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Prospect Watch: Kingham, Hinsz and Duncan Throw Shutout Ball

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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, Pirates – [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, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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7.Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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8. Chad Kuhl, RHP, Pirates – [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, Indianapolis -[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 was winning 2-0 going into the eighth inning and ended up with a 5-2 loss. Frank Duncan started, and while he wasn’t efficient with his pitch count, he managed to throw six shutout innings. At the end of the night, he was left with a very interesting stat line. Duncan has throw 102 innings with Indianapolis, posting a 1.94 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. Those three stats are exactly the same as what Tyler Glasnow has put up for Indianapolis this season, right down to the same number of base runners.

Duncan gave up five hits, a walk and hit a batter. He had two strikeouts and a 13:2 GO/AO ratio. He needed to throw seven innings tonight to qualify for the league leaders, but his pitch count was up to 96 already when he day was over.

Indianapolis scored a run in the second on three consecutive singles from Elias Diaz, Danny Ortiz and Willy Garcia. In the fifth they added another run, with everything coming after two outs. Jose Osuna singled, followed by a Jason Rogers walk and an Elias Diaz single. Diaz, Ortiz, Garcia and Osuna all finished with two hits. Max Moroff had a single and his 79th walk, most among all Pirates and the entire International League.

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

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HARRISBURG, PA – Clay Holmes was at his best and worst. He mostly breezed through two innings. The first seven hitters hit ground balls, although the last two squeaked through the middle. Holmes got a strikeout to end that threat.

In the third things came apart. The pitcher lined a single to lead off and Holmes then lost the strike zone. He walked two of the next three hitters, sandwiched around a helpful sacrifice. A two-out single brought in two runs and Holmes walked the next hitter to load the bases again. Throughout the inning he got progressively wilder, often way high. A second two-run single ended his night.

Holmes’ fastball was 89-93 (lower speeds are his two-seam), occasionally dropping to 87-88 as he tried to find the plate. The pitch showed some late life and got some swings and misses, but he had no control of it after two innings. He threw low-80s changeups and upper-70s curves. Holmes wasn’t able to make much use of his secondary pitches, though, due to all the deep counts.

Holmes’ early exit led to Altoona running through the bullpen, which gave them five and a third scoreless innings. Of the four relievers who pitched, Miguel Rosario was possibly the most interesting. As Tim Williams reported recently, Rosario has lowered his arm slot to an angle just above straight sidearm. He used to throw in the low-90s, but in this game he topped out at 90. He didn’t get that high much; instead, he changed speeds constantly, everywhere from the upper-70s to 90. Rosario starts from a low crouch and lunges toward the plate, which may also give hitters trouble. The change seems to be working, as he pitched well in the first half at Bradenton and has been even better since moving up to Altoona. He gave the Harrisburg hitters a lot of trouble, allowing a hit and a walk in two and a third innings, and fanning four.

Trey Haley, Jared Lakind and Montana DuRapau followed with a scoreless inning each. Haley struggled after being demoted from AAA, but in this game he had a fairly easy inning, giving up one hit and fanning two. He threw in the mid-90s and used a curve to get swings and misses. Lakind threw 89-91, with good enough life to miss more bats than you’d expect. He also showed a good breaking ball. His issue, when he has any, usually is command and he threw only seven of 14 pitches for strikes in this game. He didn’t, however, allow any baserunners. DuRapau relies heavily on a cutter that tonight came in at 89-92. He also threw a couple sliders. DuRapau has always made me a little nervous because he tends to throw up in the zone without having overwhelming stuff. He’s been a fairly extreme flyball pitcher this year and gave up one long drive for an out in this game. Beyond that, he got a routine fly out and a popup.

The Curve made a fair amount of hard contact in the game and had nine hits, but went only 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. Their first run came in the second, when Barrett Barnes hit a rocket to left that cleared a building behind the bleachers. The ball went out near a 388-foot marker, so the blast may have traveled at least close to 450 feet. The HR was Barnes’ seventh on the season, all but one coming in August. His last time up, Barnes came to the plate with two out and nobody on, and got plunked. Considering the circumstances, including the fact that he also homered against Harrisburg yesterday, it’s very likely that he was hit intentionally, which is how he seemed to take it, although he just quietly took his base.

