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Prospect Watch: Live Report on Gage Hinsz’s Seven Strikeout Night

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P2 Top 30

A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors and loses his prospect eligibility, 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 mid-season update, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.

We’re working on a solution for the PHP stat codes not working in the app.

1. Tyler Glasnow, RHP, Pirates -[insert_php]
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2. Austin Meadows, CF, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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3. Josh Bell, 1B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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4. Kevin Newman, SS, Altoona – [insert_php]
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5. Mitch Keller, RHP, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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6. Nick Kingham, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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7.Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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8. Chad Kuhl, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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9. Will Craig, 3B, Morgantown –  [insert_php]
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10. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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11. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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12. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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13. Clay Holmes, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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14. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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15. Gage Hinsz, RHP, West Virginia  – [insert_php]
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16. Trevor Williams, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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17. Alen Hanson, 2B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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18. Tito Polo, OF, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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 19. Stephen Tarpley, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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20. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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21. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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22. Max Moroff, 2B, Pirates -[insert_php]
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23. Taylor Hearn, LHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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24. Adrian Valerio, SS – Bristol – [insert_php]
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25. Braeden Ogle, LHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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26. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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27. Travis MacGregor, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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28. Max Kranick, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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29. Frank Duncan, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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30. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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P2 Top Performers

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Prospect-Watch-Indy

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INDIANAPOLIS — He threw three pitches and had already allowed a run.

Trevor Williams didn’t have a sharp start against Toledo on Friday, but rebounded nicely to post another solid outing in the Indians’ 9-3 win.

Toledo leftfielder Alex Presley, a former player for the Pirates, hit a double into the rightfield corner on the second pitch of the game. Casey McGehee took the next pitch up the middle for an RBI single. The Mud Hens led 1-0 after three pitches.

Early in the game, Williams was leaving pitches elevated and over the plate. That’s a bad combination for a player who does not have overpowering stuff. But he didn’t let those early struggles compound into disaster.

Williams threw 67 of his 95 pitches for a strike, finishing 6.2 innings. He’s completed at least six innings in seven of his last eight starts. He allowed seven hits and struck out five, walking two.

“I think he got the ball down and got the ball out of the middle of the plate,” Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor said. “Which he has to do which we’ve talked about. I thought it was gritty.”

Steven Moya hit a hard lineout to left field for the first out. Williams then induced a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning. Indianapolis third baseman Alen Hanson, playing just his tenth game at the position this year, made a nice play glove side and followed that with a sharp throw to second.

Williams got two quick outs in the second inning before running into some trouble. A pair of singles and a balk allowed another run to score.

Presley singled to lead off the third inning, but was thrown out by Indians catcher Elias Diaz trying to steal second. Williams worked around a walk by striking out Moya on an 81 MPH breaking ball and inducing a soft groundout that he fielded himself from Chad Huffman.

Williams had his first 1-2-3 inning in the fourth, striking out Dean Green and JaCoby Jones, and inducing Dixon Machado to groundout to Hanson at third.

He gave up a run in the fifth inning, but that was the result of an infield hit, a bloop single to rightfield, and a popup that second baseman Max Moroff and shortstop Pedro Florimon let fall in the outfield grass behind second base, due to poor communication.

Williams had an efficient inning in the sixth, retiring the side on just nine pitches. Williams got two groundouts to second base on four pitches. He then struck out Jones for a second time. He was given a chance to finish the seventh inning, but after getting the first two outs, a walk ended his outing.

“I think it was just getting into a rhythm and kind of get rolling, and getting those quick 1-2-3 innings,” Williams said. “I just had a bad luck balk and sometimes that happens. But I was able to get a few quick innings.”

The three biggest hits of the game for the Indians were to the opposite field. The first came from Jose Osuna — who hit a three-run triple in the third inning.

The at-bat provided a good look at how Osuna is adapting to pitch sequences from the more veteran and polished pitchers he is facing in Triple-A.

Osuna was clearly not going to see a fastball in his at-bat, swinging and missing at two curveballs to go 0-2 in the count. But he took the third pitch — a breaking ball — opposite field into the rightfield corner for a three-run triple.

