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, Indianapolis -[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, Pirates – [insert_php]
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18. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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19. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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20. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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21. Taylor Hearn, LHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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22. Adrian Valerio, SS – Bristol – [insert_php]
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23. Braeden Ogle, LHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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24. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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25. Travis MacGregor, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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26. Max Kranick, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php]
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27. Frank Duncan, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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28. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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29. Connor Joe, 3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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30. Erich Weiss, 2B, Altoona – [insert_php]
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INDIANAPOLIS — Tyler Glasnow’s final minor league start of the season followed a familiar formula: He only allowed a few hits, while having several strikeouts but too many walks.
Prior to the game, Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor labeled Glasnow’s start on Thursday an important one for the organization’s top prospect. Simply put, Glasnow needed a solid outing in order to show the Pirates that he can be counted on moving forward.
Glasnow allowed one run on three hits in 5.2 innings, striking out eight but walking four. He threw 52 of his 86 pitches for a strike.
“He still has work to do,” Treanor said. “You can’t walk four guys in five innings.”
Glasnow’s opening inning started the way the organization would want: he struck out Juan Perez on four pitches, getting ahead 1-2 and reaching 95 MPH before putting him away with a 74 MPH curveball.
But then some of the continual struggles quickly resurfaced. He walked the game’s second batter — Dilson Herrera — after getting ahead 0-2. Hernan Irribarren singled up the middle to put two runners on base, but Glasnow began a 1-4-3 double play on Seth Mejias-Brean’s hard grounder hit back up the middle.
Glasnow walked the lead-off batter in the second inning — Jesse Winker — after getting ahead 1-2. He worked around the walk by striking out Tony Renda on a 91 MPH fastball, and got Kyle Waldrop to hit into a 3-6-3 double play.
Treanor labeled those double plays as “huge” and noted his ability to make the pitches to get those key outs. But in the end, it’s a matter of finding consistency that carries over multiple innings.
“I know he gets wrapped up in strikeouts, but he has to be able to stay in his delivery,” Treanor said. “He has to be able to repeat his delivery. When he throws a good one, he has to stay in that instead of trying to get extra on the next pitch. He still has work to do.”
Glasnow’s lone clean inning came in the third, when he struck out Kyle Skipworth on a changeup and Amir Garrett on a fastball. He induced a groundout from Perez.
In the fourth inning Glasnow struck out Herrera on a curveball and got Iribarren to ground out on a first pitch fastball. But he walked Meijias-Brean, before getting a first-pitch lineout by Jesse Winker.
Another pair of strikeouts of Skipworth and Garrett ended the fifth inning, as Glasnow walked around a one-out walk to Kyle Waldrop.
A strikeout and groundout gave Glasnow two quick outs in the sixth inning, but a single from Hernan Irribarren, a wild pitch, and a single from Meijias-Brean ended Glasnow’s day.
“I competed with what I had,” said Glasnow, who had his velocity sitting 93-94 MPH, touching 95 MPH. “The bad was just falling behind in counts and those [four walks].”
Glasnow made 20 starts with Indianapolis this season, posting a 1.87 earned run average and 1.15 WHIP. He struck out 133 batters, but walked 62, including at least three in nine of his last 10 outings — two of which came in Altoona.
“Inconsistent,” Glasnow described the minor league season “I think I’m going out there everyday competing with what I have, but I could characterize it as inconsistent.”
Frustrating is another way Glasnow described the minor league season. A majority of his stat line is one most pitchers would want, minus the walks. But those walks can weigh on him.
“I’m pretty hard on myself,” Glasnow said. “I think trying to be perfect in everything is not the formula you need for baseball. But I’ve been like that since I was little and I’ve always wanted to be 100 percent. With baseball you are not going to have everything you want in terms with feel for pitches. It’s a little frustrating but it’s a learning experience. A lot of times when you fail you learn a lot more.”
There was plenty of good for Glasnow, who would sit near the top of several International League statistical categories if he had enough innings to qualify. Also, he had a 20 consecutive inning scoreless streak earlier in the season. But those walks — free baserunners — leave a lingering feeling.
“I think the good is that he has grown and there were some games where he showed you why,” Treanor said. “And there are games that showed you he has a ways to go before he can go [to Pittsburgh] and stay there. It’s one thing to go there and come back. He has to be in the mindset to go there and stay. I think he has a little bit better idea of how to be able to pitch. But he has to be able to use his stuff situationally in the game, understanding situations. There are times when he needs to make pitches.”
