Prospect Watch: Starts by Tyler Glasnow and Luis Escobar Highlight Sunday’s Action

A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time (Max Moroff), 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 Mid-Season Update, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.

1. Mitch Keller, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php] include_once (‘./p2-stats/stats_functions.php’);
display_top30(656605,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

2. Austin Meadows, CF, Indianapolis – [insert_php] display_top30(640457,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

3. Shane Baz, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php] display_top30(669358,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

4. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – [insert_php] display_top30(657061,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

5. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – [insert_php] display_top30(621028,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

6. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Bradenton -[insert_php] display_top30(663647,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

7. Will Craig, 3B, Bradenton – [insert_php] display_top30(643269,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

8. Elias Diaz, C, Indianapolis – [insert_php] display_top30(553869,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

9. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Bradenton – [insert_php] display_top30(621368,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

10. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Bradenton – [insert_php] display_top30(656543,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

11. Calvin Mitchell, OF, GCL Pirates – [insert_php] display_top30(668751,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

12. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Bristol – [insert_php] display_top30(669180,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

13. Edgar Santana, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php] display_top30(650828,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

14. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Altoona -[insert_php] display_top30(596012,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

15. Steven Brault, LHP, Indianapolis– [insert_php] display_top30(643230,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

16. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php] display_top30(605280,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

17. Jordan Luplow, LF, Pirates – [insert_php] display_top30(656669,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

18. Luis Escobar, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php] display_top30(650813,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

19. Max Kranick, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php] display_top30(668820,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

20. Steven Jennings, RHP, GCL Pirates – [insert_php] display_top30(675651,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

21. Adrian Valerio, SS, West Virginia – [insert_php] display_top30(650832,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

22. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php] display_top30(592468,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

23. Conner Uselton, OF, GCL Pirates – Disabled List

24. Dovydas Neverauskas, RHP, Indianapolis – [insert_php] display_top30(596720,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

25. Eric Wood, 3B, Indianapolis – [insert_php] display_top30(607780,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

26. Eduardo Vera, RHP, West Virginia – [insert_php] display_top30(622747,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

27. Logan Hill, LF, Altoona – [insert_php] display_top30(664930,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

28. Tyler Eppler, RHP, Indianapolis -[insert_php] display_top30(621169,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

29. Lolo Sanchez, CF, GCL Pirates – [insert_php] display_top30(665975,’B’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

30. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – [insert_php] display_top30(642607,’P’,’20170730′);
[/insert_php]

[insert_php] display_topperf(‘20170730’);
[/insert_php]

---

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php] create_boxscore(‘20170730′,’ind’);
[/insert_php] [/expand]

INDIANAPOLIS — Tyler Glasnow looked like he might be running out of things to prove at the Triple-A level.

He was nearly untouchable during the first six innings of his start against Pawtucket, but scuffled in trying to finish the seventh inning. Still, there were few things to complain about.

Glasnow allowed one run and three hits in 6.1 innings, striking out 13 and walking just one. He struck out the first seven batters he faced.

Kevin Newman hit an RBI single off the left field wall to win the game with two outs in the 12th inning, 3-2. Newman’s hit scored Eric Wood, who reached on a walk and advanced to third after a wild pitch and groundout.

“I was looking for a ball over the plate, something I could get a base hit and get the run in,” said Newman, who hit the first pitch of the at-bat. “He gave me a fastball over the plate, I took a good swing at it and I was able to get the run in.”

Danny Ortiz hit two solo homers, including one to extend the game in the 10th inning after Pawtucket had taken the lead.

In his last four starts, Glasnow’s allowed three earned runs and made it into the seventh inning three times. His velocity was good — consistently hitting 98 MPH and touching 100 MPH once, while mixing in his curve and changeup as the game progressed.

Nothing was different about this start, other than Glasnow is starting to put together multiple solid outings in a row.

“He was just being consistent,” Barkett said. “He was just really good. He’s been consistently good and he showed that again today, and what a dominating performance for him.”

