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Prospect Watch: JT Brubaker and Domingo Robles Keep Putting Up Strong Starts

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P2 Top 30

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 (Austin Meadows, Colin Moran, Nick Kingham, 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, Indianapolis – DNP

2. Cole Tucker, SS, Altoona – 0-for-4, 2 BB

3. Shane Baz, RHP, Bristol – DNP

4. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Altoona – 1-for-5, RBI, BB

5. Kevin Newman, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-4

6. Lolo Sanchez, CF, West Virginia – 0-for-4

7. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Altoona – 0-for-5

8. Jordan Luplow, LF, Pirates – In Majors

9. Luis Escobar, RHP, Altoona – 4.1 IP, 3 H, 5 ER, 5 BB, 4 SO

10. Clay Holmes, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

11. Braeden Ogle, LHP, West Virginia – DNP

12. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 2-for-4

13. Adrian Valerio, SS, Bradenton – 0-for-3, BB

14. Calvin Mitchell, OF, West Virginia – 2-for-3, BB, RBI

15. Oneil Cruz, SS, West Virginia – 1-for-2, 2B

16. Nick Burdi, RHP, Altoona – DNP

17. Dario Agrazal, RHP, Bradenton – DNP

18. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 SO

19. Will Craig, 1B, Altoona – 1-for-3, 3B, BB, HBP

20. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – 2-for-3, 2B, 2 BB, 3 RBI

21. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, HR, RBI

22. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP

23. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Altoona – DNP

24. Mason Martin, 1B, Bristol – 0-for-3, 2 BB

25. Conner Uselton, OF, Bristol – 1-for-4, RBI

26. Cody Bolton, RHP, West Virginia – DNP

27. Steven Jennings, RHP, Bristol – DNP

28. Max Kranick, RHP, West Virginia –  DNP

29. Domingo Robles, LHP, West Virginia – 5 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO

30. Christopher Bostick, OF, Pirates – In Majors

Prospect-Watch-Indy

Indianapolis won 2-0 over Toledo.

JT Brubaker got the start tonight, coming off of two straight outings in which he allowed one earned run over seven innings. He was even better on this night. Brubaker tossed eight shutout innings on three hits and no walks, with six strikeouts and an 8:6 GO/AO ratio. He threw 63 of 96 pitches for strikes. He now has a 3.24 ERA in 94.1 innings. Michael Feliz got hit hard in his last outing, but he came back tonight and got the save with a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit, with no walks or strikeouts.

Jason Martin hit a solo homer in the third inning, his third since joining Indianapolis. Max Moroff had two doubles and an RBI. Kevin Kramer returned to the lineup and had two singles and scored a run. He left his last game early after diving for a ball and missed two days of action. Wyatt Mathisen had two singles.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

Altoona lost 9-8 to Akron

Luis Escobar got the start tonight, coming off of a game in which he allowed just one run over four innings, but left early due to a high pitch count. He got just one out further along in this game and it was his worst outing since being promoted to Altoona. Escobar allowed five earned runs on three hits, a hit batter and five walks, with four strikeouts. He threw 42 strikes and 41 balls. Bret Helton was out next and surrendered four runs in 1.2 innings, though two were unearned due to a rare throwing error from Ke’Bryan Hayes. Geoff Hartlieb tossed two scoreless innings and Tate Scioneaux kept things close in the ninth.

Jordan George, Christian Kelley and Stephen Alemais had the big nights. George hit a two-run homer in the second inning and a solo shot in the fourth. He had just two homers all season before this game. Kelley had four hits, including his 13th double, and two runs scored. Alemais had a single, double, two walks and drove in three runs. Will Craig reached on a triple, walk and hit-by-pitch. He scored two runs.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

Bradenton lost 1-0 to Clearwater.

Evan Piechota got the start and put together an outstanding performance on 12 days rest. He went seven innings, allowing one run on three hits and a walk, with four strikeouts. He threw 64 of 84 pitches for strikes. Blake Weiman followed and retired the final six batters in order.

The entire game had just five hits and all were singles. Bradenton had two of those hits, one from Jason Delay and one from Jared Oliva. Delay had one of the two walks, with Adrian Valerio drawing the other. The game took an hour and 53 minutes to play.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-WV-Power

West Virginia won 8-2 over Augusta.

Domingo Robles got the start, coming off of back-to-back outings in which he gave up one run over seven innings. He didn’t go as deep in this game, but he got the desired results. Robles tossed five shutout innings on four hits and one walk, with three strikeouts. He now has a 2.97 ERA in 115 innings. Joel Cesar followed and gave up an unearned run in his two innings. Elvis Escobar allowed one run in two frames. He has a 3.38 ERA in 16 innings, with 14 strikeouts.

Deon Stafford was out the last week due to concussion protocol and he returned to hit a two-run homer in his first at-bat. Fabricio Macias hit his first pro homer, a three-run shot in the second inning. He also added an RBI single. Ben Bengtson was also out for the last week due to concussion and he went 1-for-3 with a single, walk, RBI and run scored. Calvin Mitchell had two singles, a walk, an RBI, a run scored and an outfield assist. Oneil Cruz hit his 25th double, but left early after striking out in his second at-bat. No official word yet, but it was believed to be some type of injury by someone I talked to at the park (he was still with the team after the game, so no trade).