Jung Ho Kang made a rehab start at third base for Indianapolis, going 1-for-3 with a home run and RBI groundout. Read more about his start here.
Pedro Florimon led the first inning off with a double into the rightfield corner and advanced to third on a fielding error. He scored on Kang’s RBI groundout. Kang hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, while Austin Meadows hit a two-run home run — his sixth of the season — in the sixth inning.
Newly acquired Zach Phillips walked the two batters he faced after entering the game in relief of Glasnow, but got Kyle Waldrop to pop out to second baseman Max Moroff to end the inning. Phillips pitched a clean seventh inning to earn the save in his organizational debut.
Game Two Recap: Trevor Williams made the most of his final minor league start this season, accomplishing a career first.
And we’re not talking a professional career first. Williams did something he never did during his collegiate career at Arizona State. Or even in Little League.
Williams struck out a career-high 10 batters in 6.1 innings against Louisville in the second game of a doubleheader on Thursday, allowing one unearned run on six hits. And he walked just one batter — coming in the seventh inning as he tried to finish off a complete game.
“Even back to Little League I’ve never had a big strikeout pitch that I could go to all of the time,” Williams said. “[Indianapolis pitching coach Stan Kyles] and I talked a little bit about my mentality with my breaking ball and with my changeup — we were going away from manipulating it too much and trying to get the punchout, to trying to get the groundball. And when I try to get the groundball they’re going to eventually start swinging over it. I didn’t expect it to be that quick of a fix.”
Williams showed good command for the first six innings of the game, using his slider to put batters away after getting ahead in the count.
“He was really able to hit his extension side with his fastball and came in well on guys,” Indianapolis manager Dean Treanor said. “If you can get ahead of guys and put them away with that slider that’s pretty good.”
After missing about a month-and-a-half with a shoulder strain, Williams eventually came on to put up impressive numbers in the latter half of the season. He had a dominant 1.37 earned run average and 0.972 WHIP in the 12 starts he made over July, August, and September.
“He just keeps getting better,” Treanor said.
And Williams isn’t fooling anybody by being a new face. He pitched his fourth impressive outing against Louisville, which will try to stack the lineup with six or seven left-handed hitters.
But in his four outings against Louisville this season, Williams has allowed three earned runs in 23.2 innings.
“I think it says a lot about him,” Treanor said. “He understands the game. He understands situationally. I think he pitches well to the situation, but the thing that impresses me more than anything is that they always stack it with six left-handed hitters. And to do that repeatedly is very impressive. That’s the thing that stands out to me — he gets all of those left-handed hitters out.”
Williams said a key for him was to establish the glove side fastball, forcing the batters to realize he’s pitching inside and make them move their feet a little bit.
“What helps me with [Louisville] is that they are so aggressive and like to swing the bat early,” Williams said. “Later in the game they started taking pitches, making me getting strike one without them swinging at it and that slowed me down a little with my rhythm. But good things happen when you pound the strike zone and there are seven guys behind me. You pitch to weak contact and hitters should get out.”
At one point, Williams retired 12 consecutive batters on Thursday. His lone walk of the game came against the lead-off hitter in the seventh inning. Williams got a flyout after the walk, but a single ended his outing.
“He was adamant about going back out and we had pitches to work with,” Treanor said. “I think he started thinking about the result instead of attacking the first hitter. You can’t go out there in that situation and walk the first hitter on five pitches.”
Indianapolis scored four runs in the fourth innings. Max Moroff led the inning off with a double, and scored on Austin Meadows’ RBI single. Dan Gamache added an RBI single and Danny Ortiz hit a two-run home run. He has a team-high 16 home runs this season.
Meadows has put together an impressive three-game stretch at the plate, going 4-for-12 with 7 RBIs. Prior to this stretch, Meadows struggled with a .161 batting average in his previous 10 games.
He was used in two different outfield positions in the doubleheader, playing centerfield in the first game and leftfield in the second game. – Brian Peloza
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ALTOONA – Alex McRae took the mound for the home finale, sporting a 2.73 ERA in his last nine outings. McRae continued his strong pitching tonight, finishing six scoreless innings for the Curve. McRae scattered eight hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
McRae didn’t necessary shut Binghamton down from getting on the base, as at least one runner reached base in five out of six innings he pitched. However, he was able to shut it down when he needed to, battling back out of the stretch.
“He wasn’t at his best,” Cora said. “He battled, though, and gave us a shot. He got in and out of trouble most of the night, but he got it done. It’s been fun to watch him perform the way he has improved.”
