The Bradenton Marauders won the Florida State League Championship tonight, making this their first title in franchise history. It’s also the first High-A championship the Pirates have won since 2009, the year before they moved to Bradenton. That championship was won by the Lynchburg Hillcats, and was also a team I covered.
Many of you probably know that the 2009 Lynchburg Hillcats were the team that started this site. I started the site to provide a place to write about Pedro Alvarez making his debut that year in Lynchburg, and then continued in the second half with the arrival of some of the best prospects in the system at the time. Those prospects in the second half made the playoffs, and then went ahead and won the title.
It wasn’t really the championship that fueled the site coverage though. It was the prospects. That was a special group, as we know by looking back at those playoffs. Seven years ago today, the Hillcats won their game five contest to advance to the finals. Bryan Morris got the start and pitched 6.2 innings with one run allowed. Josh Harrison led the offense that night, going 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and four RBIs.
The night before, they won thanks to home runs from Chase d’Arnaud and Tony Sanchez, along with a 2-for-3 with a double performance from Alex Presley. Their first win of the series came from six shutout innings from Rudy Owens, along with an RBI double from Matt Hague to give them the 1-0 win.
They went on to sweep the finals with more familiar names. Justin Wilson started things off with one earned run in 5.2 innings in game one, while Hague went 2-for-3 with a homer, and Presley and d’Arnaud each had two hits. Owens returned for two runs in 6.1 innings in game two, striking out seven, while d’Arnaud had a double and knocked in two runs. The final game saw Jeff Locke get bounced in the second inning, with four earned runs in 1.2 innings, while Jordy Mercer picked him up with four hits and two doubles, leading to an 8-7 championship victory.
Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer, the current middle infield starters for the Pirates. Alex Presley started in the outfield for a few years, and is still in the majors. Chase d’Arnaud is still getting some time in the majors as a bench player. Justin Wilson and Bryan Morris have established themselves as MLB relievers. Matt Hague and Tony Sanchez made the majors, but they’re both Quad-A players at this point. Rudy Owens was traded in the Wandy Rodriguez deal, then saw injuries derail his career, although he did make one start in the majors.
That’s an impressive group for an A-ball team, with three MLB starters, two relievers, and a few bench/Quad-A options. It doesn’t include Pedro Alvarez at the start of the year, Starling Marte, who got promoted for the playoffs then missed the playoffs with an injury, Eric Fryer, who joined the team in the second half, or the guys who had brief appearances in the majors in other organizations like Nate Adcock, Jamie Romak, Dustin Molleken, and Harvey Garcia.
Overall, there were 17 players from that team, out of the 45 who spent time on the team that year, who ended up reaching the majors. That’s a huge success rate for a team in High-A.
So what did the 2016 Marauders team have? Only time will really tell, and there are some players who look like sure MLB players, with undefined roles and upsides. But this was another team that advanced to the playoffs and won it all due to a strong prospect core.
The biggest prospect of the year arrived at the end of the season. Mitch Keller only made one regular season start, but was huge for the Marauders in the playoffs, after a late promotion from West Virginia. Other talented pitchers on the team who could make the majors in some role include JT Brubaker, Yeudy Garcia, Edgar Santana (who is already in Triple-A), and Brandon Waddell. Those are just the top prospects. That doesn’t include guys who have an outside shot if all goes well, like Alex McRae, Austin Coley, and I might as well add Tanner Anderson to this list after his playoff performances, and because I love the high leg kick.
The offense also had some talent. The highlight in the first half was 2015 first round pick Kevin Newman. When he left, he was replaced by 2014 first round pick Cole Tucker. Other guys who have a good shot of reaching the majors in some way are Kevin Kramer, Connor Joe, Elvis Escobar, Jordan Luplow, and possibly even Wyatt Mathisen. Once again, this doesn’t include higher risk guys like Pablo Reyes, Taylor Gushue, Christian Kelley, or the traded prospects in Tito Polo and Stephen Tarpley.
On the pitching side, I think Keller will be a starter, and a good one. He’ll be that guy who, when I’m writing about this team in 2023, I say “They even had Mitch Keller on that team at the end of the year.” He’s the Starling Marte of this group. But Garcia, Brubaker, and Waddell all have a chance to start in the majors, even if they’re potential back of the rotation options. The offense has less upside after Newman and Tucker, who are the two candidates to start, but there are plenty of guys who could be good utility players, or maybe even Alex Presley style starters on weaker teams.
A year after the 2009 Hillcats won the title, the Altoona Curve won the 2010 Eastern League championship, largely thanks to the same players. I could see the same thing happening again next year, with most of this team moving up, and remaining competitive, with a nice second half boost from guys like Mitch Keller and Taylor Hearn to put them over the top. And hopefully the Pirates can continue from there and get something close to the MLB results they got from their last High-A championship team.
**Prospect Watch: Bradenton Marauders Win the 2016 Florida State League Championship. Here is the full recap of tonight’s game, with interviews with JT Brubaker and Michael Ryan, and video of the final inning and celebration.
**Mitch Keller Turned Into One of the Top Pirates Prospects During the 2016 Season. My feature today on Mitch Keller, who has been the best story in the system this year.
**Nick Kingham: “I may just be low on the gas tank”. Sean McCool talked with Nick Kingham about the end of his first season back from Tommy John, along with some good input from Clay Holmes, who went through the same process last year.
**Josh Harrison Done For the Year With a Right Groin Strain, Gerrit Cole Activated. The Pirates lose Harrison for the year, and I wrote why they need to start Alen Hanson.
**Jung Ho Kang Named the NL Player of the Week. This was Kang’s first award, and the first Pirates hitter to win the award since Andrew McCutchen last August.
