A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time (Jose Osuna), or loses his prospect eligibility, he will be removed from this list. Everyone below him will be shifted up a spot, and a new player will be added to the bottom of the list. If a player is out for the season, he will be removed and everyone below him will move up a spot. Removing these guys doesn’t mean they have lost prospect status. It is just an attempt to get more active prospects on the list. Rankings are from the 2017 Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Austin Meadows, CF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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2. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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3. Kevin Newman, SS, Altoona – [insert_php]
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4. Cole Tucker, SS, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Bradenton -[insert_php]
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6. Will Craig, 3B, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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8. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php]
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9. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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10. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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11. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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12. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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13. Max Kranick, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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14. Elias Diaz, C, Pirates – [insert_php]
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15. Edgar Santana, RHP, Pirates – [insert_php]
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16. Luis Escobar, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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17. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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18. Yeudy Garcia, RHP, Altoona -[insert_php]
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19. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php]
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20. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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21. Stephen Alemais, SS, West Virginia – [insert_php]
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22. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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23. Travis MacGregor, RHP, Extended Spring Training – [insert_php]
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24. Barrett Barnes, LF, Indianapolis -[insert_php]
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25. Max Moroff, 2B, Pirates -[insert_php]
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26. Eric Wood, 3B, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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27. J.T. Brubaker, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php]
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28. Chris Bostick, INF/OF, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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29. Connor Joe, 3B, Altoona – [insert_php]
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30. Pat Light, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php]
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Indianapolis won 7-3 on Tuesday, as Austin Meadows slugged his fourth home run of the season and Drew Hutchison overcame one bad inning to put together a solid start.
Meadows made the score 6-3 in the seventh inning with his two-run homer, driving in Chris Bostick, who reached on a lead-off double. Meadows drove in a total of three runs in the game and scored twice. Bostick had three hits on the night, including two doubles, to give him 18 on the season.
Indianapolis put together 16 hits on the night, including two-hit games from Eric Wood, Erich Weiss, Joey Terdoslavich, Danny Ortiz and Jackson Williams. Wood contributed his 15th double of the season.
Hutchison went seven innings in this game, allowing three runs on six hits. All of the damage came in the fourth inning and he almost avoided it. After a lead-off walk, Hutchison got a ground ball double play. That was followed by a hit batter, a single and a walk, then a bases loaded triple. He settled down after that and threw three more shutout innings.
Antonio Bastardo and Josh Lindblom both followed Hutchison with one scoreless inning each, retiring all six batters they faced. Each of them started their rehab on May 27th, so there has to be a decision made on them within the next 12 days.
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ALTOONA, Pa. – After a 34 minutes dry delay, J.T. Brubaker made his ninth start of the season for the Curve. Brubaker went six scoreless and allowed only two hits in his last start for probably one of his best outings of the year. Tonight, he had the best start out of any Curve pitcher that I’ve seen this season.
Brubaker went seven scoreless innings tonight without allowing a walk, extending his scoreless inning streak to 13.1 IP. He struck out 10 batters, the most out of any Curve starter this season, and only allowed three hits to a Portland team that is tied for third in the Eastern League in hitting.
You could tell early in the game that Brubaker was feeling it tonight when his first strikeout was with a 96 MPH fastball and his second was with a 97 MPH fastball. Even into the seventh inning, Brubaker struck out a batter swinging with a 96 MPH fastball. Not just the fastball, though, he had a wicked breaking ball, getting swings-and-misses all night long.
“We were just moving the fastball in and out,” Brubaker said. “The Pirates want the fastball in-and-out to keep their feet moving. Jin-De [Jhang] has caught my last two, and we’ve been working on that game plan.”
Brubaker worked about 50/50 with his two-seam and four-seam fastball to both sides of the plate. He kept the ball down all night long. The fastball was used as an out pitch the first time through the order, then he utilized his change-up and slider as out pitches later in the game.
“It’s been a big thing to be able to throw the slider for both a strike and a putout pitch,” Brubaker said. “The last few outings, I’ve been able to do that, and it has opened up for the fastball to play more. Being able to throw [his breaking ball] for more strikes opens the doors for more pitches and better fastballs.”
Very few balls were hit especially hard against Brubaker, and two of the hits were on the ground and simply found a hole. He only needed 83 pitches to get through his seven innings of work.
