*Game Score is a stat created by Bill James used to determine how good a pitcher’s outing really was. The formula for game score is simple: Start with 50 points, add one point for every out recorded, add two for each inning completed after the fourth, add one point for each strikeout. Subtract two points for each hit, four points for each earned run, two points for each unearned run and one point for each walk. There tends to be an advantage for pitchers who can go longer in the game, as they have more time to pile up strikeouts, while getting bonus points for extra innings beyond the fourth frame.

The Top Ten

Nick Kingham had the top game score in the system for the second time this year.

Nick Kingham and David Bromberg tied for the top spot this week, with each posting a 72 game score. Kingham went seven innings, giving up one run and striking out nine. The nine strikeouts was his second highest total of the year. On April 28th he struck out 13 in six shutout innings, which earned him the top game score that week. Kingham joins Stolmy Pimentel and Andy Oliver as the only pitchers who have posted the top game score two weeks out of the year. Oliver and Pimentel tied with each other one week. There have only been two weeks this year where one of those three starters haven’t been at the top.

Bromberg’s outing wasn’t a start. He came in to reliever Charlie Morton, who went four innings in a rehab start. Normally when there’s a rehab start that goes four innings or less, the regularly scheduled starter will come in out of the bullpen and act like he’s making a start. Bromberg came in and threw five no-hit innings, allowing one walk and striking out six.

Brandon Cumpton continues to post impressive, and somewhat surprising numbers for Indianapolis. I say surprising because he had a rough start to the year with Altoona, and started off rough in his first start with Indianapolis. He had the third best game score this week with six shutout innings. In the month of May he has a 2.35 ERA in 23 innings, with a 23:10 K/BB ratio and a very impressive 3.09 GO/AO ratio.

Zack Dodson has looked good since returning from his suspension and joining Bradenton. In his most recent start he gave up just one run in 6.2 innings, with five strikeouts and two walks. Dodson was cruising through the outing, and finished with 99 pitches. He missed closing out the seventh inning, walking the final batter he faced on a full count.

Casey Sadler had the top score in the system last week, and rounded out the top five this week. Sadler went seven shutout innings, allowing five hits, two walks, and striking out three. Out of nine starts this year, Sadler has four starts where he’s gone seven innings or more with one or fewer earned runs. On the season he has a 2.79 ERA in 58 innings, with a 30:15 K/BB ratio and a 2.15 GO/AO ratio.

Clay Holmes has been in the bottom five almost every week, but made it to the top ten with his latest start. Holmes gave up just one run on one hit in five innings on Friday. He did walk three batters, and walks continue to be an issue. On the season Holmes has a 22:28 K/BB ratio in 36 innings.

Luis Sanz has been filling in as a starter for Altoona the last two weeks, and made it to the top ten this week. In his second start for Altoona he went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs and striking out five. Sanz has a 3.63 ERA and a 23:15 K/BB ratio in 22.1 innings this year.

Tyler Glasnow finished eighth this week after another performance where he dominated with strikeouts. Glasnow struck out eight batters in four innings, which is actually his lowest strikeout total in his last three starts. In the last four starts Glasnow has given up four earned runs in 19 innings, with an incredible 34:10 K/BB ratio. On the season he has a 50:21 K/BB ratio in 34 innings. Even more impressive is that he has only given up 14 hits on the year.

Joely Rodriguez has been putting up strong numbers this season. In his latest start he gave up one earned run in six innings, which is the fourth start in a row that he went 5+ innings with one or fewer earned runs. Rodriguez has a 3.14 ERA in 43 innings this year with a 36:12 K/BB ratio and a 2.19 GO/AO ratio.

Gerrit Cole rounded out the top ten with his first of two starts last week. Cole went six innings, allowing three runs and striking out five. That was a positive sign, as Cole wasn’t striking out a lot of batters prior to that start. It didn’t carry over to the second start, which finished in the bottom five.

The Bottom Five

The bottom five this week includes a lot of top prospects. The worst game score belongs to Adrian Sampson, who was hit for seven runs on 11 hits in four innings in his second start of the week. Sampson has good stuff, but he’s struggled so far in the aggressive promotion to Bradenton.

Jake Burnette had the second lowest game score in his second start of the week. He only lasted two-thirds of an inning, giving up six runs on three hits. Burnette joined the West Virginia rotation this week, but didn’t put up impressive numbers in either start.

Nick Kingham had the best score of the week, but he also had the third worst with his first start. Kingham lasted two-thirds of an innings, giving up four runs on three hits. It was a bump in the road for Kingham, who has been excellent the rest of the season.

Gerrit Cole rounded out the top ten, but he also ended up in the bottom five with his second start of the week. Cole gave up eight earned runs in 5.2 innings on Sunday for his worst start of the season.