The second Altoona run came when Jin-De Jhang lined the second of his two doubles – he hit one into each corner, and also lined out sharply – and later scored on a grounder. Stetson Allie hit his 13th HR to the opposite field for the third run. Kevin Newman went 0-for-4, hitting a drive to center that was caught his first time up, but otherwise not making good contact. Newman didn’t show great range on balls up the middle. The first two-run single off Holmes, in particular, looked potentially playable.- Wilbur Miller

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

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The Pirates said that Nick Kingham would be limited to five innings in each start this season. I guess when you’re efficient enough with your pitches that you can get through six shutout innings without reaching your pitch limit, they will make a little exception. Kingham had a terrific outing on Tuesday, throwing 50 of his 70 pitches for strikes. He is limited to 75 pitches per game, which is why he was able to go a sixth inning tonight. He had seven strikeouts and a 6:1 GO/AO ratio. Kingham has pitched 35 innings this season between Bradenton and the GCL and he has walked just two batters. He threw five shutout innings in his first game with Bradenton last week.

The Marauders won 3-0, scoring all three runs in the seventh inning. Jordan Luplow started it with a triple, then Michael Suchy walked. Pablo Reyes brought in the first run with his 19th double of the season, then Tito Polo celebrated his 22nd birthday with a two-run single. Connor Joe had his 20-game on base streak snapped. Cole Tucker had two hits, including his 11th double. Taylor Gushue and Pablo Reyes each had two hits.

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

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CHARLESTON, WV – As the West Virginia Power offense struggled to put anything together early against the Lexington Legends, Gage Hinsz quietly worked one of the best starts of his young career. Working with a slim one-run lead for much of the game, Hinsz posted seven scoreless innings against a team that hung eight runs on him just last week.

Hinsz’s stuff didn’t look as sharp as in other starts this year, but boy, was he effective. He got grounder after grounder from the Lexington batters, ending the night with a 12:6 GO:AO ratio. Between the third and sixth innings, Hinsz needed only 36 pitches to put Lexington away.

Pitching coach Matt Ford said, “I think he started mixing some off-speed early in the count and putting some doubt into their heads. He was very efficient tonight, and it showed.”

Hinsz only left one ball up in the zone, and it was promptly crushed for a ground-rule double in the first. From that point on, he kept his fastball down with some sharp, late movement, producing excellent results. Though not overpowering (the pitch hovered around 92 all night), Hinsz added three strikeouts against one walk.

The top of the lineup continues to be disappointing for the Power. Casey Hughston and newcomer Stephen Alemais combined for four strikeouts. Alemais did pick up his first hit in a Power jersey with a single to shallow right in the eighth.

After a slow start, marked by a run in the first after a Logan Hill double and a Daniel Arribas single, the Power bats awakened in the second half of the game to give Hinsz some breathing room.

Jordan George led off the fifth with a walk and scored on a Raul Hernandez two-out double. Then, in the seventh, George again walked, moved to third on Logan Ratledge’s double, and crossed the plate on another Hernandez double. The offensive outburst put the Power on top 4-0, a score that would stand.

The sequence perfectly encapsulates both Power players’ performances with the team so far. Hernandez has five hits in his six games since being called up from the GCL Pirates; four of those hits have been doubles. For his part, George, a switch hitter, has been blazing hot since joining the team in mid-July. He currently leads the team in average, slugging, and on-base percentage (albeit with a small sample size).

Julio Vivas slammed the door shut to preserve the shutout. He allowed a walk to lead off the ninth, and he allowed that runner to advance to third on a groundout and a wild pitch, but thanks to some clutch defense by Tyler Filliben and Stephen Alemais, he came out unscathed. – Abigial Miskowiec

Prospect-Watch-Morgantown

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Morgantown lost 4-3 to Williamsport on Tuesday night, but first round pick Will Craig had a nice game at the plate. Craig reached base in all five plate appearances and scored two of the three runs. He had two singles, two walks and a hit-by-pitch. Albert Baur wasn’t far behind Craig, with two walks and two hits, including his 12th double. Baur scored once and drove in a run. Hunter Owen had two hits and three strikeouts in five at-bats.

Matt Anderson started and went four innings for the first time, giving up two runs. Despite starting some games, he has been on a very limited pitch count. Neil Kozikowski followed with three shutout innings, then Brandon Bingel allowed two runs in 1.1 innings. That’s significant because he gave up one earned run in his first 19 innings, coming into the game with an 0.47 ERA.

