30.2 F
Pittsburgh

Prospect Watch: Tough Finish for Yeudy Garcia; Bradenton Ends Losing Streak

Published:

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), 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]
include_once (‘./p2-stats/stats_functions.php’);
display_top30(640457,’B’,’20170423′);
[/insert_php]

2. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(656605,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

3. Kevin Newman, SS, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(621028,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

4. Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(657061,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
display_top30(663647,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

6. Will Craig, 3B, Bradenton –  [insert_php]
display_top30(643269,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(621368,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

8. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bradenton  – [insert_php]
display_top30(656543,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

9. Nick Kingham, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
display_top30(592468,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

10. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(643230,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

11. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(605280,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

12. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
display_top30(669180,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

13. Max Kranick, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
display_top30(668820,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

14. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(553869,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

15. Edgar Santana, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(650828,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

16. Luis Escobar, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
display_top30(650813,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

17. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(596720,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

18. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
display_top30(650817,’P’,’20170423′);
[/insert_php]

19. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php]
display_top30(596012,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

20. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
display_top30(621169,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

21. Stephen Alemais, SS, West Virginia –  [insert_php]
display_top30(641301,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

22. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(663399,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

23. Travis MacGregor, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
display_top30(669740,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

24. Barrett Barnes, LF, Extended Spring Training -[insert_php]
display_top30(608627,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

25. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
display_top30(621559,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

26. Eric Wood, 3B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(607780,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

27. J.T. Brubaker, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(664141,’P’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

28. Chris Bostick, INF/OF, Indianapolis –  [insert_php]
display_top30(607471,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

29. Connor Joe, 3B, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(656582,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

30. Jose Osuna, 1B, Pirates – [insert_php]
display_top30(591741,’B’,’20170416′);
[/insert_php]

P2 Top Performers

[insert_php]
display_topperf(‘20170423’);
[/insert_php]


Prospect-Watch-Indy

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170423′,’ind’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

INDIANAPOLIS — Drew Hutchison induced a groundout on the first pitch of the game.

His pitch count took a drastic turn upward after that opening at-bat, though his overall performance was solid but not spectacular.

Hutchison, Cody Dickson, Johnny Barbato and Edgar Santana combined to retire the final 24 batters in Indianapolis’ 4-2 win over Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Hutchison allowed two runs on two hits over five innings, but threw a season-high 98 pitches to make it that far into the game.

“It was kind of a similar outing to others that we’ve seen,” Indianapolis manager Andy Barkett said. “He kind of labored early on and found a groove, made pitches when he had to. You would like to see a little better fastball command, but he he made pitches and got us through five innings.”

More importantly, Indianapolis found a little offense after losing consecutive 1-0 games, and going 23 innings without scoring.

Elias Diaz hit a two-run single that scored Christopher Bostick and Max Moroff, tying the game at two in the sixth inning. Bostick led off with a single and Moroff walked on five pitches.

“I’m really excited to give the team two runs to tie up the game,” Diaz said. “I just tried my best to hit the hard. I was able to put a pretty good swing on that pitch and get a hit.”

Indianapolis scored the go-ahead run on Austin Meadows’ RBI infield single in the seventh inning, which was set up by three consecutive walks. Eric Wood add an RBI double in the eighth inning that scored Gift Ngoepe from first base.

And with the way Indianapolis pitched over the final seven-plus innings, that was enough offense.

Hutchison retired the side in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. He finished his game by retiring the final 12 batters he faced.

Scranton lead-off hitter Tyler Wade grounded out to second base on the first pitch of the game. And that’s when the pitch count surged, as Hutchison walked Clint Frazier in a seven-pitch at-bat.

Hutchison fell behind Rob Refsnyder 3-1, allowing a triple down the right field line. Ortiz tried to make a sliding catch, but the ball got past him into the corner, scoring Frazier. Scranton’s Ji-Man Choi walked, which elicited an early visit to the mound from Indianapolis pitching coach Stan Kyles.

Hutchison retired the next two batters on a pair of flyouts, but that allowed another run to score and he needed 25 pitches to get out of the first inning.