“He hung in there and for me he didn’t try to do too much,” Treanor said. “And he hits the ball down the rightfield line. He’s showing me a lot. When he gets a better feel for how he’s going to be pitched and what he’s going to see in certain situations and counts, he’s going to get better. He’s been very impressive since he’s been here.”

And if it seems like the same phrase comes up with Indianapolis coverage, that’s because it does: Osuna hits for an extra-base hit. In just 34 games with the Indians, he has 19 extra-base hits and a .587 slugging percentage.

In the sixth inning, Jason Rogers hit his fifth home run of the season — this one about 370 feet to right-centerfield and that put the Indians ahead for good, 4-3.

Osuna and Elias Diaz followed that up with singles. Danny Ortiz had an RBI double to score Osuna. Diaz was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice. Alen Hanson had an RBI single to score Ortiz, but Hanson was almost thrown out after rounding first too far. He seemingly stopped running, but the Toledo defense didn’t react quick enough and Hanson was able to slide back into first safely.

Elias Diaz had a two-run single in the seventh inning to the opposite field that scored Josh Bell and Jason Rogers, each of whom singled.

Max Moroff had a nice drag bunt single down the first base line in the fifth inning, but he was left stranded.

Austin Meadows was in uniform on Friday, but not activated. He is expected to be taken off the disabled list and start Saturday against Toledo, Treanor said.

Gift Ngoepe was removed from the game and replaced by Pedro Florimon, in what Treanor labeled a “manager’s decision.”

Diaz was 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while Osuna finished 3-for-3. Rogers was 2-for-3 and scored three runs. The Indians were 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position and five of their runs were scored with two outs.

“We have not been good with runners in scoring position,” Treanor said. “Last night I think we were 4-for-19 and you’re just not going to win if that’s the way it is. So, 5-for-12, is a huge improvement but we got some big ones.” – Brian Peloza

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

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Altoona lost 6-3 on Friday night, as Alex McRae pitched a great game, but the bullpen faltered late. In six innings, McRae allowed one run on five hits and two walks. He struck out six batters, had a 7:4 GO/AO ratio, and he threw 62 of his 93 pitches for strikes. He now has a 6.31 ERA in 11 starts with Altoona. This is the first game with the Curve in which he didn’t get a decision.

Trey Haley made his Altoona debut after being demoted from Indianapolis. He faced four batters and all four reached base, with two hits and two walks. Two of those runners scored. Brett McKinney allowed three runs over the final two innings.

Altoona had nine hits in this game, including two from Edwin Espinal and two from Eric Wood. Espinal couldn’t come up with any magic at the plate like he had the last two days, with a walk-off home run on Wednesday, and a walk-off sacrifice fly on Thursday. He did drive in the first run and also drew a walk. Wood hit his 15th home run, which only trails Tito Polo for the organization’s lead. Wood now has an .815 OPS on the season.

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

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Austin Coley had perhaps his worst career outing on Friday night. In 3.2 innings, he allowed five runs on six hits and six walks, with no strikeouts. The walks are a career high, and he threw just 34 of his 73 pitches for strikes. St Lucie scored in each of the first four innings, before knocking him out in the fourth. Coley was helped by Henry Hirsch, who stranded two inherited runners. He now has a 5.32 ERA in eight games since the All-Star break.

Bradenton lost 6-4 in this game. Cole Tucker, Kevin Kramer, Jordan Luplow and Justin Maffei each had a pair of hits. Connor Joe hit his 23rd double, while Luplow added his 20th double and Michael Suchy hit his 12th of the season. Kramer collected his second triple. Luplow also drew two walks in this game, and his .771 OPS ranks him 13th in the Florida State League and first among all Bradenton hitters.

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

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DELMARVA, MD – Gage Hinsz threw five strong innings for West Virginia, allowing just one run. His fastball sat at 93-95 mph and touched higher. He showed good run and got a fair number of swings and misses with it. His sweeping curve is a legitimate out pitch. It was generally in the mid-70s and he mostly was able to throw it for strikes. He didn’t throw many changeups. In all he struck out seven.

