Kevin Kramer’s season long on base streak has been impressive. He currently has a .386/.491/.636 slash line through 24 games. He has had just two games in which he didn’t collect a hit and one of those games included him getting hit by pitches three times and drawing a walk. I was curious about how that stacked up against the hitting streak Austin Meadows had right before he was promoted to Indianapolis, so I looked up the numbers. It’s not an ideal player comparison due to the speed/defense/age advantages for Meadows, but it is two players at the same level over the same amount of games.
In his last 24 games at Double-A, Meadows set the Altoona record for longest hit streak. Technically it’s still an active streak, but you hope he never has a reason to go back to Double-A. If you’re now thinking his current hitting could get him back there, just stop. During that 24-game streak, Meadows hit .404/.441/.851 in 102 plate appearances. Kramer has just one extra plate appearance in his 24 games, so that makes the comparison even better.
Looking at the two streaks, Kramer did a better job of getting on base, but even with 12 extra-base hits from Kramer, there is a huge gap in the slugging percentage between the two streaks. Meadows was not only on fire during the streak last year, he was picking up extra-base hits almost every single day. In 24 games, he had 12 doubles, six triples and six homers. Basically, the same amount of plate appearances, but double the extra-base hits.
This was nothing more than just a fun comparison between two great stretches at Altoona that each drew a lot of attention. For Meadows, it was an affirmation of his top prospect ranking, while (it’s still early!) Kramer is living up to his breakout prospect potential. Kramer now leads the Eastern League with his 1.127 OPS, which is 270 points higher than the next best total for Altoona. It’s also good to note that he was tearing the cover off of the ball during Spring Training, so he’s been hitting well for awhile now.
**After Tyler Glasnow’s last start, I did a big update on the prospect status for all of the prospects who have been with the Pirates this season. This one will be much shorter. I almost waited a day because Trevor Williams is scheduled to start tomorrow, so along with anyone who played, there would be a bigger difference than doing it today. I’ll just post a small update tomorrow instead because the big news from yesterday is that Tyler Glasnow is no longer a prospect! He reached the minimum needed in his start (6.1 IP), which is what I asked for in that link just above. So now the updates will either be after Trevor Williams makes a start, or just every Sunday morning. If Williams could just go 26 innings today, he will lose his prospect status. It’s not like it hasn’t been done twice before.
As for the other guys in the majors, Alen Hanson, Johnny Barbato, Gift Ngoepe and Jose Osuna all played yesterday. Elias Diaz got into the game, but walked as a pinch-hitter so that didn’t help. After one at-bat (and a walk) on Sunday, Alen Hanson is halfway to the 130 at-bat prospect cutoff. He needs 66 more at-bats to lose his prospect status. Jose Osuna batted four times on Sunday, giving him 43 at-bats, leaving him 88 short of losing his prospect status. I still think he’s the next one to make it.
Gift Ngoepe has 24 at-bats, and I don’t think he reaches 131 this year. Elias Diaz probably won’t reach it either, though a catcher injury changes everything. He has 15 at-bats over his three seasons, so he would need some regular playing time. Finally, Johnny Barbato has stuck around longer than I thought, but he isn’t pitching much. He has 19 career innings pitched and 16 appearances. He’s 15 appearances or 31.1 innings away from losing his prospect status.
**One other note about Glasnow no longer being a prospect. That means a new player in the top 50 and it’s Jacob Stallings. Everyone welcome him to the group. It also puts Yeudy Garcia in the top 20, Chris Bostick in the top 30 and Kevin Newman as the third best prospect. Remember that these are based on the book rankings and we don’t re-rank anyone until after the draft signing deadline is over in mid-July.
Josh Bell also graduated from prospect status earlier in the season, so many players have moved up at least two spots, with players further down the list moving up even more. Frank Duncan, Lisalverto Bonilla and Tyler Webb were all in the book, and only Pat Light was added to the top 50 since then. That means Stallings was originally ranked 54th (or just fourth closest to the top 50).