After finishing in the top three in four of the first five weeks, Stolmy Pimentel finished in the bottom five for the second week in a row. He gave up six runs on ten hits in six innings. Pimentel started the year giving up three earned runs in 36.1 innings. In his last two starts he’s given up 12 earned runs in 10.1 innings.

*Runs Created is a stat created by Bill James used to estimate how many runs an individual contributes to his team. There are many formulas for runs created. For these purposes the basic formula is used. That formula is ((H + BB) * (1B + (2*2B) + (3*3B) + (4*HR))) / (AB + BB).

Felix Pie is the top hitter in the system for the second week in a row.

For the second week in a row Felix Pie is the top hitter in the system. Pie went 10-for-20 with two doubles and two triples in the last week. He’s been on fire in the month of May, hitting for a .368/.463/.649 line in 57 at-bats. When Pie was cut from Major League camp in Spring Training, Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington noted that the team liked him, and saw some similarities to Garrett Jones in 2009. That wasn’t that they’re similar players, but that they both had strong performances in Spring Training, and both had a chance to force their way on the roster by continuing that in Indianapolis. Ironically, Pie is exactly like Jones in that he can only hit right-handers. This year he has a .319/.396/.511 line in 94 at-bats against right-handers. He’s 2-for-27 against lefties. Considering the Pirates have Travis Snider and Jose Tabata in the majors, Pie would look like nothing more than depth at this point. That said, it’s good to see a depth option hitting so well.

Another person who has been hitting well in Indianapolis has been Tony Sanchez. On the season he has a .296/.400/.510 line in 98 at-bats. In the month of May he’s hitting for a .350/.422/.625 line in 40 at-bats. Sanchez was the number two hitter in the system this past week, going 8-for-20 with four doubles and a homer. He’s doubled in seven of his last nine games, and had an eight game hitting streak that was broken Sunday night.

Rounding out the top three is another Indianapolis hitter, Brett Carroll. He’s a 30-year-old outfielder who has been hitting for a lot of power this year. Carroll hit three homers in the last week, going 9-for-28 at the plate. Carroll has eight homers on the season, and an .855 OPS, although he’s probably way down on the depth charts, behind Pie and Alex Presley in Indianapolis.

Carlos Paulino is known for his strong defense behind the plate, highlighted by the best arm in the system. He hasn’t been hitting much, although that changed this week. Paulino went 8-for-17 with a double and a triple. On the season he has a .218/.304/.277 line in 101 at-bats. He has a seven game hitting streak going.

Stetson Allie rounded out the top five. On Friday’s podcast I noted that Allie was on a cold streak, but that he could easily do a 180 and start hitting again. He did exactly that, going 6-for-16 with two doubles and two homers over the weekend to propel him up in the rankings this week.

Ivan De Jesus has been hitting well with Indianapolis since Jordy Mercer was promoted. He continued that this week, going 8-for-20 with a homer. On the season he has a .340/.400/.470 line in 100 at-bats.

Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco both made the top ten this week. Hanson finished seventh, going 7-for-23 with three doubles and a homer. Hanson’s hitting has been great in his last ten games, with a .341/.372/.488 line in 41 at-bats. Gregory Polanco finished with the tenth best score, going 6-for-19 with a homer and three doubles. He missed a few games at the start of the week with a minor wrist injury, but showed no problems after coming back. On the season he is hitting for a .305/.379/.496 line.

Raul Fortunato and Dilson Herrera finished eighth and ninth respectively, with both West Virginia hitters putting up almost identical runs created numbers. Fortunato went 8-for-19 with a double and a triple. He got off to a great start this year, but has since slumped with a poor month of May and is hitting for a .261 average and a .669 OPS. Herrera went 8-for-24 with a double and a homer. He had a somewhat slow start, although it wasn’t bad. In the month of May he’s hitting for a .328/.355/.534 line in 58 at-bats, which is a great sign.

*Runs Created is a stat created by Bill James used to estimate how many runs an individual contributes to his team. There are many formulas for runs created. For these purposes the basic formula is used. That formula is ((H + BB) * (1B + (2*2B) + (3*3B) + (4*HR))) / (AB + BB).

Josh Bell was the second best hitter in the system last week.

Josh Bell continued his strong hitting of late, finishing right behind Pie. Bell went 10-for-24 with two homers and four walks in the last week. This is the second week in a row that Bell has been in the top three. On the season he is hitting for a .299/.359/.518 line in 137 at-bats, and has six homers. He’s dealt with some strikeout problems, but is really cutting down in that area. In the month of May he has a 9:8 BB/K ratio in 36 at-bats. In April he had a 5:27 BB/K ratio in 101 at-bats. So far this month he’s hitting for a .361/.489/.611 line.

