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Morning Report: A Look at the Prospects Who Are Off to Slow Starts

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Later today, we will post the first article this year covering the top performers from the previous week. It used to be called Top Performers, but late last year we changed the title to The Twenty. For those who don’t know, here is an example of a The Twenty article. Simply put, we take a look at the top ten hitters and pitchers from the previous week, giving a review of their week and a scouting report on the players. The article usually involves a few writers from the site, and whenever possible, the person who saw them the most handles the recap.

The thing I like the most about the article is that it gives certain players recognition, who might not get much during the regular season besides a brief mention in the occasional Prospect Watch. As long as you were one of the best hitters or pitchers for the Pirates during the previous week in the minors, the player will get mentioned. For example, Ryan Nagle was mentioned in that article linked above. As a college junior in his first full season or pro ball, he didn’t have a good season with West Virginia last year. This year, he’s stuck in Extended Spring Training and wasn’t the first (or second) person the Power called when they had an outfielder and a first baseman go down with injury. He had a very good week back in mid-August last year, so he got a write-up. If he does well whenever he plays this year, he will be in The Twenty.

Since we are going to look at this season’s top hitters and pitchers later today, now would be a good time to look at some players you won’t see in The Twenty article. The article later today will have a paragraph about each player, but this is just a quick look at one hitter and one pitcher from each affiliate, who are off to surprisingly poor starts. For it to be considered a surprise, it has to be a player who is rated somewhat high. If the list makes it look like it’s just prospects struggling, that’s because I wouldn’t be surprised at a non-prospect performing poorly, so I wouldn’t mention him. The painfully obvious caveat here is that it’s very early in the season.

You have to start off with Austin Meadows, who has hit in four straight games, so his poor start could be something we forget about quickly. He’s currently hitting .162/.220/.270 in ten games. He’s also struck out ten times, though only once in his last 19 at-bats. The #FreeMeadows hashtags are still safely locked away for future use.

On the pitching side, it feels odd to say Clay Holmes because I mentioned in the Indianapolis season preview that I expected him to have some bumps in the road in Triple-A. That was due to his control, and I said he would probably need more than a year at the level. I set people up for him to struggle, but I didn’t expect him to only pitch 4.2 innings total in his first two starts, so I think he belongs here.

For the Altoona hitters, it has to be Kevin Newman and his devilish .666 OPS. He has struck out seven times in 34 at-bats, which is more than double his strikeout rate last year. He also hasn’t attempted a stolen base out of the lead-off spot.

On the pitching side, you have to go with Yeudy Garcia, who hopes for a bounce back start today. He couldn’t get out of the first inning in his lone start due to his pitch count. His velocity also hasn’t returned from last year. We dropped him out of our top 20 prospects in the 2017 Prospect Guide due to his shoulder surgery, but we didn’t drop him too far because we knew a healthy season could vault him back to where he was after the 2015 season. This is a big year for Garcia and his possible future.

Going with two players for hitters and pitchers on Bradenton, because you can make a case for both players in each group. Will Craig has a .611 OPS, while Cole Tucker has a .557 OPS. It’s tough to pick which one is worse because you should expect more from the older Craig at this level, but Tucker did get plenty of time with Bradenton last year. Both have good things going for them. Tucker didn’t use his speed well last year, but he’s 8-for-8 in steals this season, best for the Pirates at any level. Craig has just three strikeouts in 46 plate appearances, which is extremely impressive.

Bradenton is tough for pitchers because the two players who struggled in their first start, both looked much better the second time around. Gage Hinsz and Mitch Keller have the two worst ERA’s on the team because their first starts were disappointing (more so with Keller). Their second starts were closer to what you want to see from them, but the rest of the pitching staff has been excellent, so they’re here by default.

West Virginia is a tough team to pick someone to be disappointed in because being disappointed in this case means you were expecting something and didn’t get it. The only top 50 prospect they have on offense is Stephen Alemias, and he has a .745 OPS, which is 60 points above league average. I guess you could be disappointed in the fact he has four errors in six games, but if there is anyone who I wouldn’t get worried about with defense, it’s him.

