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Prospect Watch: Steven Brault Struggles with Control in Loss; Craig Hits First Homer

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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.

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 lost 6-3 on Friday night to drop to 6-14 on the season, as Steven Brault couldn’t build on the strong start he had his last time out. Brault lasted just 4.2 innings in this game, allowing four runs on seven hits and four walks. He gave up base runners in every inning, while allowing two runs in the second, then solo runs in the third and fifth innings. Brault threw a lot of strikes in his last outing, but he was going deep in a lot of counts in this game, needing 94 pitches to get through his abbreviated outing. He had three strikeouts and a 4:1 GO/AO ratio. Brault now has a 3.86 ERA through 25.2 innings, with 13 walks and 24 strikeouts.

Angel Sanchez had his first poor outing, allowing two runs on three hits in his only inning. On the plus side, he struck out three batters. Dovydas Neverauskas threw a scoreless frame in his return to Indianapolis after his big league debut on Monday.

The Indians had seven hits in this game, including two doubles and two triples. They also had one walk and ten strikeouts. Erich Weiss and Eury Perez hit the triples, while Chris Bostick and Elias Diaz hit the doubles. Bostick is now hitting .315 after going 2-for-4 with a run scored. The double was his sixth of the season. Diaz was 1-for-4 with a run scored, and the double was his fifth of the season. Austin Meadows lost his 13-game on base streak by going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. Max Moroff was 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. Eric Wood was 0-for-4 and made his fourth error.

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

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ALTOONA, Pa. – The Curve’s comeback attempt came up short tonight, as they battled from behind for most of the game and lost, 6-5.

Down 6-3 in the eighth inning, Jordan Luplow doubled to left then Jackson Williams, in his first game with the Curve, hit a line drive single to bring him in. Connor Joe entered as a pinch-hitter and hit a deep line drive double to center field to cut the Harrisburg lead to one. In the ninth, the first two batters reached base, but Harrisburg’s left fielder made a great play on a deep line drive hit by Jordan Luplow for the final out of the game.

Kevin Kramer continued his hot start to the season tonight, going 2-for-4 with a first inning RBI double. He extended his on-base streak to 18 games – every game he has played this season – and he has recorded a hit in 17 of those 18 games. In that lone game without a hit, he was hit-by-pitch three times and walked once, only giving him one official at-bat where he flied out to deep center field.

Kramer finished the game going 2-for-5 after recording hits in his first two at-bats. Edwin Espinal scattered three singles to go 3-for-5 for the Curve. Kevin Newman was the only starting position player to not record a hit, as he went 0-for-3.

As a team, the Curve have struggled at the plate with runners in scoring position, and they went 2-for-10 tonight with RISP and stranded nine runners.

“We’re in a spot right now where we are letting that at-bat – runners at third with less than two outs – get the best of us,” Manager Michael Ryan said. “It’s an important at-bat, and we’re living and dying by it. Teams go through it at certain stages, and we just have to take the pressure off of ourselves. What’s the worst that could happen?”

They had to battle back as Austin Coley allowed five runs, four of them earned, in the first two innings. Coley made his third start of the season – all in spot-starting duties for the injured Brandon Waddell – and he has performed well up to this point of the year. Tonight, that trend did not continue. Only one of his two runs in the first innings was earned due to a dropped ball by Elvis Escobar in center field, and one other hit just dribbled up the third base line and barely reached the base, but Coley was hit around pretty hard after the first. In the second inning, Harrisburg hit five hard singles against him, and he surrendered three runs. In the third, he got out of it unscathed but still did not look sharp.

Ryan thought that the error in the first by Escobar really impacted the game from the beginning.

“The play in center field (in the first) was a difference,” Ryan said. “He was drifting a little bit, and that’s something we were working on. Then, he throws it to the wrong base (allowing a runner to move up).

Coley had only allowed 11 hits in 16.1 IP before this start, and he allowed nine in only three innings tonight. It raises his ERA from 2.76 to 4.19 on the season. He threw 73 pitches in those three innings.

