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Prospect Watch: Nick Kingham Looks Strong in Return to Altoona

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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, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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6. Nick Kingham, RHP, Altoona – [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, Pirates – [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 lost 8-1 to Toledo, as Kyle Lobstein faltered in his start and Drew Hutchison didn’t do any better in a relief role. Lobstein allowed four runs on nine hits in four innings. He was followed by Hutchison, who is likely preparing for a long relief role in September for the Pirates, because it’s unlikely he will get any starts while the team is in a pennant chase. He did not look good in relief, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks in three innings.

Alen Hanson had a successful return yesterday, after missing five days with a minor leg injury. He had two doubles and a walk, then followed it up tonight with another double and a single, scoring the only run. Jose Osuna doubled home Hanson in the first inning as part of his three-hit night. Pedro Florimon and Max Moroff each had two hits. Austin Meadows went hitless for the fourth straight game, as his average has plummeted to .221 in 30 games with Indianapolis.

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

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ALTOONA, PA – Nick Kingham made his first start for the Altoona Curve since June 7, 2014 when he was first promoted to Indianapolis as a 22-year-old. After Tommy John surgery last May, Kingham is progressing back through the Pirates’ minor league system and has made a stop in Curve, PA for presumably the rest of this season.

Kingham pitched quickly and efficiently for six innings, allowing only one earned run on three hits. He struck out four batters while walking only one.

Kingham threw 20 pitches between the first two innings, getting six straight batters out. The Curve then had a big bottom of the second offensively, sending nine batters to the plate. Kingham walked during the inning and came around to score, helping the Curve to a quick 7-0 lead.

The third was Kingham’s most difficult inning, as he allowed a couple of line drive singles and a sacrifice fly to allow Binghamtom to score one run. He didn’t look quite as sharp in the inning, especially early on to the first three batters of the inning. Altogether, it took him 27 pitches to get out of the frame; however, there was an extremely long break between when he was done pitching in the top of the second until he went back out in the third, giving good reason as to why he wasn’t sharp.

“It has to take a toll on you,” Kingham said about a long wait between innings. “I might not realize it, but you’re out there and running when you are used to sitting in the dugout. It definitely does affect you. How much, who knows?”

He said that he was exposed in that third inning because of not being able to repeat his delivery well while throwing the fastball early in the game.

“I was kind of forcing the fastball early on, and it wasn’t coming out clean,” Kingham said. “I couldn’t really repeat my delivery that well early, but it got better after that. It just took me a little to get situated and find my delivery, basically.”

After the third, he walked the lead-off batter of the fourth inning but then retired nine straight batters, finishing up his six innings of work which was his limit going into the game.

“He was a little rough early, but he found a really good rhythm and tempo as the game progressed,” said Pitching Coach Justin Meccage. “He started nailing some pretty good pitches. The changeup showed up with more consistency late and so did the breaking ball.”

His fastball velocity was slightly down from what we’ve seen in the past from Kingham, consistently around 92 MPH. He did have good accuracy with the pitch (other than that third inning), and he used it heavily throughout the game. He did not throw many changeups, but he was able to drop his curveball in quite a few times for swings-and-misses. His curveball was essential in the four strikeouts he recorded.

“My curveball has been really good coming back since the surgery,” he said. “They say that the curveball is usually the most difficult to come back, but it’s been fine for me. I can put it where I want, and I basically have full confidence in all three of my pitches.

Kingham threw 84 pitches, 58 of them for strikes.

“I feel strong and normal,” Kingham said. “It was really good to get back out until the lights. Overall, I’m happy with how things worked out, and I’ll continue to get better.”

Offensively, the Curve put up eight runs in the first three innings to quickly take control of the game and never relinquished it. Kevin Newman got the ball rolling in the first inning with an RBI triple, and Edwin Espinal quickly stole Newman’s attention by smacking a home run to left field in the next at-bat, scoring Newman. It was Espinal’s seventh home run of the season. He is on a modest five-game hitting streak, and he’s hitting .524 (11-for-21) with three doubles and a home run.

“This is the first year since [Espinal] has been with the Pirates that he has been the man,” manager Joey Cora said. “This is brand new for him – being out there and counting on him. When he’s swinging a bat good, the lineup is much better.”

Eric Wood led the charge in the second inning with a lead-off double, and the Curve sent nine batters to the plate, while Binghamton’s starter Rainy Lara lost his composure in the inning. Lara walked three and had a bad error in the inning, failing to step on first base when he covered the bag (trying to get a slow-footed Edwin Espinal out).

Eric Wood also tripled to lead off the third inning, and he later singled for a three-hit night.

It took until the 8th inning for #BarnesWatch to commence, as Barrett Barnes was 0-for-2 with a walk going into the frame with his 12-game hitting streak on the line. Barnes didn’t give any fielders the option to get him out, as he blasted a line drive out to the left field bleachers for a two-run home run. The home run extended his hitting streak to 13-games. He is 20-for-49 during the streak.