“He’s getting all three pitches over the plate,” Michael Ryan said. “He’s just down in the zone ripping the fastball. He got ahead, put them away, and finished. His consistency over his last few starts has been good to see.”
We’ve always felt that Brubaker was projectable with his tall frame and room to grow into it. Earlier in the year, I saw 93-94 MPH as the typical velocity for him. With him hitting 96-97 MPH tonight, it shows how Brubaker could one day be a Major League pitcher.
Miguel Rosario kept things tidy by working two scoreless innings in relief. He has now allowed only one earned run in his last 28.2 innings of work, which goes back to his second outing of the season. (He allowed two runs in two innings during his first outing of the year in early April.)
Jordan Luplow had a multi-hit game, hitting two singles with a walk. Connor Joe sent two pitches to the deepest part of the field, with the first resulting in a long fly out to the warning track and the second hitting the wall and bouncing away for a triple.
Elvis Escobar hit an absolute no-doubter in the eighth inning, as he turned on a fastball and drove it far over the right field wall. He also had a single earlier in the game, while playing solid defensively in center field.
The game blew open in the eighth inning with Portland reliever Jake Cosart struggling to throw strikes. Former Pirate farmhand Josh Smith relieved Cosart and allowed a single and HBP. The Curve put up a four-spot in the inning, with Jordan Luplow hitting a 2-RBI live drive single to center field.
From a team standpoint, Brubaker was straight to the point with what he feels they can do as long as the starting pitching can continue to improve.
“I think we can run away with the league.”
The Curve are currently first in the Eastern League Western Division with a 34-28 record. -Sean McCool
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Bradenton was rained out.
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West Virginia got hits from every batter in the order, threw shutout ball for the last six innings and still lost 5-3 on Tuesday. The Power put together 12 hits in this game, as they marked the return of shortstop Adrian Valerio and outfielder Victor Fernandez. Eduardo Vera had a tough second inning, giving up a couple hard hits and a couple grounders that found holes, which led to four runs. He has been one of the best pitchers this season for the Power, but he didn’t have it early on this night, although he faced just one over the minimum in his final three innings.
Vera gave up five runs on seven hits in 4.2 innings, which pushed his ERA up to 3.40 on the year. He’s still putting up some impressive numbers with three walks and 50 strikeouts in 47.2 innings. Yes, a 50:3 SO/BB ratio, with over a strikeout per inning average. The amazing part is that he wasn’t even pitching this time last year because he was still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. Prior to the surgery, he was topping out around 91 MPH, sitting 89-90. This year he has hit 95 MPH, which helps explain the jump from the GCL and the success in Low-A. His impressive pitch command to go along with an improved fastball, makes him someone to watch going forward.
Valerio missed 11 days with a facial injury caused by a ball that deflected off a runner and hit him just under the left eye. He still has a visible bruise, but he has been cleared to play. He had one hit on this night and saved teammates by making a great catch on an errant throw, and making a terrific play on a ball that hit off of the glove of second baseman Kevin Mahala. Valerio picked up the ball just behind second base, made a spin and a strong throw to get the runner at first base. The hit by Valerio gave him an 11-game hit streak.
Fernandez has been out since the first week due to a hamstring injury. He’s actually been playing games for over a month in Extended Spring Training, so it wasn’t as long-term of an injury as it sounds. He had two hits and a walk in this game.
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The DSL Pirates lost 4-3 on Tuesday morning. After the Pirates tied the score late, the co-op team made up of players from the Indians and Brewers won on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth with one out.
Julio Rosario started and put the Pirates behind quickly, allowing two runs in the first before leaving due to his pitch count. Jose Marcano came on and stranded both inherited runners, then gave up just one run over the next four innings. Wilmer Contreras followed with three no-hit innings, before Angel Vasquez lost it in the ninth.
The offense bounced back from being one-hit on Monday. They had seven hits on this day, including two each from Yair Babilonia and Sherten Apostel. Matthew Mercedes drove home the first run in the seventh inning on his second double of the season, scoring Carlos Garcia from first base. Francisco Acuna scored the second Pirate run in the eighth inning on a double steal, with Apostel stealing second, then Acuna stealing home as the throw went down to second base. Apostel would score to tie the game 3-3 on a Kyle Simmons single, but Simmons was thrown out stealing to end the eighth inning.
Outfielder John Lantigua made his pro debut and played six innings, going 0-for-1 with a walk. He missed the first week due to a leg injury.