Dilson Herrera hasn’t been putting up the Alen Hanson type numbers yet, but he is hitting in West Virginia. This past week he went 7-for-17 with two homers. On the season he has a .288/.353/.449 line in 118 at-bats. He’s been on fire so far in May, hitting for a .324/.333/.559 line. There haven’t been a lot of walks lately, although Herrera did have 11 walks and a .361 OBP in April, so that’s not as big of a concern with him as it would be with someone like Stetson Allie.

As I mentioned above, Lambo was the number four hitter this week, and has been getting time at first base. That could give him another avenue to move up to Triple-A. However, Matt Hague was the fifth best hitter this week, going 10-for-27 with a double and a triple. Hague has a .309/.392/.419 line, and has been crushing lefties this year with a 1.044 OPS in 38 at-bats. It would be hard to see the Pirates benching him for Lambo.

Bradenton had a few hitters in the second half of the top ten. Benji Gonzalez went 6-for-22 with a triple and a homer to take the number six spot this week. Taylor Lewis finished eighth by going 7-for-18 with a triple. Dan Gamache was right behind him at number nine, going 6-for-20 with two doubles. Of the three, Gamache is the only guy who projects to have a chance at making the majors.

Brett Carroll is another guy who has been getting regular playing time with Indianapolis, and who I previously suggested should lose time to Andrew Lambo. Carroll went 4-for-15 last week with two homers, taking the number seven spot.

Rounding out the top ten was Jerry Sands, who went 6-for-23 with two doubles. Sands hasn’t been mentioned much this year for his offense, with a .159/.286/.195 line in 113 at-bats on the year. His two doubles last week doubled the amount of extra base hits he has on the season. Sands has always been strong against lefties, and his numbers have picked up against lefties lately, with a .698 OPS compared to a .416 OPS against right-handers. If he continues to hit lefties, he could be a great candidate to pair with Travis Snider in a platoon, assuming Jose Tabata doesn’t work out in the role.

*Game Score is a stat created by Bill James used to determine how good a pitcher’s outing really was. The formula for game score is simple: Start with 50 points, add one point for every out recorded, add two for each inning completed after the fourth, add one point for each strikeout. Subtract two points for each hit, four points for each earned run, two points for each unearned run and one point for each walk. There tends to be an advantage for pitchers who can go longer in the game, as they have more time to pile up strikeouts, while getting bonus points for extra innings beyond the fourth frame.

Casey Sadler’s eight innings ended up being the second best start of the year so far.

The Top Ten

Casey Sadler had the most efficient outing of the season last Monday, tossing eight innings with one unearned run. The sinkerballer only needed 88 pitches to get through eight innings, making him the only Pirates minor league starter to go beyond seven innings this year. Sadler’s game score of 78 was the second best in the system this year, only topped by Nick Kingham’s 79 two weeks ago when he struck out 13 in six shutout innings. Sadler made another start last week, giving up five runs and four earned in seven innings. He joined us on the Pirates Prospects podcast this past week.

Jameson Taillon was right behind Sadler, throwing six shutout innings and striking out eight to bounce back from his rough stretch of starts recently. Taillon had given up 12 earned runs in 20.2 innings over his previous four starts before this outing. John Eshleman had a report on Taillon’s start from Sunday. He also had one of the worst outings of the week last week, which I’ll get to later.

Indianapolis had a great week from their starting rotation. Out of their seven starts, six of them finished with a game score above 50. Four of those starts ended up in the top ten. Andy Oliver ranked third with a 69 game score last Monday, throwing six shutout innings and striking out five. Oliver’s second start finished 12th this week with a 57 game score, with one run in five innings of work. He was named the International League Pitcher of the Week for those starts.

Gerrit Cole finished with the fifth highest game score, with a 68, and was followed by Kris Johnson, who had a 67. Cole went seven innings, allowing one run on four hits. A big positive is that he’s only walked four batters in his last two games. Johnson threw five shutout innings, allowing two hits and striking out five. Brandon Cumpton was the other Indianapolis starter to make the top ten, coming in at tenth on the list. Cumpton gave up three runs, two earned, in seven innings, with eight strikeouts. He made another start last week, giving up two earned runs in six innings for a 51 game score.

West Virginia also dominated the top 10 this week, with four of the top game scores. Joely Rodriguez led the way, throwing six shutout innings with no walks and five strikeouts. Tom Bragg had a report from the start. Rodriguez has shown a lot of encouraging signs in the last few weeks. In his last three starts he has given up one earned run in 17.1 innings, with a 15:1 K/BB ratio. His issue in the past has been a lack of command, so the low walk rates are encouraging. He has just ten walks in 37 innings this year.

Tyler Glasnow had the seventh and eighth best game scores this week. On Tuesday he gave up one earned run in five innings, with a 10:4 K/BB ratio. He followed that up with one earned run in five innings on Sunday, with a 9:2 K/BB ratio. On the season he has a 1.80 ERA in 30 innings, with a 42:19 K/BB ratio. In his last three starts he has given up two earned runs and five hits in 15 innings, with a 26:8 K/BB ratio.

