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Prospect Watch: Mitch Keller Has Best Start Without Best Stuff, Altoona Eliminated

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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. Will Craig, 3B, Morgantown –  [insert_php]
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9. Steven Brault, LHP, Pirates – [insert_php]
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10. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, West Virginia -[insert_php]
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11. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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12. Clay Holmes, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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13. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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14. Gage Hinsz, RHP, West Virginia  – [insert_php]
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15. Trevor Williams, RHP, Pirates – [insert_php]
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16. Alen Hanson, 2B, Pirates – [insert_php]
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17. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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18. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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19. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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20. Taylor Hearn, LHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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21. Adrian Valerio, SS – Bristol – [insert_php]
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22. Braeden Ogle, LHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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23. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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24. Travis MacGregor, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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25. Max Kranick, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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26. Frank Duncan, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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27. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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28. Connor Joe, 3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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29. Erich Weiss, 2B, Altoona – [insert_php]
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30. Stephen Alemais, SS, West Virginia –  [insert_php]
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P2 Top Performers

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Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

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AKRON, OH – It didn’t matter how good the pitching was tonight for the Curve, the bats simply could not get it done. The game went until the tenth inning scoreless before Akron walked it off with a single to left field. It gave the Rubberducks a 1-0 win, and the Curve were eliminated from the Eastern League Western Division Series, three games to one.

Brandon Waddell lived up to his reputation of pitching well in big games by throwing one of his best outings of the season on Sunday night. He only allowed one hit, a ball that was deflected off of Eric Wood’s glove at third, in seven scoreless innings of work. Curve Manager Joey Cora thought that lead-off hit in the fifth inning should’ve been ruled an error, and Eric Wood agreed, saying that he should always make that play.

It becomes a moot point, but if that play had been ruled an error, Waddell and reliever Brett McKinney would’ve had a no-hitter through nine innings.

“I thought it was no doubt an error,” Cora said. “I’m going to put that in my report.”

Cora said that he won’t challenge the play because Akron ended up winning in the end, and it really didn’t matter in the end, but the significant point was how well the Altoona pitchers threw tonight before the 10th inning loss.

I wrote last month how Waddell’s biggest strength leading to his promotion from Bradenton turned into an inconsistency for the second year pro out of Virginia. Pitching Coach Justin Meccage said that Waddell will try to throw the perfect pitch or nitpick around the strike zone rather than fully trusting his stuff. Tonight, Waddell was working the corners and getting calls, allowing him to utilizing his full arsenal of pitches.

“We were very confident in him, because he has been in this situation before,” Curve Manager Joey Cora said. ” Last year, he was pitching in the last game of the College World Series. We knew the nerves weren’t going to be an issue, but today, he brought it big time.”

Waddell struck out five and threw 103 pitches in seven innings. Most important, he kept the ball on the ground for the majority of the game.

“He dominated by moving his fastball around probably as good as he has all season,” Pitching Coach Justin Meccage said. “I think he threw 25 or 26 straight fastballs to start the game. His curve ball was as good as I’ve seen all season.”

The only thing that got Waddell in trouble was a high pitch count, but he was still able to get through seven innings. He went deep in a myriad of counts, often times working to a full count before the at-bat was decided.

Otherwise, Waddell showed up big time in the biggest game of the year, giving him plenty of momentum moving into the off-season.

“It was special,” Meccage said. “He was so composed, and the situation didn’t affect him much. These guys have prepared themselves all year for moments like this, and it was fun to watch.

Brett McKinney relieved Waddell in the eighth inning and pitched two more scoreless innings, forcing the game into extras. McKinney struck out four batters and walked one in his first two innings of work.

McKinney was then brought back out for the tenth inning to try to get through a third inning, and the gamble simply didn’t work out for the Curve.

“Everybody was available, but he was pitching well and dealing,” Cora said about McKinney coming out for a third inning of work. “He got one out then left a breaking ball out over the plate for [Akron left fielder Mike] Papi, then it just didn’t work out.”

McKinney finished the season on a strong note, allowing only one hit in seven outings at the end of the regular season. The third inning tonight just ended up being too much.

“McKinney has our best reliever,” Meccage said. “He got those guys to two strikes, so he put himself in good counts. He could’ve been out of that game in any moment. I think he was trying to do too much in that situation. His stuff was great.”

The Curve only had one hit the whole game, a single to right field by Jin-De Jhang. The had their chance in the sixth inning to get a run across after two straight walks, but Erich Weiss grounded into an inning ending 5-4-3 double play.

“That was a huge chance,” Cora said. “Weiss is usually so good in those situations. He got a few pitches, but didn’t swing at it. He tried to swing at a breaking ball, and it didn’t work.”

When asked if it was more difficult to lose a game like this or a game where they are blown out, Cora said that losing a game like this is more difficult, because they had chances to score and win the game.

“We had our chances,” Cora said. “We just couldn’t come through. It was such a good game.”

Ultimately, Joey Cora was extremely pleased with his group this season.

“We weren’t the most talented group, but we were a good team,” Cora said. “We rallied together, and we had our chances. At home, we should’ve won two games. In that first game, we lost it in that seventh inning. In the end, it cost us.”

Note: Kevin Newman did not play in the game after forgetting how many outs there were in the inning on Friday night after his 2-RBI double. It has been Cora’s policy all season to sit a player the next day after that happens to a player, and the decision was made that Newman should have to sit even with it being an elimination game.