Glasnow struck out the first seven batters before Mike Miller fouled out on a nice running catch by right fielder Joey Terdoslavich, who made the catch falling into an empty bullpen bench. Tim Roberson flied out to Terdoslavich for the final out of the inning, which was the first ball Pawtucket put into play past the infield in fair territory.

That started a trend of non-strikeouts for Glasnow, who induced three groundouts in the fourth inning, including a pair hit back to him. Catcher Elias Diaz made an athletic play to field a ball dribbling down the first base line in time to throw the runner out.

Glasnow walked Tzu-Wei Lin to lead off the seventh inning, and threw a first-pitch ball to Sam Travis which promoted a mound visit by pitching coach Stan Kyles. Glasnow came back to strike out Travis, but allowed an RBI double to the center field wall, which ended his day.

He struck out Brian Bogusevic looking at a 100 MPH fastball in the second inning, hitting 98 MPH consistently during the first few innings.

Pawtucket’s first hit was Bogusevic’s infield hit in a 10-pitch at-bat, just beating the throw from second baseman Phil Gosselin. He was quickly erased, picked off by Glasnow.

Roberson’s single up the middle with two outs in the sixth inning was the first ball Pawtucket hit that went to the left of second base.

Glasnow – who stands 6-feet-8-inches, struck out the side in two innings; while Montana DuRapau (5-feet-11-inches) struck out the side in the eighth inning and struck out all five batters he faced.

Indianapolis set a Victory Field record with 19 strikeouts: Glasnow (12), DuRapau (5) and Edgar Santana (2).

Pawtucket threatened in the ninth inning, putting runners at first and second with two outs but Santana struck out Bogusevic to end the threat.

Indianapolis also teased with the idea of winning the game in regulation. Edwin Espinal singled with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, and was replaced with pinch runner Eury Perez, who stole second but Terdoslavich and Diaz each struck out.

Santana allowed a run in the top of the 10th inning, on a one-out bloop single with the infield drawn in. That was set up by a single, sacrifice bunt and wild pitch.

Ortiz’s second homer of the game, with one out in the 10th inning, tied the game at 2-2. Eric Wood singled and moved to second on a walk, putting the winning run in scoring position, but Christopher Bostick struck out and Kevin Newman hit a fairly sharp lineout to right-center field. – Brian Peloza

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php] create_boxscore(‘20170730′,’alt’);
[/insert_php] [/expand]

ALTOONA, Pa. – Facing off against the best team in all of Double-A baseball, the Curve have played pretty close to even to Trenton over the past four games. After grabbing a win last night, Altoona was not able to hold on their early lead and lost in extras, 3-2.

Austin Coley continued to build upon his recent momentum, doing a great job of neutralized this potent Trenton offense. Last time out, Coley pitched seven scoreless innings and held Reading to two hits in a shutout win last Monday. Tonight, he again went seven innings but allowed two runs after Trenton got three singles against him to begin the fifth inning.

Other than a second inning double, Trenton couldn’t do much against Coley during the first four innings. He was getting timely strikeouts keeping Trenton at bay. In the fifth, the lead-off man hit a hard grounder back up the middle and hit Coley in the leg. He remained in the game but has a nice bruise to show for it. After two more singles and a sacrifice fly, Trenton was able to get two runs across to tie the game.

Coley worked a clean sixth and only allowed a non-threatening ground ball single in the seventh to close out his outing.

Altogether, Trenton was able to get a few hits against Coley; however, he did not walk any batters and struck out seven, matching a career high. All of the strikeouts were swinging, as Coley’s curveball had them off-balanced all game long. They were offering at the pitch all game, both in the strike zone and in the dirt. He said after the game that his changeup has been essential for him, and it was great again tonight.

Prior to this year, Michael Ryan said that Coley struggled with located his breaking pitches, essentially limiting him to bullpen and spot start work. This season, Coley has dialed in his breaking ball and worked hard on developing a changeup that he can throw in all counts. The result: the fourth best ERA in the Eastern League.

Jake Brentz worked 1.2 innings and struck out three batters. The best part about his outing was that he did not walk anyone, having good control of his fastball and breaking ball.