Hinsz exited due to a pitch count of 96, but he threw 70 of them for strikes. There were a handful of long ABs in the first three innings, two of which ended in two of his three walks. He had some brief stretches where he seemed to lose his release point and would get a little wild inside and outside. There were a handful of hard hit balls, two of which Casey Hughston, who showed good range, ran down in center. On one, Hughston laid out fully on a diving catch. Hinsz gave up three hits, one on a hanging curve that got belted for a HR in the fifth.

Jess Amedee followed Hinsz for two innings. He retired six straight, three on strikeouts. Amedee has had some odd numbers in his three seasons so far, with weak ERAs and some control problems, but very high K rates. He throws an 88-91 mph fastball with a sharp breaking pitch that probably accounts for most of the strikeouts. He was locating both well tonight. Seth McGarry allowed a run in the eighth on a towering triple to center that was followed by a bloop single.

The Power had little luck with the Delmarva starter, a soft-tossing lefty. Pitchers like that, at this level, often produce a lot of strikeouts, but the Power fanned only three times in the entire game. They had some loud contact, as Logan Hill and Daniel Arribas each hit a pair of drives that were caught on the track, and Jordan George hit one. Fly balls seemed to die during the game, probably due to the humid night in a near-sea-level ballpark. It also didn’t help that the Power’s drives were mostly to the deeper parts of the ballpark, while the HR Hinsz allowed was pulled to left. West Virginia had only four hits, two of them in the first inning, and never mounted a serious scoring threat, leaving the final at 2-0.- Wilbur Miller

Prospect-Watch-Morgantown

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MORGANTOWN, WV – James Marvel is a pitch to contact guy who gets some great sink on his two-seamer, and a lot of cutting action when his stuff is on. Tonight, he saw that for a few innings, and showed off a very effective two-seamer that led to 13 groundouts and one fly out. However, two things led to a rough outing, which was fueled by a big fifth inning.

The first thing was his four seam fastball. The Mahoning Valley lineup was stacked with left-handers tonight, leading Marvel to rely on his four seam extension fastball more often. The pitch is flatter than his two-seamer, and isn’t nearly as effective, leading to a lot of hard hit balls. He also struggled when pitching from the stretch, seeing his velocity take a dip, and less action on his stuff. Marvel noted that he did well against this team in his first start of the year, but that tonight was a completely different lineup than the one he shut out for six innings.

Things really unraveled in the fifth inning, when Marvel gave up four runs and lost his command. He also struggled from the stretch, getting hit around a lot. Some of these issues could be chalked up to his return from Tommy John. This is his first year back, and as we’ve seen with Clay Holmes, it’s not always an easy path, despite what Jameson Taillon showed. Holmes is in his second year back from Tommy John, and has just recently gotten away from inconsistent performances from start to start, or inning to inning.

There’s a lot to like about Marvel, as he has a big frame, and when his stuff is on, he gets weak contact on the ground. He needs to develop a changeup to help battle against lefties (he only threw it about five times tonight, despite a lefty-heavy lineup), and shows some confidence and good spin with the curveball. He’s a good project for the Pirates, with hope that his command issues improve the more he pitches in his return from Tommy John.

Dylan Prohoroff, taken in the eighth round this year, was an interesting guy. He usually sits in the 92-94 MPH range, touching 95, but has had some control problems. After just one pitch, it was easy to see why he’s seen as such a high upside arm, and why he has some severe control problems. He’s got a violent delivery, with an extreme head tuck into his armpit, to the point where he sometimes is looking down early enough and not seeing where the ball is going. He walked the first hitter he saw tonight, but settled down and pitched two shutout innings, with a walk, a hit, and three strikeouts.

The fastball was only 91-92 MPH tonight, which might be due to pitching this late in the season. He showed some promise with his slider, getting a lot of downward movement, and showing swing and miss ability. That’s still a pitch in development for him, as he’s been fastball only to this point. In the GIF below, you can see the extreme head tuck, along with the very deceptive slider.