Orlando Castro had the ninth best game score this week, throwing seven innings and allowing two runs on five hits with a walk and six strikeouts. Castro has a 1.58 ERA in 40 innings this year, with a 35:2 K/BB ratio.

The Bottom Five

Adrian Sampson has the stuff to be a top 20 prospect in the system. He was aggressively pushed to high-A this year, and has shown flashes of his potential. However, he’s had a few really rough starts, and ended up with the worst game score of the week. Sampson has a 6.26 ERA in 27.1 innings this year, with a 16:9 K/BB ratio.

Stolmy Pimentel is usually in the top three game scores each week. This week he actually had a bad start, giving up six runs in 4.1 innings. John Eshleman had a report from the start.

Jameson Taillon’s first start of the week didn’t do well, although Taillon didn’t pitch that bad. He gave up two unearned runs in the first inning due to an Andrew Lambo error at first base. He was hit in the shin with a hard grounder in the fourth, and left the game with two runners on base and no outs. Nathan Baker allowed both to score, giving Taillon his two earned runs.

Clay Holmes continued his string of rough starts with West Virginia. Holmes had the worst game score last week, and has been in the bottom five in five of the six weeks this season. Tom Bragg talked about Holmes in Friday’s Prospect Notebook.

Luis Sanz was making a start for Altoona, piggybacking with Ethan Hollingsworth. Sanz only went three innings and gave up three runs for the fifth worst game score this week.

*Game Score is a stat created by Bill James used to determine how good a pitcher’s outing really was. The formula for game score is simple: Start with 50 points, add one point for every out recorded, add two for each inning completed after the fourth, add one point for each strikeout. Subtract two points for each hit, four points for each earned run, two points for each unearned run and one point for each walk. There tends to be an advantage for pitchers who can go longer in the game, as they have more time to pile up strikeouts, while getting bonus points for extra innings beyond the fourth frame.

The Top Ten

The Pirates have had a lot of small lefties in their system over the last few years, and the story has been the same with almost all of them. They all feature a fastball in the 80s, and great breaking stuff. The great breaking stuff leads to a lot of success in the lower levels. Then, none of those lefties ever make it past high-A.

This week, Orlando Castro and Eliecer Navarro finished with the top two game scores in the system. Both pitchers could fit the above description. Castro might be an exception, as he has gotten his fastball into the low-90s in the past, and looks better than most of the lefties that have come through the system. His season has been phenomenal, with a 1.36 ERA in 33 innings, and a 29:1 K/BB ratio. It’s still hard to take him seriously as a prospect since he has a good curveball and great control, which is definitely going to look good in low-A. That won’t guarantee success in the higher levels, since those pitchers are used to that combo. Castro threw six shutout innings this week, striking out seven, and being named the SAL Player of the Week.

Navarro doesn’t have the fastball that Castro has, but does have the control and the good breaking stuff. On the season he has a 3.26 ERA in 30.1 innings, with a 27:5 K/BB ratio. This week he had one of his best starts of the year, striking out nine batters in six innings, and giving up one run on two hits. That performance was over-shadowed by seven perfect innings from Drew Gagnon. With both Navarro and Castro, the jury will be out on their future potential until they have success in Double-A.

Stolmy Pimentel once again found himself in the top three game scores this week. Out of the five weeks this season, Pimentel has been in the top three in four of those weeks. Last week he was named our Pitcher of the Month for the month of April. Pimentel made two starts this week. His first start was the third best of the week. He threw seven shutout innings with five strikeouts and a walk. His second start was the 11th best start of the week. He actually gave up runs this time, with two solo homers. The first run snapped a 17.2 inning shutout streak.

Tyler Glasnow had his best start of the year this week, throwing five shutout innings. He struck out seven and walked only two. Glasnow had one other start to match this, throwing five shutout innings and striking out six in week two. He has dealt with control problems at time this year, but when those control issues aren’t there, he’s dominant.

Andy Oliver had his worst start of the season two weeks ago, and ended up with the worst start that week. This week he got back on track, giving up one run in six innings, with seven strikeouts and two walks. That was good enough to tie Nick Kingham for the fifth best score this week. Kingham had an identical stat line, giving up one run on four hits in six innings, with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Out of the three A-ball lefties in the top ten this week, Joely Rodriguez has the most upside.

Joely Rodriguez could fit in the same category as Castro and Navarro. He’s a small lefty with great off-speed stuff. The key difference is that Rodriguez can throw in the low 90s, touching 94, giving him far more upside than Castro and Navarro. As Tom Bragg mentioned on this week’s podcast, Rodriguez has been working in the 91-94 MPH range over the last few starts. He has also been putting up strong results, and ended up with the seventh best game score this week. In his last two starts he has given up one earned run in 11.1 innings, with a 10:1 K/BB ratio. That’s great to see, since his main issue in the 91-94 MPH range has been a lack of control.

