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Morning Report: Lower Level Hitting and Pitching Leaders

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Over the last two days in the Morning Report, I covered the stats leaders around the system for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Those were all upper level players, so here’s a quick look at the best players at the bottom four levels. I’m doing this one a little different than the previous two articles. These are the team-by-team leaders in a few of the batting and pitching categories. I used two at-bats per game, or a 1/2 inning per team game for the non-counting categories (meaning not the homers, steals, strikeouts).

Batting Average

Morgantown: Deon Stafford, .283

Bristol: Edison Lantigua, .298

GCL: Mason Martin, .317

DSL: Sherten Apostel, .263

OBP

Morgantown: Bligh Madris, .352

Bristol: Edison Lantigua, .404

GCL: Mason Martin, .448

DSL: Emison Soto, .431

Slugging

Morgantown: Tristan Gray, .433

Bristol: Edison Lantigua, .470

GCL: Mason Martin, .604

DSL: Sherten Apostel, .495

Homers

Morgantown: Stafford, Gray, Madris, Lucas Tancas, 4

Bristol: Henrry Rosario, 5

GCL: Mason Martin, 7

DSL: Sherten Apostel, 8

Stolen Bases

Morgantown: Jared Oliva, 11

Bristol: Luis Benitez, 12

GCL: Lolo Sanchez, 13

DSL: Francisco Acuna, 18

ERA

Morgantown: Adam Oller, 1.85

Bristol: Evan Piechota, 2.91

GCL: Samuel Reyes, 3.10

DSL: Oliver Garcia, 2.15

WHIP

Morgantown: Scooter Hightower, 0.86

Bristol: Evan Piechota, 1.08

GCL: Samuel Reyes, 1.00

DSL: Luis Arrieta, 1.04

Strikeouts

Morgantown: Scooter Hightower, 61

Bristol: Domingo Robles, 44

GCL: Yeudry Manzanillo, 26

DSL: Jose Marcano, 48

** You knew I had to talk about prospect statuses after what happened last night. Sending down Dovydas Neverauskas hurt the fun a little after three appearances in three days, but he wasn’t going to graduate as a prospect this year anyway. Relievers get up to 30 appearances before that next one pushes them over the limit, so he wasn’t putting in 22 more games in just under six weeks. Edgar Santana is in the same boat after his tenth appearance last night, so you can still rip open your mail when you get the 2018 Prospect Guide and see where both of them rank. There are others though, who likely won’t be in that guide.

Johnny Barbato pitched last night, his 29th MLB appearance. If he somehow doesn’t make two more appearances, then he probably won’t be with the Pirates when the guide comes out. Making those two appearances doesn’t necessarily mean he will be around either, but it guarantees he won’t be in the guide.

Steven Brault is back up and he worried me a little when we heard yesterday from Brian Peloza that he was moving to a relief role. You would assume Brault would have been up on September 1st, but it was no guarantee and needing nine innings could have meant he was cutting it close. A crowded September bullpen doesn’t leave a lot of innings for everyone. Basically, I’m happy to see him get recalled earlier than expected. Don’t get me wrong, I like Brault, but everyone should know about him by now, so let’s open up a spot for a lesser known player at the back-end of the top 50.

Elias Diaz is the other key player of interest. He’s at 102 at-bats now. He needs 29 more. You would really hope that isn’t difficult to do, but I’m not going to assume anything with Cervelli possibly returning soon. Even if he does return soon, Diaz should be in there often the rest of the way to get experience. I don’t make out the lineup card though, I just complain about it in September when rookies aren’t getting playing time.

The other prospect status player is Max Moroff and good luck with him getting 63 more at-bats this season, even with the Pirates dropping back in the standings.

Brault, Barbato and Diaz are the three closest players to losing prospect status this season, the only ones with legit shots, and they are all in the majors right now. All is right in the prospect status world.

** I’m leaving this little section here and just updating the numbers daily for the next week or so. The minor league schedule is really winding down at this point. As shown in the Playoff Push section, four of the eight affiliates have a legit shot at the playoffs, while two others haven’t been eliminated just yet. Indianapolis has 14 games left over the final 13 days, including today. Altoona has 13 games left. Bradenton is down to 13 games, and West Virginia is at 13 left. Morgantown still has 16 games left without an off-day between now and September 7th. Bristol is mercifully down to nine, while the GCL has ten (plus the completion of a suspended game) and the DSL has just four left.

PLAYOFF PUSH

The Pirates trail in their division by eight games. They are 8.5 games back for the second wild card spot.

Indianapolis is in first place with a 4.5 game lead. Their season ends September 4th.

Altoona is in first place with a one game lead. The top two teams make the playoffs. Their season ends September 4th.

Bradenton is in fifth place, 7.5 games behind. Their season ends September 3rd.

West Virginia is in third place, 2.5 games out of first. Their season ends September 4th.

Morgantown is tied for first place. Their season ends September 7th.

Bristol has been eliminated from the playoffs.

The GCL Pirates are in third place, 7.5 games behind. Their season ends September 2nd.

The DSL Pirates have been eliminated from the playoffs.

PIRATES GAME GRAPH


Source: FanGraphs

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 8-5 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night. They will send Trevor Williams to the mound today for his 20th start. He has posted a 4.54 ERA in seven starts since the All-Star break and a 4.60 ERA in ten starts and three relief appearances at home this season. The Dodgers will counter with veteran lefty Rich Hill, who has a 3.54 ERA in 94 innings, with 112 strikeouts and a 1.23 WHIP.