On the pitching side I have to go with Dylan Prohoroff, the eighth round pick from last year. We knew he was raw when drafted and there would be some control issues, so six runs over 4.2 innings isn’t a surprise. You can still be disappointed that the results have been poor overall, especially for a college pitcher in a Low-A bullpen.

PIRATES GAME GRAPH


Source: FanGraphs

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates won 6-1 over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday afternoon.  They now travel to St Louis for three games, where Ivan Nova will take the mound to make his third start of the season. The Cardinals will counter with right-handed pitcher Lance Lynn, who is also making his third start.

Indianapolis is off today. Yeudy Garcia makes his second start of the season. He was pulled from his first game after reaching his single inning pitch count in the first inning. West Virginia goes with James Marvel today. He went five shutout innings in his debut, then gave up six hits and three walks over four innings in his next start. Bradenton’s starter is listed as TBD, but it’s Dario Agrazal’s turn in the rotation, so he should get the ball.

MLB: Pittsburgh (6-6) @ Cardinals (3-9) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Ivan Nova (2.25 ERA, 0:5 BB/SO, 12.0 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (3-8) vs Durham (7-4) 7:05 PM 4/18 (season preview)
Probable starter: Drew Hutchison (7.84 ERA, 4:12 BB/SO, 10.1 IP)

AA: Altoona (7-3) vs Erie (6-3) 6:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Yeudy Garcia (27.00 ERA, 2:1 BB/SO, 0.2 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (8-3) vs Clearwater (8-3) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Dario Agrazal (1.69 ERA, 2:4 BB/SO, 10.2 IP)

Low-A: West Virginia (4-7) @ Hickory (5-6) 6:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: James Marvel (2.00 ERA, 4:11 BB/SO, 9.0 IP)

HIGHLIGHTS

Two highlights for Altoona today. The first one is our first outfield throw to make the highlights. Jordan Luplow keeps Saturday’s game scoreless with this throw to end the top of the fourth inning.

From the day before, we have the hot-hitting Kevin Kramer getting the scoring started with this opposite field double.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

4/15: Cam Vieaux added to West Virginia roster. Mike Wallace assigned to Extended Spring Training

4/13: Julio Eusebio added to Bradenton roster. Pedro Vasquez assigned to Extended Spring Training

4/11: Albert Baur placed on disabled list. Ty Moore added to West Virginia roster

4/11: Cam Vieaux assigned to Extended Spring Training. Mike Wallace added to West Virginia roster

4/11: Jordan George assigned to Extended Spring Training. Trace Tam Sing added to Bradenton roster

4/10: Victor Fernandez placed on West Virginia disabled list. Carlos Munoz added to active roster

4/7: Junior Lopez suspended 25 games

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

Just one former Pittsburgh Pirates player born on this date, 1931 pitcher Bob Osborn, so we concentrate on a big day in team history that occurred on this date in 1955. At the time it didn’t seem like a big day and the Pirates lost 10-3 to the Dodgers in game one of a doubleheader, but it ended up being the beginning of a historic career. Batting third and playing right field was Roberto Clemente, making his Major League debut. He went 1-for-4, scoring a run and collecting his first hit off Johnny Podres. Clemente had an infield single in his first career at-bat, then scored on a triple from Frank Thomas one batter later. In game two that day, Clemente batted lead-off and played center field. He had two hits in the second game and scored another run.

The Pirates have opened some seasons on this date worth noting. The Pirates shutout the Cardinals on Opening Day in 1902 by a 1-0 score. They would win the NL title that year and finish with a 103-36 record, best in franchise history.

Twenty-one years later, the Pirates opened up for the second time on April 17th. This time they beat the Cubs by a 3-2 score. Pirates had three Hall of Famers in the lineup, Max Carey, Pie Traynor and Rabbit Maranville.

The 1934 Pirates lost to Hall of Famer Dizzy Dean on Opening Day. What’s interesting about that day is the 1-5 in the Pirates’ lineup. Lloyd Waner, Freddie Lindstrom, Paul Waner, Pie Traynor and Arky Vaughan are all in the Hall of Fame.

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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