Phil Irwin returned to the Indianapolis rotation this week, throwing four shutout innings. Irwin had been sidelined with arm fatigue after his start in Pittsburgh. He picked up where he left off with this start, although obviously he needs to be built back up due to the time off.

John Kuchno had a rough start to the season, giving up ten earned runs in 7.1 innings over his first two starts. Since then he has given up three earned runs in 19.2 innings. His start this past week was his best of the year. It was the first time he went six innings, and he also got away from some control problems that he had in the previous two outings.

Gerrit Cole has had a rough start to his Indianapolis career, but ended up with the tenth best start this week. He went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He only struck out two batters, but also only walked two, which was a good sign. So far this year Cole has walked too many batters and hasn’t struck out a lot. Both show that he needs more time against upper level hitting before he’s ready for a promotion.

The Bottom Five

Clay Holmes hasn’t had a good start to the 2013 season, with a 6.00 ERA in 27 innings, along with a 15:22 K/BB ratio. This week he had the lowest game score, giving up eight runs on eight hits in four innings, with three walks and one strikeout. If he continues this into the summer, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him go back down to the NYPL to work on his control issues, similar to Ryan Hafner last year.

Matt Benedict had two starts last week, which were the second and third worst of the week. With Zack Dodson returning to Bradenton, Benedict’s rotation spot could be in jeopardy.

Casey Sadler has had some strong outings recently, but his start last week wasn’t one of them. In the podcast this week, John Eshleman talked about how Sadler’s stuff looked in this start, compared to some of the starts where he was having more success.

Adrian Sampson had one of his best starts of the season this week, but it ended up in the bottom five in large part to a bad sixth inning. Sampson was dominant in his first five innings of work, looking better than any of his previous starts, with most of those starts seeing early jitters. He gave up four runs in the sixth, capped off by a three run homer.

*Runs Created is a stat created by Bill James used to estimate how many runs an individual contributes to his team. There are many formulas for runs created. For these purposes the basic formula is used. That formula is ((H + BB) * (1B + (2*2B) + (3*3B) + (4*HR))) / (AB + BB).

Stetson Allie continued his hot hitting last week.

After a one week slump, Stetson Allie is not only back in the top ten, but was the top hitter in the system last week. Allie has made the top ten in four out of five weeks this season, and this marks the second time he’s had the most runs created in any given week. He also led the Pirates’ system in runs created for the month of April, being named our April player of the month last week. For the last week, Allie went 7-for-18 with two doubles and two homers. Strikeouts have been his biggest issue, with six in his 18 at-bats last week. On the season he’s been striking out about 30% of the time. The power and the average are great, but the strikeouts don’t point to the same success in the upper levels.

Allie’s teammate in West Virginia, Josh Bell, ended up third this week after going 5-for-16 with two doubles and a homer. Bell has been putting up numbers that you would have wanted to see from him last year. He has a .274/.328/.487 line in 113 at-bats this year. His walk rate could use some improvements, and the strikeouts are higher than you want to see. However, the power (.213 ISO, 12 doubles, 4 homers) is excellent.

Ivan De Jesus didn’t get a lot of playing time after Josh Harrison was sent to Indianapolis. The Indians had Harrison and Jordy Mercer in the middle infield spots, which forced De Jesus to the bench. Since Mercer was promoted to the majors, De Jesus has received more playing time. He has also been capitalizing on that time, going 8-for-19 with two doubles and a triple in the last week. That was good enough for the number two spot on this week’s list. On the season, De Jesus is hitting for a .358/.413/.491 line in 53 at-bats.

Speaking of Harrison, he finished fifth on the list this week, going 6-for-23 with four doubles and five walks. Harrison is hitting for a .300/.410/.400 line in 70 at-bats in Indianapolis, and has stolen eight bases in nine attempts over his last ten games, including going 4-for-4 in the last week.

The other player in the top five was Gregory Polanco, who finished fourth overall this week. Polanco has been hitting all season, but hasn’t shown a lot of power. That changed this week, when he went 7-for-24 with three doubles and a homer. On the season Polanco has a .321/.377/.486 line. The .165 ISO was greatly improved this week. He had a .133 ISO heading into May, and brought that up 32 points thanks to a big four game stretch over the weekend. That just goes to show how early it is in the year for everyone’s numbers.

