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Morning Report: What do Pirates Have Remaining from the 2005-2012 Drafts?

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The previous three Morning Reports have been looks at the 2013-15 draft classes for the Pittsburgh Pirates, noting the progress of each class since last year at the same time. I’m going to do something a little different today by just taking a look at who is still with the Pirates from the drafts before 2013. This will go all the way back to the 2005 draft. Starting with the most recent first:

2012: Barrett Barnes, Wyatt Mathisen, Eric Wood, Jacob Stallings, Chris Diaz, Max Moroff, John Kuchno…Taylor Hearn was also part of this draft class out of HS, but he didn’t sign.

2011: Gerrit Cole, Josh Bell, Tyler Glasnow, Clay Holmes, Jonathan Schwind…You could throw in Matt Benedict as well, since I didn’t say current players. He’s a member of the front office for the Pirates.

2010: Jameson Taillon, Nick Kingham, Brandon Cumpton, Jared Lakind, Casey Sadler…more technical inclusions? Kelson Brown is a coach and Matt Skirving is in the front office.

2009: Not even a technical one still around after Jason Erickson left to coach elsewhere this off-season.

2008: Jordy Mercer

2007: Tony Watson

2006: Austin McClune is still a minor league coach!

2005: Andrew McCutchen

These drafts have produced seven current Major Leaguers still with the Pirates, 13 current minor league players and four minor leaguers who have stuck around as either coaches or front office members. As you see with Tony Watson from the 2007 draft, he didn’t exactly breeze through the minors, but he’s already in his last year before free agency, so it’s not a big surprise that there isn’t a lot left before 2010. You’re also talking about three drafts from Dave Littlefield and company, plus the disaster that was the 2009 draft (though some of them still play elsewhere), so you wouldn’t expect a lot from that group.

PIRATES GAME GRAPH


Source: FanGraphs

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 14-3 to the Chicago Cubs on Monday night. The Pirates will send Gerrit Cole to the mound tonight, making his fifth start of the season. He went six innings in his last start, allowing two runs to the St Louis Cardinals. The Cubs will counter with right-hander Kyle Hendricks, who has a 6.19 ERA in three starts this year.

In the minors, Mitch Keller makes his fourth start. He has been better each time out, going six innings in his last start with two runs allowed. Tyler Eppler also makes his fourth start and he’s allowed a total of two runs over 17 innings. Luis Escobar gets his fourth start for West Virginia. He leads all Pirates with 32 strikeouts, picking up at least nine strikeouts in each game.

MLB: Pittsburgh (8-11) vs Cubs (11-8) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Gerrit Cole (4.70 ERA, 6:19 BB/SO, 23.0 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (4-12) @ Pawtucket (7-9) 6:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Tyler Eppler (1.06 ERA, 1:11 BB/SO, 17.0 IP)

AA: Altoona (10-7) @ Erie (8-8) 6:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: JT Brubaker (4.76 ERA, 7:13 BB/SO, 17.0 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (10-8) @ Ft Myers (8-10) 6:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Mitch Keller (5.02 ERA, 1:11 BB/SO, 14.1 IP)

Low-A: West Virginia (8-11) vs Charleston (10-9) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Luis Escobar (3.24 ERA, 2:32 BB/SO, 16.2 IP)

HIGHLIGHTS

Here is a two-run single from Altoona Curve catcher Tomas Morales. I’m showing his highlight because nothing has been uploaded by any of the teams in a few days. Morales is a name you don’t hear much about because he’s always been a backup catcher who doesn’t hit much. He’s actually been with the Pirates for seven years and he reaches minor league free agency at the end of this season. As obscure as he is (174 career games), we have still managed to mention him in 107 articles on the site, including this one.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

4/24: Adam Frazier placed on disabled list. Pirates recall Dovydas Neverauskas.

4/20: Chris Diaz assigned to Altoona

4/19: Brett McKinney assigned to Extended Spring Training. Johnny Barbato added to Indianapolis roster.

4/18: Starling Marte suspended 80 games by MLB. Pirates recall Jose Osuna

4/18: Brandon Waddell placed on disabled list

4/18: Joey Terdoslavich added to Indianapolis roster

4/18: Pedro Vasquez added to Bradenton roster. Julio Eusebio assigned to Extended Spring Training

4/17: Pirates acquire Johnny Barbato from New York Yankees. Barbato optioned to Indianapolis.

4/15: Cam Vieaux added to West Virginia roster. Mike Wallace assigned to Extended Spring Training

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

Five former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including a pitcher for a World Series winning team. Bob Johnson pitched for the Pirates from 1971 until 1973, going 9-10, 3.45 in 174.2 innings during the 1971 season. In the NLCS that year, Johnson started game three and defeated Juan Marichal. He lost game two of the World Series, but the Pirates still defeated the Orioles in seven games, winning their fourth World Series title. Johnson started his career with the 1969 Mets, who won their first World Series title that year.

Other former Pirates players born on this date include: Pitcher Brad Clontz (1999-2000), infielder Jimmy Brown (1946), third baseman Fred Hartman (1894) and catcher Tom Quinn (1886). Hartman was a local player, who played in the minors all over Pennsylvania. He finally got a chance after five minor league seasons to play for his local Major League team, when the Pirates signed him to be their backup infielder. He ended up hitting .319 over 49 games, during his only season with the Pirates. (UPDATE: Recent research has unearthed a new birth date for Hartman, who is now four days older than previously believed)

Two notes about Hartman and the 1894 season. A .319 average sounds pretty good, but 1894 is the best year for offense in baseball history. The mound distance was moved back and the pitchers were required to throw from a pitching rubber for the first time, which led to a lot of pitchers having trouble adjusting right away. Offense was back to acceptable levels by 1896, but the Pirates as a team had a .312 average in 1894, and they were only the fifth best hitting team. The other note is that the team was commonly referred to as the Braves in 1894 and “Pirates” was only a nickname used by some executives and newspaper people in other cities. Team names weren’t official back then, so they could change fairly easily. The Pirates name didn’t catch on until 1895. You can read more on the team name change here.

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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