“It was tough, not only for him, but because his teammates would’ve loved to have seen him out there,” Cora said. “Who know what would have happened in he played? It is a lesson he hopefully will learn, and it is probably more important for him to learn it now than winning a game in Double-A.” – Sean McCool

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

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BRADENTON, Fla. – Mitch Keller didn’t have his best stuff tonight. He also clearly didn’t need his best stuff, combining to go a career high eight innings, giving up no runs on four hits and two walks, with one strikeout. That, plus a lot of offense led by Connor Joe, Jordan Luplow, and Chase Simpson, led to a huge 9-0 win for the Marauders, putting them one victory away from the Florida State League championship.

Keller has been sitting 94-97 MPH in his recent outings, and hit 99 MPH in his last start in St. Lucie on Tuesday. Tonight, the velocity was down a bit, sitting 91-95 MPH. However, his command of the pitch was on, and he shut down the Tampa Yankees offense with ease.

“He just really pitched tonight,” Bradenton pitching coach Scott Elarton said. “The velocity wasn’t what it was in his first two starts, for whatever reason. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t as elevated as it was those first two starts. The most impressive thing was he was down in the zone, and he was throwing the breaking ball for a strike, and for chase, pretty much every time he wanted to. His command was really good tonight.

“The most impressive thing was he didn’t try to reach down and get more stuff. In a game like that, it’s real tempting to try to do that. He stayed even keeled the whole outing. He was pretty much in control from the first pitch.”

Keller’s biggest jam of the night came in the first inning. He issued a leadoff walk, followed by a single to put runners at first and second. He then got two ground balls that led to three outs, getting him out of the jam. The first one went to Connor Joe, who went to second for the out, but the Marauders couldn’t turn the double play. That wasn’t an issue in the next at-bat, when a chopper hit to Cole Tucker up the middle led to an easy double play, with Tucker stepping on second after fielding the ball, and making the throw to first.

“Getting the double play in the first was humongous for him,” Bradenton manager Michael Ryan said. “Getting out of the inning unscathed. Very impressive. He got ahead in the count, and when he did fall behind, he got back into the count very quickly. He didn’t have to start mixing off-speed until later in the game. They came out swinging. A couple hard ball outs, but they were outs.”

Keller issued a one-out walk in the second inning, which was erased by a caught stealing by catcher Christian Kelley, who was injured on the play. Kelley picked up ball three in the dirt and threw down to second for the out, but felt something in his lower back on the throw, and immediately went down. He left the game, and was replaced by Taylor Gushue. After the game, Kelley was feeling better.

The next eight batters went down in order, until Keller gave up a single with one out in the fifth inning. That was quickly erased by a double play started by Joe at third. Keller retired the side in order the next two frames, and ran into his second biggest jam of the night in the eighth inning. He gave up two singles with one out, but once again quickly got out of it with a double play ball, this one to second baseman Kevin Kramer.

“That’s huge,” Keller said of the defense behind him. “Especially when you get those runners on base, like after the walk, the ground ball is a huge confidence builder to know that later on in the game if you get in that same situation, you’re going to make the pitch.”

Keller was mostly working off his fastball primarily for the first few innings. He started mixing in some curveballs in the fifth inning, just to throw the opposing hitters off-balance.

“They were sitting fastballs, trying to get some hard contact,” Keller said. “Trying to get their innings going. Just throwing the first pitch curveball kind of threw them off a little bit.”

He went right back to the fastball on the next pitch, keeping it down in the zone and getting a lot of ground balls. He’s got the ability for strikeouts, but just didn’t need that tonight, with so much soft contact, and no need to extend the counts. Keller needed only 81 pitches in his eight innings of work, with 50 strikes. Michael Ryan said that he wanted to go out for the ninth inning, but they avoided that, since this was the first time he’s even gone eight innings.

This was one of the biggest starts of Keller’s career. Prior to this year in Bradenton, his only big game came in high school.

“I’ve only pitched in one huge game, and it was in high school,” Keller said. “Sub-state final, to make it to state. I had the same kind of adrenaline going out there today as that night. Just going to remember it for the rest of my life.”

Keller got some help early by the offense, who spotted him a four run lead before he took the mound in the first. Chase Simpson hit a single with the bases loaded that scored two runs. Connor Joe followed with a double that brought in another run, and Jordan Luplow hit a sacrifice fly to add the fourth run.

Those three provided the rest of the offense on the night. Joe hit a two-run homer in the third inning to make it 6-0. Simpson added another run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly. Luplow padded the lead in the ninth with a two run homer, his third of the playoffs.

“We’ve been getting fastballs out over the plate, staying to the big part of the field,” Ryan said of what has been working for the offense. “Any time you stay in the big part, gap to gap, you know that you’re balanced at the plate. I think the key for us is getting into leverage counts, where we can get into a fastball count, and if we know it’s coming, able to do damage with it. CoJo [Joe] has been out of his mind, and the key is he’s been ahead in the count.”

The Marauders are now one win away from winning the 2016 Florida State League title. JT Brubaker will take the mound tomorrow, looking to close out the series after closing out the first round against St. Lucie. The key word Michael Ryan gave the team was “Finish”.

“That’s the key word. We did it against St. Lucie. The word of the day tomorrow will be ‘Finish’.” – Tim Williams

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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