Indianapolis had a lot of top hitters this week, and two guys who finished in the bottom half of the top ten were Darren Ford and Tony Sanchez. Ford finished seventh, and Sanchez was right behind him at eighth. Ford went 5-for-13 with a home run, getting some playing time in the outfield thanks to the struggles from Felix Pie and Jerry Sands. Sanchez also went 5-for-13, but had three doubles. Sanchez is the prospect of the two, and his hitting has been good this year for Indianapolis. He currently has a .275/.398/.449 line in 69 at-bats. His .174 ISO is on par with his .175 ISO last year in Indianapolis, and his best result since 2009 in A-ball. It’s early in the season, but he’s quietly making his way back to having a shot at being a starting catching prospect.

Max Moroff got some time off this week, with Ashley Ponce taking over a few games. Both players had great results at the plate. Ponce went 4-for-7 with two doubles, getting the sixth best score this week. Moroff went 3-for-8 with a home run and three walks, coming in tenth this week. Moroff has struggled defensively this season, which is why he’s lost some recent playing time to Ponce. Ponce isn’t really a prospect, and Moroff’s lack of playing time lately is most likely similar to what Alen Hanson went through a few weeks ago in order to clear his head.

Adalberto Santos returned from the Altoona disabled list this week, and continued his strong hitting in Double-A. Santos went 6-for-18 with two doubles and four walks. He has reached base safely in all 15 games this season, and has a .500 OBP. In his total time in Altoona, Santos has a .346/.437/.450 line in 280 at-bats.

*Game Score is a stat created by Bill James used to determine how good a pitcher’s outing really was. The formula for game score is simple: Start with 50 points, add one point for every out recorded, add two for each inning completed after the fourth, add one point for each strikeout. Subtract two points for each hit, four points for each earned run, two points for each unearned run and one point for each walk. There tends to be an advantage for pitchers who can go longer in the game, as they have more time to pile up strikeouts, while getting bonus points for extra innings beyond the fourth frame.

Stolmy Pimentel is the Pirates Prospects pitcher of the month for April. Photo Credit: Mark Olson

Pitcher of the Month

Normally I wouldn’t go strictly on the Game Scores for this award. The Game Scores would play a big role, but if there were several players with similar scores, I’d consider their talent level and consistency. In this case, there was no need for that. Stolmy Pimentel was clearly the top pitcher in the system for the month of April. Through five starts he gave up one run in 30.1 innings, with a 28:14 K/BB ratio and 19 hits allowed. His average game score of 66.73 was far better than anyone else. You don’t really need to look at Game Scores when you’ve got the numbers Pimentel put up.

To get an idea of how good Pimentel’s start was, only one starter in all of minor league baseball had a better start. That was John Gast, who threw 23.2 shutout innings in Triple-A for the Cardinals farm system. Gabe Encinas of the Yankees low-A affiliate had a 0.31 ERA in 29 innings, but that came two levels lower than Pimentel.

If Pimentel continues this through the month of May, he could find himself in Indianapolis for the final three months of the season.

The Other Candidates

Orlando Castro put together some impressive starts for West Virginia, and finished second on the list. Castro had a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings, with an impressive 22:1 K/BB ratio.

Right behind him was Nick Kingham, followed by Jameson Taillon. Kingham had a 3.04 ERA in 26.2 innings, with a dominant 33:4 K/BB ratio. Taillon had a 3.03 ERA in 29.2 innings, with a 30:11 K/BB ratio. If it wasn’t for Pimentel’s amazing month, all three guys would have been strong contenders for the award.

Andy Oliver finished with the best Game Score in two of the four weeks in the month of April, but also added the worst Game Score one week, which was enough to drag his overall numbers down. Oliver looked good, with a 3.34 ERA in 32.1 innings, along with a 39:19 K/BB ratio. He could afford to cut down on the walks going forward, but so far he’s managed to be effective even with the control problems.

*Runs Created is a stat created by Bill James used to estimate how many runs an individual contributes to his team. There are many formulas for runs created. For these purposes the basic formula is used. That formula is ((H + BB) * (1B + (2*2B) + (3*3B) + (4*HR))) / (AB + BB).

Stetson Allie is the Pirates Prospects Player of the Month for the month of April.

Player of the Month

It should come as no surprise that Stetson Allie is the Player of the Month for the month of April. Allie had a huge month, hitting for a .351/.409/.660 line in 97 at-bats, with eight home runs. Only two players in minor league baseball hit more than eight homers in the month of April — Miguel Sano (Twins, A+) and Devin Harris (Giants, A+), who each had nine. Seven other players in minor league baseball tied with Allie with eight homers.

Allie’s .660 slugging percentage finished 20th in minor league baseball, although a lot of the players in front of him are organizational guys. Nine of those players are 26 or older in Triple-A. Two others are 24-25 years old and in high-A (including Devin Harris). Allie’s OPS of 1.069 was 21st in minor league baseball, again with a lot of organizational guys and upper level veterans ahead of him.

