A look at how the current top 30 prospects did today. If a player is in the majors for an extended time or loses his prospect eligibility (Colin Moran, Edgar Santana, Kyle Crick, Max Moroff and Dovydas Neverauskas), 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 our 2018 Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Mitch Keller, RHP, Altoona – DNP
2. Austin Meadows, CF, Pirates – In Majors
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 0-for-3, RBI
4. Shane Baz, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
5. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 0-for-4
6. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 0-for-2, 2 BB
7. Taylor Hearn, LHP, Altoona – DNP
8. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 2-for-3, 2 SB
9. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – Disabled list
10. Jordan Luplow, LF, Indianapolis – 1-for-3, 2B, BB
11. Luis Escobar, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
12. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
13. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP
14. Nick Kingham, RHP, Indianapolis – 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO
15. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 1-for-3
16. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 3-for-4, 2B, RBI, SB
17. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
18. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI
19. Nick Burdi, RHP, Pirates (disabled list) – DNP
20. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Altoona – DNP
21. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
22. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 1-for-4
23. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 1-for-3
24. Jason Martin, OF, Altoona – 0-for-4
25. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – 5 IP, 7 H, 7 ER,5 BB, 2 SO
26. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
27. Mason Martin, 1B, West Virginia – 0-for-3
28. Conner Uselton, OF, Extended Spring Training – DNP
29. Cody Bolton, RHP, West Virginia – 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 8 SO
30. Steven Jennings, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
Indianapolis lost 2-1 to Charlotte.
Nick Kingham got the start, but left after one inning. According to people reporting at the game, he was pulled because he is rejoining the Pirates for a start next week. If true, we will likely find out more about this over the weekend. The game started 80 minutes late and Kingham threw just 11 pitches before being removed. Casey Sadler pitched four innings and gave up both runs, but they were both unearned. Tanner Anderson tossed a scoreless inning and he now hasn’t allowed an earned run in 23.2 innings.
Indianapolis had more walks than hits, which led to a lot of runners, but not many in scoring position. The first four batters in the order all reached base twice. Kevin Newman and Pablo Reyes each had two walks. Reyes stole his fifth base. Christopher Bostick had two singles. Jordan Luplow had a double and a walk. Jacob Stallings also had a double and a walk. The doubles by Stallings and Luplow were both their 11th of the season.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona lost 14-2 to Harrisburg.
Starter Brandon Waddell tossed six shutout innings in his last start. The chance of repeating that was wiped away quickly with two former Pirate prospects, Taylor Gushue and Dan Gamache, driving in early runs. Thing just got worse from there for Waddell, who had a 1.66 ERA coming into the day. He ended up going five innings, allowing seven earned runs on seven hits and five walks, in what was easily his worst outing this season. Waddell allowed seven earned runs in his first seven starts combined.
Things actually got worse for Altoona in the eighth when Yeudy Garcia walked four batters and couldn’t get through an inning. Not wanting to waste a reliever, Elvis Escobar pitched and all six batters reached against him, before Bralin Jackson took over and got the last out.
The offense had just six hits and they had just two at-bats with runners in scoring position. Logan Hill had a double and a single. Cole Tucker had the only RBI on a sacrifice fly. Jason Martin hit a slump out of nowhere, going hitless for the fourth straight game (0-for-14). Christian Kelley and Stephen Alemais each had a single and run scored. Bralin Jackson picked up an outfield assist (besides the mound assist) after collecting two outfield assists yesterday. Will Craig singled to extend his hit streak to seven games.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton lost 3-2 to Jupiter in ten innings.
Adrian Valerio had a big game despite the low scoring affair. He went 3-for-4 with ninth double and 22nd RBI. He also picked up his ninth steal in just 11 attempts. Tyler Gaffney had a walk, single and his tenth stolen base. Albert Baur drove in his 30th run of the season.
Starter Cam Vieaux allowed two first innings run, including a lead-off homer, before settling down for the next 5.2 innings without a run. Vieaux finished with nine strikeouts, which ties his career high set back in 2016. Adam Oller followed him with 2.1 shutout frames, striking out four batters. Jordan Jess took the loss.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
West Virginia won 5-0 over Kannapolis.
Cody Bolton got his first start of the season tonight. The sixth round pick from last year’s draft is the first prep pitcher for the Pirates to make the jump to full-season ball in his first full year of pro ball since Jameson Taillon in 2011. He was clearly ready for the jump. Bolton tossed five shutout innings while striking out eight batters. He gave up just two hits and walked one batter. He needed 75 pitches to get through the outing, which was likely his limit. He was throwing four innings per game down in Extended Spring Training.
Calvin Mitchell excelled at the plate as he has been doing all season. He went 3-for-4 with his 12th double, driving in two runs and scoring twice. He has a .329/.391/.549 slash line through 43 games. Brett Pope had two hits, a walk, an RBI and his first stolen base. Oneil Cruz hit his seventh double and drove in two runs. Lolo Sanchez had two hits and stole two bases, giving him ten steals on the year.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
