30.2 F
Pittsburgh

Prospect Watch: Solid Starts for Brandon Waddell and Clay Holmes

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 (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]
include_once (‘./p2-stats/stats_functions.php’);
display_top30(640457,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

2. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(656605,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

3. Kevin Newman, SS, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(621028,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

4. Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(657061,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
display_top30(663647,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

6. Will Craig, 3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(643269,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(621368,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

8. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
display_top30(656543,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

9. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(592468,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

10. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(643230,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

11. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(605280,’P’,’20170525′);
[/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’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

15. Edgar Santana, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(650828,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

16. Luis Escobar, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
display_top30(650813,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

17. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(596720,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

18. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
display_top30(650817,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

19. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php]
display_top30(596012,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

20. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
display_top30(621169,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

21. Stephen Alemais, SS, West Virginia – [insert_php]
display_top30(641301,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

22. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(663399,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

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

24. Barrett Barnes, LF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
display_top30(608627,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

25. Max Moroff, 2B, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
display_top30(621559,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

26. Eric Wood, 3B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(607780,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

27. J.T. Brubaker, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(664141,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

28. Chris Bostick, INF/OF, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(607471,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

29. Connor Joe, 3B, Altoona – [insert_php]
display_top30(656582,’B’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

30. Pat Light, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
display_top30(572990,’P’,’20170525′);
[/insert_php]

P2 Top Performers

[insert_php]
display_topperf(‘20170525’);
[/insert_php]


Prospect-Watch-Indy

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170525′,’ind’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Indianapolis won 8-4 over Lehigh Valley, as Clay Holmes put in six solid innings in the rain. It was not a good night for baseball, but the Indianapolis bats seemed to feed off of the weather early, putting up runs in each of the first five innings. At times, it looked like the game wouldn’t even get to five innings to be official. The fifth inning in particular was a heavy downpour. Holmes managed to keep Lehigh Valley off of the board for the first five innings before giving up three runs, all coming with two outs in the sixth.

Holmes looked strong in this game with his sinker, though he had some control issues late. Since he has had control issues often in the past, it’s hard to say how much the rain affected him. He was hitting 97 MPH and had six strikeouts, to go along with an 8:0 GO/AO ratio. While he was relying heavily on the sinker, he also showed nice examples of each of his other four pitches, all resulting in at least one swing-and-miss. This was the first time since his season debut that he allowed more than two earned runs in a game and this was still an impressive game against the first place team in the International League.

Tyler Eppler pitched a quick inning of relief to follow Holmes. He was supposed to start tomorrow, but it appears things have changed with the off-day on Monday. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Steven Brault go on normal rest tomorrow, followed by Eppler on Saturday, treating tonight’s game as his throw day. Unless they have a surprise guest in mind for Saturday’s game…(UPDATE: Schedule on the team site now says Edgar Santana on Friday making his first pro start, but I’m told that’s not true. Friday will be a rehab pitcher or two, followed by Brault and Kingham over the weekend)

Indianapolis had 15 hits in this game, with 13 singles and two doubles, both from Joey Terdoslavich. Max Moroff had two hits and drew both of the Indianapolis walks in the game. Austin Meadows and Jacob Stallings each had three hits on the night. It’s the third multi-hit game for Meadows in his last four starts. His average is now up to .241, while Stallings has an impressive .333 average on the year. Clay Holmes and Eric Wood each drove in two runs. Phil Gosselin had two hits and scored twice. He is batting .365 in 17 games for Indianapolis.

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170525′,’alt’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Altoona got swept in a four-game series at home against Akron on Thursday, dropping the finale by a 2-0 score. Brandon Waddell started and had his longest outing of the season, going 5.2 innings. He allowed both runs to score, although reliever Tate Scioneaux was on the mound when that happened.

Waddell started off strong in this game, retiring nine of the first ten batters he faced. The lone base runner in the first three innings was on an infield hit that Kevin Kramer threw away, which was scored a single and an error. Waddell got out of the fourth while allowing just a walk in the inning. He ran into a little trouble in the fifth, but got help from Jin-De Jhang, who made a strong throw to cut down the lead runner on a double steal. Waddell issued his second walk and gave up a single in the frame. That was the first time he got through five innings this season.

In the sixth, he ran into some trouble, giving up a single and hitting a batter, both with one out. After getting a soft grounder that moved up both runners, Waddell was removed with a season-high, 83 pitches, with 53 going for strikes. He had four strikeouts in the game and an 8:3 GO/AO ratio. He now has a 4.29 ERA on the season.

Scioneaux followed Waddell and threw 2.1 scoreless innings of his own, but the two-out double he allowed in the sixth inning was the difference in the game. Miguel Rosario threw a scoreless ninth, lowering his ERA to 1.16 through 23.1 innings. He has allowed just one run since his season debut.

On offense, there wasn’t much to talk about. The Curve had four singles and three walks. They left five runners on base and went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position. Jordan Luplow extended his hit streak to 11 games with a single. Connor Joe had two of the walks, though he attempted to advance on a ball in the dirt and got thrown out by 15 feet. Pablo Reyes batted lead-off and played shortstop while Kevin Newman had the day off. Reyes singled and stole his fourth base. Jin-De Jhang went 0-for-3, leaving him at 1-for-15 since his return from a preseason oblique injury. That one hit was a double in his first at-bat of the season.

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170525′,’bra’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

Bradenton lost 1-0 to St Lucie on Thursday, as they had a tough day on offense. Pedro Vaquez started and did a great job of pitching out of trouble for seven innings. He allowed just one run on five hits and two walks, while also hitting a batter. That’s not a ton of runners for seven innings of work, but of those five hits, three were doubles and one was a triple. Of his 94 pitches, 63 went for strikes. He had six strikeouts and a 5:4 GO/AO ratio, both improvements on his overall averages in those categories. In 52.1 innings this season, he now has a 2.24 ERA.

Casey Sadler finished the game with two scoreless innings. He has now allowed one run over eight innings in four appearances. He needed just 17 pitches to get through his work and he struck out two batters.

On offense, the Marauders had seven base runners, with four singles, three walks and a hit batter. Four of those runners were cut down on the bases, as they hit into two double plays, had a caught stealing. Cole Tucker was also thrown out at home plate on a bad decision, trying to score after a throwing error with no outs in the ninth inning. If he stayed at third base, the winning run would have been on second base with Will Craig coming up with no outs. They also struck out 13 times and went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.

Tucker finished 1-for-3 with a walk. Ke’Bryan Hayes went 0-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt. Will Craig was 0-for-3 with a HBP.

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php]
create_boxscore(‘20170525′,’wva’);
[/insert_php]
[/expand]

West Virginia has been rained out for the fourth day in a row.

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