In the Pirates’ system, there wasn’t anyone close. Allie’s runs created was 10 runs more than the next closest hitter, Jordy Mercer. Even more amazing is that no two players could match Allie’s home run total.

The Other Candidates

Jordy Mercer got off to an impressive start in the month of April, hitting for a .330/.398/.440 line in 91 at-bats. The most impressive part of Mercer’s game was the walk rate. He walked 11 times this month, which is one-third of his total walks between 2011-2012 in 486 plate appearances.

Andrew Lambo got off to a great start to the season, reaching base safely in his first 21 games and having an 11 game hitting streak at one point. Lambo is off to a .287/.349/.457 start in 94 at-bats, although he’s spent so much time at the Double-A level that it’s hard to take his numbers seriously.

Josh Bell was right up there in the top five in runs created, coming in at number four.  That’s good to see from Bell, who is hitting for a .277/.306/.485 line in 101 at-bats. The power is there with 12 doubles and three homers, but you’d like to see more than five walks, and the 27 strikeouts are too much.

Rounding out the top five is Gregory Polanco, who has gotten off to a quietly strong start this year, following his big breakout season in 2013. Polanco hit for a .311/.373/.444 line in 90 at-bats in May. The plate patience remains outstanding, with an 8:9 BB/K ratio. He hasn’t been hitting for a lot of power, with six doubles, two homers, and a .133 ISO, but everything else in his game has been working well.

*Runs Created is a stat created by Bill James used to estimate how many runs an individual contributes to his team. There are many formulas for runs created. For these purposes the basic formula is used. That formula is ((H + BB) * (1B + (2*2B) + (3*3B) + (4*HR))) / (AB + BB).

Jose Osuna has a .417/.476/.528 line over his last ten games.

Jose Osuna started the 2013 season slow for the Bradenton Marauders. He wasn’t making much hard contact, and wasn’t hitting for average. In the last few weeks he’s started to hit the ball harder, and this week that really translated to the stats. Osuna went 9-for-22 with a double and a homer to become the top hitter of the week. He hasn’t been hitting for a lot of power this year, and most of his recent hits have been singles. He has been making strong contact, and if he continues, the power numbers are sure to come. Over his last ten games, Osuna has a .417/.476/.528 line in 36 at-bats.

One surprising hitter this year has been Andy Vasquez. He has been more of a utility player, but has made the jump to Altoona this year and the bat has been looking strong. Vasquez went 8-for-18 this week, with a double and a homer. On the season he has a .354/.392/.521 line in 48 at-bats. The 48 at-bats is key. Last year in Bradenton he had a .264/.290/.389 line in 288 at-bats. The year before he had a .278/.304/.412 line in 417 at-bats. The fact that he hasn’t put up these numbers anywhere in his career is a good reason to remain skeptical.

Matt Hague has started to hit again in Triple-A over the last two weeks. This week he added a few doubles, which is where most of his power has come from throughout his career. Hague has struggled in Triple-A since last season, so it’s good to see his hitting come back around, even if there isn’t an obvious path to the majors for him on the horizon.

Jordy Mercer has continued his hot hitting this year, taking the number four spot on the list this week. Mercer has a .333/.404/.448 line on the season. Matt Bandi brought up some good points on Twitter today about the Pirates’ current situation at second base. Neil Walker is out for a few days, giving Brandon Inge some playing time at second base. Clint Barmes is a free agent at the end of the season, and Mercer is the best replacement. It would be good to have Mercer on the major league roster for times like these. The long-term benefits of giving Mercer that playing time at second base would easily outweigh the benefits of giving Inge the playing time. That would give a better idea of what the Pirates have in Mercer, making their decision over the off-season much easier.

Carlos Paulino rounded out the top five by going 6-for-15 with a triple this week. Paulino’s value is more for his glove and his plus arm. On the season he is hitting for a .204/.306/.259 line in 54 at-bats. His upside is a defensive backup catcher, and likely a depth option out of Triple-A in a few years.

Josh Harrison has been hitting well since returning to Indianapolis. The highlight of his week this week was when he stole home in a 5-1 win against Lehigh Valley.

Oscar Tejeda was sent down to Altoona this week, and went 4-for-8 with two doubles. That would be much more impressive if he was doing this in Indianapolis. Tejeda has spent parts of the last two seasons in the Eastern League.

Alen Hanson and Gregory Polanco are both hitting in Bradenton, which is always a good sign. Hanson went 7-for-24 with two doubles to take the number eight spot this week. Polanco was right behind him, going 6-for-24 with two doubles and a homer. The downside for Hanson this year has been his defense, but it is good to see the offense coming around. The downside for Polanco is the lack of power. That wasn’t a huge downside, but it does seem to be turning around.