Sean Keselica came in to relieve Austin Coley in the fourth inning and pitched three scoreless innings, only allowing one hit while striking out four batters. His outing tonight takes his season total to 14 innings pitched this year without allowing an earned run while only surrendering four hits. He entered tonight’s game with a .083 batting average against and a .306 OPS-Against, both best among relievers in the Eastern League.

Buddy Borden only allowed one hit in two innings, and he came into the game with a .118 BAA (fourth in the Eastern League).

*The feel good story of the night is the debut of Luis Heredia, who made his Double-A debut tonight after being delayed in Spring Training due to hypertension. Heredia lost 20 pounds before reporting to Altoona, and he looks to be in great physical shape now. He pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning, using a two-seamer around 92-93 MPH, slider, and changeup. We will have more on Heredia in a separate article…

*Michael Suchy hit a bomb to left center field in the second inning for his first home run of the season.

*Brandon Waddell threw a simulated game today and everything checked out good, according to Manager Michael Ryan. He should be in line to make his next start.

*John Kuchno was released by the Pirates today, and it was a difficult pill to swallow in the Altoona clubhouse.

“It was time for him to look elsewhere and move on,” said Ryan, “but it was still a tough one today. Maybe a change of scenery will help him. It’s just one of those things where it was a number’s game.” –Sean McCool

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

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Bradenton won 6-3 behind the bat of Will Craig and a solid outing from starter Dario Agrazal. Craig started the scoring in this game with an RBI double in the first inning. After singling in the fifth, he hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning. It was the first homer for Craig, who raised his batting average to .299 with a 3-for-5 night.

Dario Agrazal certainly didn’t look like he would have a strong outing with the way this game started. He pitched himself out of a big inning in the first after loading the bases with out one. He ended up surrendering just one run. In the second, he allowed a couple of two-out base hits to tie the score 3-3. After that, Agrazal cruised for the rest of the game.

What started out with three runs on six hits in 1.2 innings, ended with him throwing 5.1 shutout innings the rest of the way, doing it on 50 pitches over the last five frames. Agrazal had no walks, four strikeouts and a 12:2 GO/AO ratio. At one point he retired 12 straight, with the streak snapped by an infield single. He now has a 2.64 ERA in 30.2 innings and he’s gone at least six innings in his last four starts.

Cole Tucker went 1-for-5 in this game, stealing two bases to give him 13 on the season, which is tops among all Pirates. Logan Hill hit his sixth homer, which is tops among all Pirates. Alfredo Reyes is quietly having a strong season while making starts at six different positions. He’s now batting .306 after hitting his third triple of the season in this game. That’s a career-high for him in his seventh season of pro ball. The bat is what has always held him back, because he’s a gifted defensive shortstop with a strong arm and above average speed, though he’s never been on base enough to take advantage of that speed.

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

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West Virginia lost 9-4 to Rome, as starter James Marvel had a rough outing. Marvel came into this game with a 1.86 ERA in four starts and he was averaging nearly a strikeout per inning. That was well up from last year, when he had 41 strikeouts in 65 innings for Morgantown. Early in this game he was flashing a curveball that had late/sharp break away from right-handed batters. It was much better than what I saw last year from him. The plus looking pitch disappeared after the first inning though and it became more of a loopy 12-for-6 break, which he couldn’t throw for strikes. He was leaving his sinker belt-high in this game and Rome eventually made him pay for it.

Marvel got through three innings with just a walk, even with the curve not working and leaving pitches up in the zone. It wasn’t a recipe for success though and Rome was all over him in the fourth inning, putting six runs on the board, including a grand slam. Coming into the day, Marvel had allowed four runs over 19.1 innings and he had served up just one homer in his first 84.1 innings as a pro.

Stephen Alemais went 2-for-5 in this game and drove in two runs. Trae Arbet, who has been the second best hitter on the team behind Ty Moore, had a tough day batting behind Alemais. He went 0-for-4 and struck out three times. Strikeouts have been an issue for Arbet during his career, as well as a low walk total, but he’s been better at both early on this year (though tonight brought him closer to his average in the past for strikeouts). His seven walks this season are only four short of his career high. Ty Moore had the day off.

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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