Earlier in the season, if McRae wasn’t at his best, you could conceivably say that he would easily allow five or six runs in a start. Flash forward to tonight, Alex McRae turned a so-so start into a shutout.
“I think he was able to make pitches at the right times,” Cora said. “Before, he couldn’t make the right pitch when he got in trouble. He’d let innings get out of hand, and he couldn’t stop it. Now, he doesn’t let trouble linger from at-bat to at-bat.”
He induced 12 ground balls to seven flyballs/liners. McRae’s turning point of the season seemed to come on July 14th when he allowed only one run in eight innings. Since that point, he has a ground ball rate over 55%, leading to the better results.
Henry Hirsch and Junior Lopez both made their Double-A debut tonight for the Curve. Hirsch threw one scoreless inning allowing one hit and a strikeout. Lopez pitched the final two innings, allowing two hits and one walk.
Elvis Escobar hit a lead-off home run, the Curve’s first lead-off homer of the season and Escobar’s second homer with the team. Escobar also walked in the third inning and came around to score after a stolen base, Kevin Newman single, and Edwin Espinal sacrifice fly.
After the game, Cora said that they need to continue to get more from Escobar in the lead-off spot.
“I think Escobar can give us better at-bats as a lead-off hitter,” Cora said. “If he does, the lineup will become more dangerous. Our task – [Kevin] Riggs and I – is to get Escobar ready for these games, so that if we are lucky enough to make the playoffs, he will be better for us.”
Cora said that Escobar needs to find a way to cut down on his strikeouts and be better with pitch selection.
“He has shown flashed that he can do it, but he needs to be more consistent with his at-bats.”
The Curve manufactured another run in the fifth after loading the bases with a couple singles, a walk, then a Jin-De Jhang sacrifice fly. Then fireworks occurred in the sixth, with Stetson Allie blasting his second home run in as many days for his 15th of the season. Allie is now only two homers shy of Adam Hyzdu and Josh Bonifay of the Altoona Curve franchise career home run record, hitting 53 in his Altoona Curve career.
Stetson Allie hits his 15th HR of the season, hitting homers in back-to-back games for the @AltoonaCurve. pic.twitter.com/VrNkadxEVU
— Sean McCool (@NotSoMcCool) September 1, 2016
Erich Weiss and Kevin Newman both walked to lead off the seventh inning, then Edwin Espinal hit a long double to deep center field scoring both Curve players.
Espinal went 2-for-4 tonight for the Curve to extend his modest hitting streak to eight games. He is hitting .485 (16-for-33) in that span with five doubles and a home run. Espinal was not looking good for a long stretch before this recent streak, but he has since made a complete 180° at the plate. Espinal told me that he made a slight adjustment to his stance, standing a little taller pre-swing.
Erich Weiss joined Espinal with two hits tonight. He also made a great catch lunging towards center field and making the final out of the eighth inning. Barrett Barnes went 1-for-2 with a line drive double in the second inning and two walks. Kevin Newman walked in three separate plate appearances.
The Curve shutout their opponent for the sixth time this season and the first time since July 9th. The win gives them a 75-61 record total, and a 43-25 record at home as they close out their home schedule. They have been very good with a lead at home, as they are undefeated when leading after the eighth inning at home this season.
Harrisburg won tonight, as well, so the Curve’s magic number to clinch a playoff spot is now down to two games.
Altoona Hands Out Awards
The Altoona Curve wrapped up the home portion of their schedule on Thursday night against Binghamton, and they handed out their annual season-ending awards at PNG Field before the game.
The organization announced the following awards (stats through 8/31):
- Player of the Year – Barrett Barnes (.310 AVG, .859 OPS, 9 HR)
- Pitcher of the Year – Cody Dickson (3.67 ERA, 5.9 BB/9, 1.556 WHIP)
- Fireman of the Year – Montana DuRapau (22 saves, 2.94 ERA, 9.4 SO/9)
- Ironman of the Year – Erich Weiss (122 games played, .278 AVG, .766 OPS)
- Co-Unsung Heroes of the Year – Eric Wood (.255 AVG, .805 OPS, 16 HR) & Jon Schwind (.234 AVG, 4.2 IP, 0 ER)
Looking at the numbers, you would think that the choosing Barnes as the Team MVP was a no-brainer; however, it was probably a more difficult decision than one would think because of how bad/average he played towards the beginning of the season. The organization thought that his last two months were so good that he he was deserving of the honor.