Ivan De Jesus and Dilson Herrera tied for the tenth spot on the list this week. De Jesus has been limited to a backup role in Indianapolis since the demotion of Josh Harrison. He has still been hitting in his limited at-bats. Herrera showed off some extra-bases power this week, going 6-for-22 with a double and two triples. On the season he has a .266/.359/.405 line in 79 at-bats.

*Game Score is a stat created by Bill James used to determine how good a pitcher’s outing really was. The formula for game score is simple: Start with 50 points, add one point for every out recorded, add two for each inning completed after the fourth, add one point for each strikeout. Subtract two points for each hit, four points for each earned run, two points for each unearned run and one point for each walk. There tends to be an advantage for pitchers who can go longer in the game, as they have more time to pile up strikeouts, while getting bonus points for extra innings beyond the fourth frame.

The Top Ten

Nick Kingham posted the top game score of the season on Sunday.

Nick Kingham had the best game score of the year on Sunday, beating out Andy Oliver’s 77 last week. Kingham was dominant, striking out 13 in 6 shutout innings, and only needing 81 pitches to make it happen. He also had another start last week where he struck out six and gave up two runs in five innings. That game score ended up north of 50, but outside of the top 10. He also had a game score of 74 last week. Kingham has been on a roll lately, with two earned runs and a 26:1 K/BB ratio over 17 innings in his last three starts.

Brandon Cumpton has struggled all year between Altoona and Indianapolis. He had a strong season in the Altoona rotation last year, but started off slow this year. He was promoted to Indianapolis only because they needed some arms, and not for his performance. The first few starts went about as expected, with Cumpton seeing the same struggles he saw with Altoona. His start this week was considerably better, with seven shutout innings and just two hits allowed.

After a week off, Stolmy Pimentel returned to the top 10. He has been in the top three for three out of four weeks this year. Pimentel dealt with control problems, walking five over six shutout innings, but he also struck out eight. I wrote about Pimentel last week, noting that his stuff was too dominant for Double-A hitters, but that he also has some work to do with his control before he goes to Triple-A.

Gerrit Cole finally made the top ten, having his best start of the year on Saturday. Cole has struggled with control and command issues, and still had some control problems in this start. Cole walked four batters in seven innings, and only threw 57 strikes in 97 pitches.

Joely Rodriguez had been in the bottom five in each of the last two weeks, and had the worst game score in the system last week. This week he bounced back with 5.1 shutout innings, allowing four hits and one walk. Rodriguez has some potential as a left-handed sleeper option, but his control is too inconsistent at this point. When his control is on, he puts up more results like this. When it’s off, he puts up results similar to the last two weeks.

Another left-hander in West Virginia who is making a name for himself is Orlando Castro. This is the fourth week in a row that Castro has ended up in the top ten. On the season he has a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings, with a 22:1 K/BB ratio. Castro is a small lefty with great off-speed stuff and a fastball that can touch the low 90s. Generally I’m skeptical of that type of pitcher, since a lefty with good off-speed stuff in A-ball tends to get these results. He’s a guy to watch, but I wouldn’t trust his numbers or consider him much of a prospect until he’s doing this in higher levels.

Matt Benedict has shown some improvements this year with his off-speed stuff, and he’s starting to get some strong results on the field. His start this past week was one of his best of the season. He dominated with his sinker, getting a 13:3 GO/AO ratio. I recapped the start here.

The lack of starters in Triple-A forced Brooks Brown into a spot starting role this week. He and Ryan Reid combined for seven shutout innings on Sunday. Brown went four shutout on the start, giving up a walk and a hit and striking out three. Another Indianapolis starter who made the top ten was Kris Johnson, who threw 5.2 shutout innings earlier in the week. Finally, Kyle Waldrop rounded out the top ten, striking out eight in six innings this week. The Pirates have seen their pitching prospects depleted at the level. Kyle McPherson is injured, Jeff Locke made the majors, and Phil Irwin is dealing with arm fatigue. They’ve had a lot of their off-season minor league free agents step up in the process, and the results from almost all of those pitchers have been excellent.

The Bottom Five

Andy Oliver has been at the top of the list in two of the last three weeks, but finds himself at the bottom of the list this week. Oliver saw his usual control problems, with five walks in five innings, but added seven hits to those walks. In previous starts he’s had the control issues, but has limited the hits, which negated the damage of the free passes.

Robby Rowland ends up in the bottom five for the second straight week. He dealt with some control issues this week, which isn’t normal for him.

Casey Sadler had two starts last week, and both ended up in the top ten. He wasn’t as fortunate this week, giving up four runs on eight hits in four innings. That was the worst start of the year for the right-hander.

Clay Holmes and Jameson Taillon tied for the fourth worst start of the week. Holmes has struggled with control all year, and that was the case in this start with four walks. Taillon had two starts this week. His second start was much better than the first one, but both were a big change from his three starts this year coming into the week.