Prospect-Watch-Bristol
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Bristol continued to struggle on offense, but it didn’t matter in game one of Tuesday’s doubleheader, as Mike Wallace threw a complete game shutout in the 1-0 victory. Wallace allowed just two hits, both singles. He had no walks, two strikeouts and posted a 14:5 GO/AO ratio. In his previous start, he threw six shutout innings on one hit and no walks. In 47.2 innings, Wallace has a 2.45 ERA.

The Pirates scored their only run in the fourth inning on singles from Henrry Rosario, Jhoan Herrera and Adrian Valerio. Bristol had a total of seven hits, all singles. Valerio had the only multi-hit game with a pair of hits and his fifth stolen base.

Game Two: Bristol was eliminated from the playoffs in game two of their doubleheader, dropping a 4-2 decision in extra innings. Nestor Oronel started for the first time in a month and had his best career outing, allowing one run on one hit (a solo homer) while striking out eight batters over five innings. Oronel was in the starting rotation for the first month of the season and struggled. He then moved to relief and wasn’t having success there either, posting a 6.00 ERA in six appearances.

The offense broke out (by their standards) for two runs on eight hits. Raul Siri hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot in the third inning. Henrry Rosario and Adrian Valerio each had two hits. Valerio scored a run and stole his sixth base. Jhoan Herrera hit his 15th double. Victor Fernandez stole his tenth base. The last three runs scored off Bristol relievers were all unearned.

Prospect-Watch-GCL

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The GCL Pirates lost 7-4 to the Phillies on Tuesday, dropping them to 20-30 on the season. Despite the poor record, they still have a chance at the playoffs with eight games left. They trail the first place Braves by 3.5 games and the two teams meet this weekend for two games.

Fourth round pick Braeden Ogle had his first tough outing of his career. He allowed four runs in the first before even recording an out. Despite that, he ended up going five innings and gave up just one more run. Only two runners reached base after the first four batters of the game. Ogle went five innings for the first time as a pro, and now has a 3.18 ERA and a .183 BAA in 22.2 innings.

The Pirates made the most of their four singles and three walks, putting up four runs. In the first, Luis Benitez singled, stole second and went to third on the throw, then scored on an RBI ground out by Melvin Jimenez. In the sixth, they scored three runs. Victor Ngoepe reached on an infield single, then Nelson Jorge walked. Benitez singled home Ngoepe, then stole second base. Jimenez reached on an error, scoring Jorge. Boomer Synek then grounded out to bring home Benitez with the final run.

Gabriel Brito made his GCL debut and went 0-for-2 with a walk. He was promoted last week when C/1B Mikell Granberry broke his left hand on a hit-by-pitch.

Prospect-Watch-DSL

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The DSL Pirates were suspended due to rain with the score 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth on Monday. They resumed that game on Tuesday before playing their regularly scheduled game. Leandro Pina started and went five innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk. He had one strikeout and a 10:2 GO/AO ratio. The 17-year-old righty has a 1.46 ERA in 62.2 innings.

The Pirates ended up with a 5-4 win, scoring four of those runs in the top of the eighth. Carlos Garcia reached on an infield single and ended up scoring after an errant pick-off throw and a wild pitch. Kevin Sanchez was then hit by a pitch. He went to second on a passed ball and then scored from second on a wild pitch. The next three batters walked, then Ramy Perez brought home the final two runs with a single.

Sherten Apostel went 3-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. Larry Alcime had a single and a walk. Carlos Garcia had two hits. Eddy Vizcaino hit his sixth double, walked and scored a run.

Game Two: The Pirates lost game two on Tuesday by a 2-1 score. This game was a seven inning contest and starter Yeudry Manzanillo gave up one run over five innings. He allowed four hits and one walk, while striking out one batter. In the sixth, Randy Jimenez came on and walked the first two batters he faced. One of those runners would score on an error, giving the Mets1 their go-ahead run. Armando Bustamante threw two scoreless innings to finish out the game, giving him 11.1 shutout innings over his last eight appearances.

The Pirates had three hits and four walks. Rudy Guzman was most of the offense, going 1-for-1 with two walks and three stolen bases. Sherten Apostel hit his first career triple and scored the lone run on a wild pitch. The Pirates went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. They have four more games left this season.

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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