Yeudy Garcia relieved Brentz and worked the extra innings. He ended up walking home the winning run with the bases loaded after what looked like a few tough calls that did not go his way in the inning. His fastball had some life to it, but ultimately, it was his control issues that lost the game.

Offensively, Connor Joe hit his fifth home run of the season over the left field wall in the second inning. It was a hard hit liner, good for his second home run since returning from the disabled list. His swing has looked better at times during this home stand.

Pablo Reyes added two hits for the Curve, the lone player with multiple hits in the game. Cole Tucker was 1-for-6, but he had a few hard hit balls, including one to the left field corner in the ninth inning that was caught on the warning track. It would’ve been the game winning home run had it gone a few more feet.

The Curve lose 3-of-4 to the Thunder, and they will welcome in the Erie Seawolves for a four game series starting tomorrow. -Sean McCool

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php] create_boxscore(‘20170730′,’bra’);
[/insert_php] [/expand]

Bradenton was rained out. They will play a doubleheader tomorrow.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php] create_boxscore(‘20170730′,’wva’);
[/insert_php] [/expand]

West Virginia got a strong outing from Luis Escobar, but couldn’t put any offense on the board in their extra innings loss to Hagerstown. Escobar had not pitched since last Sunday due to rain and an off-day pushing his start back. It didn’t seem to bother him and may have helped, as he went seven innings, allowing one run on two hits, three walks and a hit batter. He struck out seven and threw 51 of his 86 pitches for strikes. The lone run he allowed wasn’t much either. He walked the lead-off batter in the seventh. That runner moved to second on a bunt, to third on a ground out and scored on a single off of second baseman Kevin Mahala’s glove.

After Escobar left, Julio Eusebio threw two shutout frames to send the game into extra innings. Pasquale Mazzoccoli held Hagerstown scoreless in the tenth, but lost the game in the 11th on a walk-off single.

The Power offense was bad in this game. Yoel Gonzalez hit a home run in the third inning for the lone run. The rest of the team combined to go 4-for-33 with four singles and no walks. Albert Baur collected two of those four hits.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php] create_boxscore(‘20170730′,’wev’);
[/insert_php] [/expand]

Morgantown lost 4-1 to Williamsport, as Ike Schlabach saw his string of great starts end. Coming into the day, Schlabach had gone six innings in each of his last four starts, allowing just one run in those 24 innings. He started off with two scoreless frames in this game, but things went south quickly in the third and fourth. Schlabach gave up four runs on eight hits and two walks, leaving with two outs in the fourth. He threw 82 pitches over those 3.2 innings, with 48 going for strikes.

The Black Bears never mounted any type of offense. Deon Stafford hit a solo homer in the eighth inning for the only run. His double in the sixth inning was the only other hit of the game for Morgantown. Stafford also drew a walk. Bligh Madris drew three walks, but he was also caught stealing for the fourth time in four attempts.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php] create_boxscore(‘20170730′,’bri’);
[/insert_php] [/expand]

Bristol broke their ten-game losing streak last night in the second game of a doubleheader, but that win streak was stopped at one after a 3-2 loss to Danville on Sunday. The Pirates got on the board early with two runs in the second inning, with Yondry Contreras capping of the inning with a two-out RBI double. Over the final 7.1 innings, Bristol would not pick up another hit.

Travis MacGregor started and had a strong game, going six innings. He allowed two runs on four hits, a walk and two hit batters, while picking up five strikeouts. He threw 80 pitches total, with 53 going for strikes. MacGregor now has a 4.73 ERA through eight starts.

The winning run for Danville scored on a passed ball by catcher Paul Brands, his second of the game and tenth of the season. Kyle Watson went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. He’s having a tough time on both sides of the ball, committing 11 errors in 17 games and striking out 21 times in 62 at-bats.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php] create_boxscore(‘20170730′,’pir’);
[/insert_php] [/expand]

The GCL Pirates are off on Sundays.

[expand title=”Box Score” tag=”span”]
[insert_php] create_boxscore(‘20170730′,’dpi’);
[/insert_php] [/expand]

The DSL Pirates are off on Sundays.