. He hasn’t walked a batter since issuing two in his first start. He also had an 8:4 GO/AO ratio on Wednesday. Through 34 innings, the 17-year-old righty now has an 0.53 ERA.

The Pirates scored the first run of the game in the fifth. Ramy Perez singled, then moved to third base on an errant pick-off throw. Next up was Larry Alcime, who grounded out to second base. Perez beat the throw home and Alcime reached on a fielder’s choice and picked up an RBI.

In the eighth, the Pirates added to their lead and they would ended up needing both runs. A walk to Francisco Mepris was followed by Gabriel Brito’s third double and Cristopher Perez’s team-leading seventh double, which scored Mepris. Brito would leave for a pinch-runner, who would score one batter later on an error. The Yankees1 scored two runs in the top of the ninth off Eumir Sepulveda, but he was replaced by closer Ramon Garcia, who recorded the final two outs for his sixth save.