Cody Dickson picked up the rare three inning save tonight, relieving Kingham in the seventh and going to distance. Dickson only allowed one hit but walked three in his three innings of work.

After the game, Curve manager Joey Cora confirmed that Nick Kingham will remain with Altoona for the rest of their season including playoffs. Cody Dickson will piggyback off of Kingham’s starts for now. -Sean McCool

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

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BRADENTON, FL – Bradenton couldn’t overcome a four-run Jupiter first inning and lost, 5-3. Austin Coley struggled to throw strikes initially. As is typical at this level, he started off throwing all fastballs and they were mostly coming in low. At one point, he missed low on seven straight fastballs, with no questionable calls. Then he got a couple fastballs up in the strike zone and they got ripped. Between walks and base hits, he allowed four runs through six hitters. After that, he started leaning heavily on his curve, which appears to be the closest thing he has to an out pitch.

Coley got through five innings without allowing another run. As he mixed his pitches — the 90-91 mph fastball, upper-70s curve and, occasionally, a low-80s change — he was able to get the fastball over for strikes without having it get hammered. He even got some swings and misses with it. I don’t know whether Coley took some time to find his release point, or had more confidence in the fastball when he was mixing it up more, or something else.

Coley was followed by Sam Street for two innings and Junior Lopez for another two. Lopez showed decent stuff, with a fastball that sat 93-94 and a change. The fastball seemed to lack movement or deception though, and when he got it up it got hit hard. He allowed a couple doubles and a couple other long drives, and one run.

The Marauders meanwhile couldn’t get much going. They hit quite a few balls hard, about as many as Jupiter, even though Bradenton was outhit 12-5. The main difference was that Jupiter’s hits had very low trajectories and the Marauders hit some long drives that just died in the very humid air. Cole Tucker, Tito Polo and Kevin Kramer all hit drives to the track in center that were caught, and Michael Suchy hit one to right. Kramer still went 2-for-4 with a double, as he hit the ball hard all night. The double was his 29th, which ties him for the league lead. Tucker was 0-for-5 with two whiffs and an error. Polo had an infield hit in four trips, and was robbed of another on a missed call at first. – Wilbur Miller

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

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West Virginia has off on Monday.

Prospect-Watch-Morgantown

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Morgantown lost 7-5 to the worst team in the NYPL, which officially eliminated them from the playoffs this year. Luis Escobar started and he looked strong through the first three innings, throwing a lot of strikes and getting his share of swing and misses. The umpire had a generous strike zone for both pitchers and Escobar did a great job of working just off the plate and keeping the ball low. In the fourth inning, everything fell apart, and he couldn’t get his fastball down. Even with the wide strike zone, he couldn’t throw strikes and he ended up allowing six runs on six hits, one walk and two hit batters in 4.1 innings. It’s the most earned runs he has allowed in a game since his second pro start down in the DSL in 2014.

Billy Roth had a nice outing in relief, throwing three shutout innings. He was pitching well in Extended Spring Training, so the Pirates decided to add him to West Virginia in early May. He has not had success, even moving down a level once Morgantown began their season. Roth has a 6.80 season ERA in 46.1 innings, while issuing 39 walks. He’s still only 21 and has an intriguing arm, but he has a long way to go still and has lost his prospect status.

Will Craig singled in the third inning, which gives him a 30-game on base streak. Oddly enough, the game prior to the streak, he actually scored a run after reaching on a fielding error. On base streaks only continue on a hit, walk or hit-by-pitch. Craig has also reached base safely in 52 of his 56 games. He would later add two walks in this game. Craig has a .410 OBP, which ranks fourth in the league.

Prospect-Watch-Bristol
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Bristol pitchers had an easy time with the Princeton hitters on Monday night, though two unearned runs in the seventh made it a close game. The Pirates won 4-2 behind a strong start from Nicholas Economos, who threw six shutout innings, allowing just one base runner on a fourth inning double. He threw five shutout innings in his last start, helping him finish with a 5.65 ERA in 57.1 innings. Economos had a 6.99 ERA before his last two starts, so he really turned things around at the end. Princeton had just three hits in the game and all of them were doubles.

The Pirates did all of their scoring in the middle innings, putting up two runs in the fourth, and solo runs in the fifth and sixth. Yoel Gonzalez got them on the board first with a single that scored Julio de la Cruz, who also reached on a single. One batter later, Alexis Bastardo singled home Gonzalez with the second run. In the fifth, a Raul Siri walk and two stolen bases turned into a run on a throwing error by the catcher. The run in the sixth came on a Huascar Fuentes double and a Yoel Gonzalez single.

Prospect-Watch-GCL

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The GCL Pirates were rained out on Monday. They will play a doubleheader on Tuesday.

Prospect-Watch-DSL

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The DSL Pirates finished their season on Saturday.

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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