“It was a surprise,” Barnes said. “I just give the glory to God and am thankful for my teammates that have encouraged me. The staff and coaches have been amazing throughout the year. It wasn’t a great start, but we pushed through and persevered throughout the year. At the end of the day, it was a great honor.”
For the Pitcher of the Year award, Cody Dickson did lead the team in ERA and wins (tied with Clay Holmes). The baseline numbers for the starting staff were extremely average/below-average that Dickson, who led the Eastern League in walks by a large margin, was the frontrunner for the organization’s award.
DuRapau acted as the team’s closer for the majority of the season, and he leads all active Eastern League relievers with 22 saves this season. He was a clear choice as Fireman of the Year as a member of the bullpen. Weiss was most likely the second choice for Player of the Year, and the Ironman award is appropriate as he led the team in games played. Wood was second on the team in OPS (led for a majority of the season until Barnes’ phenomenal August), and he led the team in home runs. Jon Schwind was the team captain and was extremely valuable as a team leader and a multi-positional asset. -Sean McCool
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Bradenton had their game against Ft Myers suspended in the fifth inning, with the Marauders ahead by a 2-1 score. The game was halted shortly after Jordan Luplow hit a two-run homer to put Bradenton on top. JT Brubaker went four innings and allowed one run on three hits, no walks and two strikeouts. They will finish this game tomorrow as part of a doubleheader.
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Logan Sendelbach made his last start of the season in the last road game for the Power on Thursday night. He went six innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits and no walks, with two strikeouts and a 9:5 GO/AO ratio. Sendelbach finishes the season with a 3.75 ERA in 138.1 innings. Jess Amedee pitched shutout ball over the last two innings, striking out four batters.
The offense put up just one run in the 4-1 loss. They had their share of base runners and chances, with five hits, five walks and nine at-bats with runners in scoring position. Carlos Munoz had two hits, including his 27th double, and he drove in the lone run. Mitchell Tolman scored that run, while picking up a single, walk and two stolen bases. The Mighty Casey Hughston struck out twice, giving him 151 on the season. Keep in mind that he spent a month of the season in Mudvil..I mean, Extended Spring Training.
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Morgantown won 6-2 behind strong pitching from James Marvel in his last start of the season. He went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits, a walk and two strikeouts. Marvel was efficient with his pitches, throwing 49 of 76 for strikes, while posting a 9:3 GO/AO ratio. He finishes with a 4.43 ERA in 65 innings, putting in a nice total of innings he can build on next year in his second season back from Tommy John surgery. He was pitching regularly in Extended Spring Training as well, so that will count towards his 2017 limit, if he has one.
Adrian Grullon followed Marvel and threw a shutout inning. He was making his comeback from Tommy John surgery this year, but the Pirates shut him down as a precaution after he pitched on July 2nd. They built him back up slowly, as the original plan had him getting back into games two weeks ago.
Will Craig had two singles, a run scored and an RBI. He extended his on base streak to 33 games with his third inning hit. He now has a .418 OBP, which is just three points behind the NYPL leader. He also ranks ninth in the league with a .792 OPS.
The big hit in this game was a sixth inning grand slam off the bat of Albert Baur, his fourth home run of the season. Ty Moore had a single, walk, two runs scored and two stolen bases.
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With the way Bristol’s season has gone, you just knew their last game would end poorly. They lost 9-8 in ten innings to Kingston, dropping the Pirates to a final record of 25-43. They had a 7-4 lead midway through the game and even put a run on the board in the top of the tenth. Just like in Wednesday night’s loss, Julio de la Cruz threw a ball away that ended up costing them the game.
Adam Oller got hit around in his last start of the season, giving up four runs on nine hits in five innings. He finishes his first season with a 4.45 ERA in 54.2 innings, posting a nice 9:46 BB/SO ratio.
Michael de la Cruz had a tough season, though he finished on a high note. He went 2-for-4, with two runs and his tenth stolen base. Victor Fernandez ended up with a .314 average after two hits on this night, including his 13th double. Raul Siri went 1-for-5 with a single, yet he knocked in three runs. Not only did Julio de la Cruz lose the game for Bristol with a throwing error for the second night in a row, he also went 0-for-5 at the plate, striking out three times. Plus he committed another error earlier in the game, so it was not a good finish to his season.
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The GCL Pirates had a scheduled doubleheader canceled due to rain. Their season is over.
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The DSL Pirates finished their season on Saturday.
