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Prospect Watch: Blake Cederlind Gets His First Start of 2017

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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 for an extended time (Tyler Glasnow, Trevor Williams, Alen Hanson, Jose Osuna), or loses his prospect eligibility, he will be removed from this list. 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 more active prospects on the list. Rankings are from the 2017 Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages. We are working on fixing the stats.

1. Austin Meadows, CF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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2. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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3. Kevin Newman, SS, Altoona – [insert_php]
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4. Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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6. Will Craig, 3B, Bradenton –  [insert_php]
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7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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8. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bradenton  – [insert_php]
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9. Nick Kingham, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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10. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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11. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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12. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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13. Max Kranick, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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14. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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15. Edgar Santana, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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16. Luis Escobar, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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17. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Pirates – [insert_php]
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18. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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19. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php]
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20. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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21. Stephen Alemais, SS, West Virginia –  [insert_php]
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22. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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23. Travis MacGregor, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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24. Barrett Barnes, LF, Extended Spring Training -[insert_php]
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25. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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26. Eric Wood, 3B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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27. J.T. Brubaker, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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28. Chris Bostick, INF/OF, Indianapolis –  [insert_php]
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29. Connor Joe, 3B, Altoona – [insert_php]
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30. Pat Light, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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P2 Top Performers

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Prospect-Watch-Indy

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Indianapolis was off on Monday.

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

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Altoona got some strong pitching from starter Alex McRae, then even better pitching from the combination of Miguel Rosario and Tate Scioneaux out of the bullpen, as the Curve won 3-1 in 12 innings. McRae was doing a great job of throwing strikes and pitching to contact in this game. In six innings, he allowed one run on six hits and didn’t walk or strikeout a single batter. The lone run scored on a second inning homer. McRae’s a ground ball pitcher when he’s on and he had it going this game, posting an 11:4 GO/AO ratio. He threw 53 of 78 pitches for strikes and lowered his ERA to 1.99 through four starts.

Miguel Rosario was up next and he threw three shutout innings to send it to extra frames. He allowed a single and a walk, while striking out six batters. Tate Scioneaux was slightly better in his three innings and he picked up the win. He allowed one single, no walks and had four strikeouts. Scioneaux has three wins out of the bullpen and hasn’t allowed a run in 11.2 innings this season. Rosario has thrown 10.1 shutout innings over his last four appearances.

The offense had just one hit with runners in scoring position, but it was a big one. Pablo Reyes had a 12th inning single that scored two runs for the lead and eventual win. Kevin Kramer had two hits, including his fifth double of the season, though he also struck out three times in five at-bats. Chase Simpson also went 2-for-5 with three strikeouts. Michael Suchy had two hits. Connor Joe went 1-for-3 with a single, two walks and a run scored. Kevin Newman went 0-for-5 and was throwing out trying to steal in his first stolen base attempt this season. He lost a seven-game hit streak and he dropped to a .258 average.

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

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Bradenton was off on Monday.

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

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CHARLESTON – In his first start of 2017, Blake Cederlind showed off exactly what got him drafted as well as exactly what might hold him back in the Pirates system. Cederlind, who suffered from forearm tightness in his injury-shortened 2016 campaign, made three relief appearances with the Power prior to tonight’s start.

Cederlind came out firing on all cylinders with a fastball that easily reached the mid-90s and flashed 97 MPH in the early innings. The fastball attack worked well the first time through the lineup, although he had trouble painting the corners throughout the start.

The second time through, though, the RiverDogs started to catch up to the heat, forcing Cederlind to use his offspeed pitches. He struggled to find the plate with these and allowed two doubles and a walk, resulting in two runs, in the third inning. Cederlind exited the game in the fourth with two outs and two on, and reliever Hector Garcia worked a four-pitch strikeout to end the inning.

Cederlind admitted that he didn’t have his best stuff this evening. He attributed the struggles to a move to the right side of the rubber. “I’m trying to get some deception there,” he said. “I just had one pen this week leading into it so I’ve still got some work.”

Matt Eckelman shut down the RiverDogs for 1.2 innings until completely falling apart after two quick groundouts in the sixth. He surrendered a looping double to the right field corner and a two-run blast to right-center to tie the ballgame at four runs apiece. He then gave up a triple, but in true minor league fashion, he finished what he started with a swinging strikeout.

Eckelman looked to be in trouble again when he took the mound in the seventh. He allowed a deep drive to center in the first pitch, but Logan Ratledge tracked it down for his second on-the-run catch of the game.

In direct contrast to the RiverDogs, the Power bats produced early and fell silent in the later innings. Ty Moore collected a bunt single in the first inning with two outs but was left stranded by a sharp liner to right by Trae Arbet. Carlos Munoz worked his first of two walks to lead off the second, and he and Kevin Mahala scored on a two-run double by Clark Eagan. Eagan then scored on a two-base error.

Trae Arbet extended the Power lead with his fourth home run of the season. In Arbet’s next at-bat, the RiverDogs seemed to throw behind him and then plunked him in the knee, resulting in the ejection of both the pitcher and the manager.

The bizarre Arbet saga continued when he came to the plate with one out in the bottom of the seventh with runners on first and third. He drove a sharp grounder up the first base line where the RiverDogs first baseman fielded it while standing on the bag. This, in turn, eliminated the force out at second, enabling Logan Ratledge to cross the plate before the tag at second was applied to Ty Moore.

Moore then became the subject of controversy in the eighth when Eckleman left with runners on first and third with one out. Reliever Jordan Jess immediately gave up a scorching liner past third base. The ball got hung up in the corner, and Moore called for a dead ball which was not granted by the umpire. As a result, two runs scored, giving the RiverDogs a 6-5 lead, which would hold.

Stephen Alemais, who has been hot recently, went 0-for-3 with all his outs (two flyouts and one grounder) coming on breaking balls, except for a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt in the seventh. According to hitting coach Ryan Long, Alemais has been working on his bunting recently, and the improvements have been noted. He had a bunt single in game one of yesterday’s doubleheader. – Abigail Miskowiec

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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