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-Morgantown

Morgantown lost 5-2 to Williamsport.

Travis Swaggerty hit his eight double, walked, scored a run and stole his sixth base. Daniel Amaral hit an RBI triple and Mike Gretler had an RBI single. Edison Lantigua doubled, walked and scored a run. Jin-De Jhang went 0-for-3, leaving him 2-for-17 through five rehab games. He caught four of those games and was the DH in the other.

Michael LoPresti started game one of a doubleheader and gave up three runs on eight hits, two hit batters and two walks in four innings. Miguel Hernandez pitched the final two innings and allowed two runs.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

In game two, Francis Del Orbe got the spot start and allowed one run on two hits and a walk in four innings. He had four strikeouts and a 6:3 GO/AO ratio, while throwing 41 of 64 pitches for strikes. Conner Loeprich was out next and threw two scoreless innings, but Morgantown’s bats were silent in the 1-0 loss.

The Black Bears had four hits (all singles) and four walks. Zack Kone had one of each and also stole his third base. Luke Mangieri had a pinch-hit single late in the game and stole his eighth base.

Here’s the boxscore.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-Bristol

Bristol lost 14-6 to Kingsport.

Will Kobos got the start tonight in place of Shane Baz, who experienced undisclosed pain in his last start, which caused him to leave early. Baz was able to throw a bullpen yesterday, so whatever the issue was, it seems to have been very minor (otherwise he wouldn’t have thrown a bullpen four days later). Kobos had a rough game, pitching into the third, although he didn’t retire anyone in the inning. He gave up seven earned runs in 2+ innings of work.

Argenis Romano was out next and he gave up five runs of his own in the third inning. That’s coming from a player who had allowed four runs in 29.2 innings this season. He would go three innings and allow seven earned runs total. Allen Montgomery took over in the sixth and threw three shutout innings.

Bristol was down 14-0 before they scored their first run and four of their runs ended up being unearned thanks to three Kingsport errors. The Pirates had just five hits in the game and they were all singles. Dean Lockery had two walks, two runs scored and an RBI. Francisco Mepris had a single, walk, RBI and run scored. Conner Uselton had an RBI single. Mason Martin walked twice and scored a run.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-GCL

The GCL Pirates won 5-2 over the Blue Jays.

Noe Toribio got the start and ran into a little trouble in the fifth, going 4.1 innings, with two runs on five hits and four walks, with six strikeouts. He left with the bases loaded and Kleiner Machado limited the damage to one run, while recording the final two outs of the inning on strikeouts. He then threw shutout ball over the next three innings. Jake Mielock tossed a scoreless ninth for the save.

Jack Herman continued his terrific hitting, going 2-for-4 with a walk. He hit his sixth double and raised his average to .360 through 23 games. Nick Patten hit a home run, his third of the season. He also had a single, walk and two runs scored. Ji-Hwan Bae stole his seventh base. The two new catchers signed earlier this week both made their debuts behind the plate. Mason Fishback caught the first five innings and had a HBP and run scored. Justin Morris singled in his first at-bat.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-DSL

The DSL Pirates1 lost 5-1 to the Indians/Brewers.

Arlinthon De Dios got the start and allowed one run over four innings, on three hits, two walks and four strikeouts. Domingo Gonzalez followed with one run over two innings. Yandy Vega, who has been starting, came out for the seventh and gave up two unearned runs. Enrique Santana allowed a run in the eighth, then Yerry De Los Santos tossed a scoreless ninth. This game could have been much worse for the pitchers, but right fielder Randy Romero ended the fifth, seventh and ninth innings by throwing out a runner. Two of those plays were double plays.

The offense barely showed up in this game. Yoyner Fajardo had both hits and he scored the only run. That run scored in the sixth when he reached on an error and scored three batters later on a sacrifice fly from Carlos Arroyo. The Pirates had just three other base runners on two walks and a hit-by-pitch.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

The DSL Pirates2 won 10-7 over the Tigers2.

Angel Suero pitched for the first time in a month and went two innings, allowing one unearned run on a hit and a walk, with two strikeouts. He was one of the top pitching signings for the Pirates during the 2016-17 international signing period, but he was slowed by an injury early, then he had huge control issues while rehabbing and never got into a game. Yeison Santos followed and allowed one run over four innings. Oliver Mateo, with the 100 MPH fastball and little control, threw a scoreless seventh on one hit and two strikeouts. Wander Romero gave up two runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth before Luis Peralta recorded the final out.

There was a lot on offense and some defense worth mentioning. We start with the top prospect on this club, Angel Basabe. He had a single and a walk, stole his fifth base and scored two runs. On defense, he picked up two outfield assists. Fleury Nova had two hits, two runs scored and a walk. He stole three bases to give him ten on the season and he also picked up two outfield assists. Eduar Ramirez drove in four runs with a single and a triple, raising his average to .330 through 26 games. Edgar Barrios had three singles, a walk and two runs scored. Ronaldo Paulino drove in three runs on a bases loaded double in the eighth inning. Mario Jerez had three singles, a run scored and a stolen base. Matthew Mercedes had an RBI double and he stole home.

Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.

You can view the season preview for both teams here.

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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