In the minors, Tyler Eppler starts for Indianapolis tonight. He went to the bullpen for a short time, then was thrown back into the rotation on short notice last week when Steven Brault was called up to the Pirates. He will remain in the rotation for the season and possible playoffs. Alex McRae returns to the Altoona rotation after taking a short leave to attend a wedding last week. His last appearance was last Tuesday in relief. Pedro Vasquez leads the FSL with a 1.13 WHIP and ranks third with a 3.15 ERA.

West Virginia was rained out yesterday, so they will play a doubleheader today. Eduardo Vera will start one game and Mike Wallace is listed as the other starter, although they might not want to use two starters on the same day. Tenth round draft pick Beau Sulser starts for Morgantown. He threw five shutout innings in his last start. Shane Baz is scheduled to make his ninth start in the GCL.

MLB: Pittsburgh (60-66) vs Dodgers (89-35) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Trevor Williams (4.71 ERA, 37:86 BB/SO, 114.2 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (70-58) vs Louisville (51-77) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Tyler Eppler (5.29 ERA, 32:85 BB/SO, 115.2 IP)

AA: Altoona (67-60) @ Hartford (58-69) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Alex McRae (3.70 ERA, 32:78 BB/SO, 133.2 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (66-57) @ Daytona (47-75) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Pedro Vasquez (3.15 ERA, 29:99 BB/SO, 128.2 IP)

Low-A: West Virginia (60-63) vs Charleston (69-57) 5:00 PM DH (season preview)
Probable starter: Eduardo Vera (3.72 ERA, 14:97 BB/SO, 111.2 IP) and TBD

Short-Season A: Morgantown (34-26) @ State College (31-29) 7:05 PM (season preview)

Rookie: Bristol (13-44) @ Elizabethton (35-24) 7:00 PM

GCL: Pirates (19-30) vs Phillies (32-18) 12:00 PM

DSL: Pirates (35-32) vs Dodgers2 (40-28) 10:30 AM (season preview)

HIGHLIGHTS

Here are two highlights from Monday in Indianapolis. First is a strikeout from Nick Kingham.

Second is a fine defensive play by Gift Ngoepe

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

8/22: Joaquin Benoit and George Kontos placed on disabled list.

8/22: Dovydas Neverauskas optioned to Indianapolis. Steven Brault, Edgar Santana and Johnny Barbato recalled from Indianapolis.

8/22: Hunter Owen and Jason Stoffel assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.

8/21: Pirates option Jacob Stallings to Indianapolis.

8/21: Brandon Cumpton promoted to Indianapolis. Jacob Brentz activated from Altoona disabled list.

8/21: John Bormann assigned to Bradenton.

8/20: Pirates recall Jacob Stallings.

8/20: Trae Arbet placed on disabled list. Shane Kemp assigned to West Virginia.

8/19: Steven Brault optioned to Indianapolis. Dovydas Neverauskas recalled from Indianapolis.

8/19: Barrett Barnes assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.

8/19: Max Kranick promoted to Bristol.

8/19: John Bormann assigned to Indianapolis.

8/18: Wade LeBlanc placed on disabled list. Steven Brault recalled from Indianapolis.

8/18: Joey Terdoslavich activated from disabled list.

8/17: Francisco Cervelli placed on disabled list. Max Moroff recalled from Indianapolis.

8/15: Gregory Polanco placed on disabled list. Elias Diaz recalled from Indianapolis.

8/15: Austin Meadows activated from disabled list. Jackson Williams assigned to Indianapolis.

8/15: Tomas Morales activated from Altoona disabled list.

8/14: Gage Hinsz activated from disabled list. Jake Brentz assigned to Altoona and placed on disabled list.

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

One former Pittsburgh Pirates player born on this date, plus the second no-hitter in team history. Guy Bush pitched for the 1935-36 Pirates. He was part of a five-player trade after the 1934 season that included Hall of Famer Freddie Lindstrom. Bush was part of  strong Pirates’ rotation that included HOF pitcher Waite Hoyt, as well as Cy Blanton, Red Lucas, Bill Swift and then Mace Brown getting long relief duty and some spot starts. Bush threw 204.1 innings in 1935, posting a 4.32 ERA. The next year, he was only used out of the bullpen, getting released in early July.

The first official no-hitter in Pirates’ history was thrown by Nick Maddox at the end of the 1907 season. That’s only true because MLB changed the definition of official no-hitters for some strange reason. Before Maddox threw his game, two Pirates’ pitchers threw complete games with no hits, yet for some reason, they took them out of the record book because they didn’t play nine innings. Regardless of what MLB says, Lefty Leifield threw the first no-hitter in Pirates’ history back on September 26, 1906 when he no-hit the Phillies for six innings. The game was called due to darkness, so Leifield gets punished because the ump decided it was a good idea to stop playing once the teams couldn’t see the ball.

The next year on August 23,1907, Howie Camnitz threw the second Pirates’ no-hitter during the second game of a doubleheader against the New York Giants. This game wasn’t even called due to weather or darkness. The two teams played extra innings in the first game, then decided the second game would be a five inning game, so Camnitz couldn’t have went any further unless the score was tied. He was far from perfect in the game, allowing four walks, but the Giants were unable to collect a hit and the Pirates won 1-0.

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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