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 6-2 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon. The Pirates now travel to Los Angeles for three games against the Dodgers. They will send Trevor Williams to the mound in place of Jameson Taillon, who was placed on the disabled list on Saturday. Williams has not made a start yet this season. The Dodgers will use right-handed veteran Brandon McCarthy, who has a 3.10 ERA through five starts.
In the minors, Alex McRae makes his first start since we picked him as our Pirates Prospects Pitcher of the Month for April. He was the first Altoona player to be named Pitcher of the Month since Steven Brault in August 2015. The Curve have had the last four Players of the Month, including the aforementioned Kevin Kramer, who extended his on base streak to 24 games on Sunday. Dario Agrazal starts for Bradenton tonight. He has thrown 36.2 innings this season, most in the farm system. He also has the lowest walk rate in the system at 0.7 BB/9IP.
MLB: Pittsburgh (14-17) @ Dodgers (17-14) 10:10 PM
Probable starter: Trevor Williams (5.40 ERA, 7:10 BB/SO, 11.2 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (10-16) vs Charlotte (14-14) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Drew Hutchison (5.00 ERA, 11:20 BB/SO, 27.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (17-10) @ Richmond (11-17) 6:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Alex McRae (2.12 ERA, 7:17 BB/SO, 29.2 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (18-13) @ Jupiter (13-17) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Dario Agrazal (2.95 ERA, 3:20 BB/SO, 36.2 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (15-16) vs Lexington (12-19) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Matt Anderson (4.03 ERA, 11:30 BB/SO, 29.0 IP)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is the second homer by Max Moroff from Saturday night. It was his eighth of the season and it tied a career high. Logan Hill tied him for the Pirates lead on Sunday.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
5/7: Michael Suchy placed on disabled list. Jerrick Suiter promoted to Altoona.
5/7: Jess Amedee activated from disabled list.
5/6: Jameson Taillon placed on disabled list. Josh Lindblom promoted to Pirates
5/4: Brandon Waddell activated from disabled list. JT Brubaker placed on disabled list.
5/3: Jordan George activated from Bradenton disabled list.
5/2: Jackson Williams promoted to Indianapolis. Justin Maffei assigned to Morgantown.
5/2: Zane Chavez assigned to Altoona.
5/1: Pirates recall Elias Diaz. Option John Bormann to Bradenton.
5/1: Pirates release Greg Williams, Holden Helmink and Julian Villamar.
4/30: Pirates option Danny Ortiz to Indianapolis. John Bormann promoted to Pittsburgh.
4/30: Pirates release Trace Tam Sing.
4/29: Pirates place David Freese on disabled list. Danny Ortiz promoted to Pittsburgh.
4/29: Justin Maffei added to Indianapolis roster.
4/28: Luis Heredia assigned to Altoona. Pirates release John Kuchno
4/28: Jackson Williams added to Altoona roster. Zane Chavez assigned to Morgantown.
4/28: Brett McKinney added to Indianapolis roster.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Four former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, and one trade of note. On this date in 1940, the Pirates sent left fielder Johnny Rizzo to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for center fielder Vince DiMaggio. The trade didn’t go over well the next day in the local papers, with one headline saying “Straight swap of players brings strikeout king of majors here.” The trade worked out well for the Pirates despite the fact they dealt away their single-season home run leader. As a rookie in 1938, Rizzo hit 23 homers. His record bridged a gap between Hall of Famers, as Arky Vaughan broke the team record with 19 in 1935 and Ralph Kiner broke Rizzo’s record in 1946.
After the trade, DiMaggio played five years for the Pirates and made two All-Star teams. Rizzo lasted a month with the Reds and was out of the majors by 1942.
Players born on this date include:
Jason Davis, pitcher for the 2008 Pirates. Finished his seven-year big league career with the Pirates, posting a 5.29 ERA over four starts and ten relief appearances.
Orestes Destrade, first baseman in 1988. His .149 over 36 games with Pirates, then spent four seasons playing in Japan, where he hit 30+ homers each year.
Bill Powell, a member of the 1909 World Series champs. Powell pitched for the team in 1909-10, throwing 15 games total.
Eddie Boyle, catcher for the 1896 Pirates, who went 0-for-14 in five games, which were his only Major League games.
