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Prospect Trends — Week Ending 7/22

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The Pirates continue to get more good hitting and less good pitching than expected in their farm system.

TRENDING UP

Brock Holt, SS (AA):  Holt continues to hit, and continues to be marooned in Altoona.  In the past week he went 9-23 (.391), leaving him at 319/384/440 on the season.

Robbie Grossman, OF (AA):  Grossman’s turnaround continues.  In the last week he went 12-28 (.429), leaving him at 265/376/408 on the season.

Gregory Polanco, OF (Low A):  Polanco has even been out-hitting Alen Hanson lately.  In the last week he went 9-19 (.474) with two doubles.

Jacob Stallings, C (Short Season A):  Stallings started off slowly, hitting just .175 in June, but he’s been hot lately, hitting  361/400/500 in his last ten games.  His catching and his ability to control the running game are both outstanding, so any offense at all will give him a chance to get established as a real prospect.

Clay Holmes, RHP (Short Season A):  Holmes has been uncanny in his last three games, going five shutout innings and allowing exactly one hit in each one.  He’s not fanning many batters, only 19 in 28.2 IP, but opponents are hitting only .133 against him.

Dalton Friend, LHP (Short Season A):  A 12th round pick, Friend was one of the Pirates’ more interesting later round picks as a big LHP with erratic, but sometimes very good, stuff.  His first pro outing was a disaster:  six earned runs allowed without recording an out.  Since then, he has a 1.84 ERA and 15 strikeouts with a 1.02 WHIP in 14.2 IP.

Harold Ramirez, OF (Rookie):  Ramirez missed the early part of the GCL season due to a leg infection, but he’s done very well since being activated, especially considering that he’s only 17 and didn’t play in the Dominican Summer League before coming to the US.  In 13 games he’s hitting 333/373/375.

TRENDING DOWN

Rudy Owens, LHP (AAA):  Owens has run into his first rough stretch of the year in his last three starts.  He had a 7.98 ERA in those three starts.  He even walked seven in 14.2 IP, which for him is a lot.

Justin Wilson, LHP (AAA):  Wilson also has had a rough three-start stretch.  In 12 innings he walked 11 and had an ERA of 11.25.  The stuff is still there, though, as he fanned 15.

Mel Rojas, Jr., OF (High A):  Since a strong May, Rojas has steadily gone downhill.  He hit 226/287/290 in June and, so far, has hit 194/266/361 in July.  In his last five games he’s gone 0-17.

Wilbur Miller
Wilbur Miller
Having followed the Pirates fanatically since 1965, Wilbur Miller is one of the fast-dwindling number of fans who’ve actually seen good Pirate teams. He’s even seen Hall-of-Fame Pirates who didn’t get traded mid-career, if you can imagine such a thing. His first in-person game was a 5-4, 11-inning win at Forbes Field over Milwaukee (no, not that one). He’s been writing about the Pirates at various locations online for over 20 years. It has its frustrations, but it’s certainly more cathartic than writing legal stuff. Wilbur is retired and now lives in Bradenton with his wife and three temperamental cats.

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