Prohoroff

One of the most impressive players so far has been Stephen Alemais, and solely for his defense at shortstop. I’d describe it here, but I’ve got a very detailed article on that coming early next week, along with a look at his hitting, with some information that I haven’t seen anywhere else. For now, check out these plays, noting that they all came tonight, and weren’t even all of the plays that he made.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBswjUQ00Tg

Will Craig continued his hitting streak, extending it to 13 games. I’ve also got an article on Craig coming early next week, with a detailed look at his hitting, along with a focus on what the Pirates want him to focus on in an attempt to stick at third. He was the DH tonight, allowing undrafted free agent Nick King to start at third, going 2-for-3 with a walk. After the game, Black Bears Manager Wyatt Toregas said that King is going to start getting more playing time, due to his hunger and performance on the field when he gets in. It sounds like that time could mostly come from second base. He’ll get a start at third each week when Craig gets his day as a DH, but could start stealing some time from Kevin Mahala at second. – Tim Williams

Prospect-Watch-Bristol
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Bristol went down 4-0 early to Greeneville and then came back for the 10-6 win in ten innings. Adam Oller started this game and allowed four runs on seven hits in four innings. In his previous four outings combined, he gave up just three earned runs over 17 innings. Four relievers followed him and allowed two runs over the final six innings, with one of those runs being unearned, and the other was from a solo homer off David Whitehead.

The Pirates had one runner on in each of the first three innings, but couldn’t score any runs. In the fourth, they were retired in order. That was followed in the fifth by a solo homer from Julio de la Cruz, his third of the season. In the sixth they went down in order again before putting up four runs in the seventh. The big hit from that inning was a three-run homer from Henrry Rosario.

In the tenth inning, Bristol had five hits, two walks and Greeneville committed two costly errors. Raul Siri drove in two runs with his fifth double of the season. Jhoan Herrera collected his 11th double. Michael de la Cruz had an RBI single. He also had an RBI ground out in the seventh inning, and he picked up an outfield assist.

Prospect-Watch-GCL

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The GCL Pirates lost 3-2 to the Phillies on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. The Pirates sent Max Kranick to the mound and the 11th round pick gave them five solid innings. He allowed one run on a solo homer in the second inning. Kranick was making his fifth start and he went five innings for the first time. He will be capped at five innings this season and should get four more starts before the end of the season. He has a 3.31 ERA in 16.1 innings and he has issued just two walks.

That home run Kranick gave up, accounted for the only run of the game through the first seven innings. In the top of the eighth, the Pirates tied the game up on a Melvin Jimenez sacrifice fly that scored Victor Ngoepe. The inning started with Ngoepe reaching on an infield single, then moving to second on a throwing error, followed by a balk that moved him to third base.

After going down a run in the bottom of the eighth, the Pirates tied it up in the ninth with a Boomer Synek double, followed by a Johan De Jesus RBI single. In the bottom of the ninth, Ronny Agustin allowed a double and a single to score the winning run. Ngoepe had two hits in the game, while Yondry Contreras walked twice. Sam Kennelly went 1-for-4 in his first game back with the GCL Pirates after being demoted from Bristol.

Prospect-Watch-DSL

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The DSL Pirates won’t be eliminated from the playoffs this week, as they pulled out a 5-3 victory over the Yankees1. They had some big games on offense, including the best game of Jeremias Portorreal’s career. He went 3-for-3 with two doubles and two walks, scoring a run and picking up an RBI.

Portorreal had a 19-game on base streak snapped in his last game. He has seemed like a possible bust after signing for a $375,000 bonus in 2013, but it’s important to remember that he turns 19 on Sunday, so he is still young, and he now has a .717 OPS. He has made significant improvements in his strikeout rate. He struck out every 3.3 plate appearances as a rookie in 2014, then improved slightly last year to one every 3.9 PA. This season he is at one every 5.9 PA.

The Pirates also got a nice game from Sherten Apostel, who went 3-for-4 with a walk. The 17-year-old from Curacao now has a .199/.321/265 slash line in 39 games. Those are the highest his slugging percentage and average have been all season.

Gabriel Brito had two hits, a walk, and drove in three runs. Kyle Simmons reached base in all three plate appearances with a walk and two hit-by-pitches.

Yeudry Manzanillo started and allowed one unearned run over five innings. This is the first time in 11 starts that he hasn’t allowed an earned run while pitching five innings. The 17-year-old Manzanillo signed for $150,000 last July, the highest bonus the Pirates gave any pitcher during the 2015-16 signing period.

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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