Scranton right fielder Mark Payton led the second inning off with a soft single through the first-second base hole and Cito Culver reached when Christopher Bostick dropped a flyball on a running play in left field. It appeared he tried to make a basket catch, but the ball popped out of his glove.

After the error, Hutchison struck out the side, including top prospect Clint Frazier looking. Still, he needed 30 pitches to get through the second inning and was up to 55 pitches after two innings.

Dickson pitched a pair of perfect innings, Barbato threw a perfect eighth and Edgar Santana struck out one and retired the side in the ninth inning, sitting 95 MPH.

It was a nice outing for Dickson, who did not retire a batter in either of his last two appearances, allowing three runs each time.

“He threw the ball well,” Barkett said. “He was sharp, in the zone and he had some conviction to his pitches. He had some attack. It was a great outing and gave us confidence to use him in a similar role next time out.”

Dickson transitioned to reliever this season after working as a starter for nearly all of his professional career. To break out of his recent slump, he went back to an old mentality.

“The last two were kind of rough,” Dickson said. “I went back to my starter mentality and just compete off the fastball, instead of coming and start mixing stuff up already.”

Bostick was 2-for-4 with a run, while Moroff was 0-for-2 with two walks and a run. Meadows was 1-for-4 with his RBI infield single and is hitting .200. He has reached base safely in 11 straight games. Diaz was 1-for-4 with his two-run single, and Wood was 1-for-2 with his RBI double. – Brian Peloza

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170423′,’alt’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Yeudy Garcia made his third start for Altoona on Sunday and through three innings, it looked like this could be his first strong outing. Garcia got knocked out early in his first start due to his pitch count. His second start was a little better, but he still had his issues and ended up allowing three runs on seven hits over four innings. On Sunday, he was dominating the Akron lineup for three innings, then the fourth frame was a disaster.

Garcia started the game with a walk, before striking out the next three hitters. He started the second inning off with two more strikeouts before getting a hard line drive right at Jordan Luplow in left field. In the third inning, he sandwiched two swinging strikeouts around an easy grounder to third base. Garcia faced just one over the minimum and was getting a lot of swing and misses on both his fastball and his slider. The problem was that he had some deep counts and two-strike foul balls, so his pitch count was rather high compared to the number of batters faced.

The fourth inning began with a walk to break the streak of nine in a row retired. The next batter stung a double to the left-center gap. It looked as if Garcia could work his way out of the inning as he picked up his eighth and ninth strikeouts. That’s when things really fell apart though. Garcia walked the next two hitters on a total of eight pitches, bringing home the first run. Already over 75 pitches in just 3.2 innings, Garcia served up a grand slam on what ended up being his last pitch.

So what looked like it could be a big step in the right direction, went from three no-hit innings and seven strikeouts, to five earned runs and four walks over 3.2 innings. The strikeout total obviously looks good, especially with all of the swinging strikes, but he now has a 10.80 ERA and has pitched just 8.1 innings over three starts.

Altoona lost this game 6-1 despite putting 13 runners on base and collecting three extra-base hits. Buddy Borden was impressive after Garcia left, retiring all seven batters he faced, three by strikeout. On offense, Michael Suchy and Kevin Kramer each had multi-hit games. Kramer is now hitting .380 through 14 games. Suchy hit his third double and drove in Kevin Newman with the only run. Newman was 1-for-5 with his fifth double, though it was just a bloop into shallow right field that hit off the second baseman’s glove, with Newman hustling into second ahead of the throw. Jordan Luplow was 1-for-4 with a single. Connor Joe had the day off.

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170423′,’bra’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Bradenton broke a five-game losing streak on Sunday behind some solid starting pitcher from Pedro Vasquez and contributions from the entire lineup. Vasquez set a season-high with six innings on Sunday. He went four frames in his season debut, then went 4.2 innings next time out, followed by five frames in his third start, so he has increased his outing each time. This was also his best game, as he lowered his season ERA to 1.83 by pitching shutout ball on five hits and a walk, while also hitting two batters. Vasquez had two runners on base in three of his innings, so he really did a great job of working out of trouble to keep Jupiter off the board. He had a season-low two strikeouts in this game and posted a 6:6 GO/AO ratio. He was sitting 90-93 MPH in his last outing, and hit 94 in this game.

On offense, the Marauders had no trouble with Jupiter’s starter Scott Squier. They touched him up for eight runs in three innings and did it without Will Craig or Cole Tucker in the lineup. Casey Hughston struck out in a big spot during the first inning, then came back in the third inning and hit his first home run of the season, a three-run shot. Two batters later, Trace Tam Sing added his first homer. Everyone in the lineup had at least one hit and Logan Hill drove in three runs on three hits and also reached on a walk. Hill came into the game on a 5-for-38 streak, with 15 strikeouts.

Mitchell Tolman was 1-for-5 with a run scored and Ke’Bryan Hayes went 2-for-5 with his first double and an RBI. Hayes is hitting .268/.328/.357 through 14 games and he has looked strong defensively at third base.

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170423′,’wva’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

CHARLESTON – When the opposing starter tosses four no-hit innings, you’d better have ice water in your veins to keep your team in the ballgame. That’s how James Marvel tackled his fourth start of the year in game one of a doubleheader on a chilly Sunday afternoon.

Marvel, who now has a 1.43 ERA, somewhat unfairly holds a 1-1 record in 2017, including two no-decisions. He, like so many of the Power starters, has not been helped on the offensive side by his teammates. Despite this, Marvel continues to be a standout on the staff.

Part of Marvel’s success comes from his ability to mix his pitches and maintain a sharp break in both his curve and his slider. He has increased his velocity on his fastball (today it sat around 91-93), but that pitch has iffy control, particularly when it approaches the mid-90s. That questionable control reared its head in the second inning, when Marvel issued a two-out walk and then plunked the next batter. He worked out of the jam with a six-pitch strikeout.

Marvel exited after 5.1 innings, his longest start of the season. In the fifth, he allowed a lead-off double to 2016 first overall pick Mickey Moniak. Lakewood left fielder Alex Wojciechowski then placed a perfect bunt single up the third base line, and Moniak came home on a sacrifice fly to center.

At the plate, the Power got the lead-off man aboard in the third and fourth inning but stranded the runner at third both times. Like Friday night’s game, the Power focused on small ball with a beautiful third inning sacrifice bunt by Alexis Bastardo and a bunt hit by Stephen Alemais after Bastardo broke up the no-hitter in the fifth inning.

Ty Moore, Kevin Mahala, and Carlos Munoz each had a hitting streak snapped, at ten games, eight games, and seven games, respectively.

Munoz struggled defensively as well, allowing the second Lakewood hit by fielding a bunt late in fair territory and sticking in his pocket rather than attempting the throw to first. In the seventh, he was pulled off the bag (thanks to a poor stretch), allowing the lead-off man, who would later score, aboard. Both of those plays were ruled a hit.

Matt Frawley, in his fourth relief appearance, battled through 1.2 innings. He shut down the Blueclaws in the sixth but found himself in a bases loaded jam to begin the seventh. He induced a 6-4-3 double play and struck out Moniak looking on an inside fastball to escape with only one run allowed.

The Power mounted a two-out rally in the seventh. Bastardo collected his second hit with a lead-off single, Sandy Santos worked a walk, and Alemais drove in one with a double up the third base line. Logan Ratledge worked a walk to load the bases, but Ty Moore sharply grounded to third to end the game. – Abigail Miskowiec

Game Two recap: Oddy Nunez started game two and was impressive over four innings, allowing one run on three hits (all singles) and one walk. He tied his career high by striking out six batters. Nunez, who will be on a limited pitch count all season, threw four no-hit innings in his last appearance. Geoff Hartlieb threw two shutout innings. Dylan Prohoroff finished out the game with a shutout inning.

The Power bats broke out in this game after scoring two runs total in their previous three games against Lakewood. This was more like the offense we saw when they were just on the road and put up 48 runs over four games. Carlos Munoz, Trae Arbet and Chris Harvey each drove in three runs. Munoz hit his third home run of the season. Munoz, Arbet, Hunter Owen and Logan Ratledge all scored a pair of runs. All five of the mentioned players had two hits in the game, leading to a 12-1 win. After going 1-for-3 with a walk in the opener, Stephen Alemais have off in the second game.

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.

Related Articles

Latest Articles