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Morning Report: Checking in on the Pirates’ 2016 Draft

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After looking at the Pirates’ 2017 draft last week, I thought I’d check on the 2016 draft today.  I figured I’d do it all in one installment, for a reason that should become obvious by the time you scroll through it all.  Numbers are draft rounds.

1. Will Craig, 1B:  Now a first baseman, Craig has struggled to put together a strong overall hitting profile, going from a good OBP and inadequate power to more power but weaker on-base numbers.  He’s having his best season this year, with a 256/338/504 line that’s probably been helped some by the livelier ball in the International League.  His path forward is uncertain with Josh Bell around and it’s open to question whether Craig profiles as more than a platoon or bench bat, given the offensive demands on a first baseman.

2. Travis MacGregor, RHP:  A prep draftee, MacGregor had something of a breakout season last year in low class A after adding a slider.  He’ll miss this season due to Tommy John surgery, but remains promising.

3. Stephen Alemais, SS:  Alemais has major league defensive skills at short, but hasn’t hit enough so far to profile as a starter.  He’s repeating AA, thanks in part to Cole Tucker’s presence in AAA, as well as an injury that’s kept him out since before Tucker was promoted to Pittsburgh.

4. Braeden Ogle, LHP:  Possibly the most promising of the prep pitchers in this draft, Ogle missed most of last year with should trouble.  He’s in the bullpen now at Greensboro as the Pirates try to manage his workload after he logged only 17 innings last year.  He’s continued to show outstanding stuff, but health and command remain issues for now.

5. Blake Cederlind, RHP:  A junior college pick, Cederlind has outstanding stuff, including an upper-90s fastball, but command has been an issue and he’s strictly a reliever now.  He’s shown signs of progress this year and has done well in four outings since a promotion to Altoona.

6. Cam Vieaux, LHP:  The Pirates took Vieaux out of Michigan State.  He’s a finesse lefty and is getting good results for Altoona, but with weak strikeout and walk rates.

7. Brent Gibbs, C:  Released.

8. Dylan Prohoroff, RHP:  Released.

9. Clark Eagan, OF:  Released.

10. Matt Anderson, RHP:  Retired.

11. Max Kranick, RHP:  The third of the three prep pitchers who remain good prospects from this draft, Kranick is having an erratic season with Bradenton.  His stuff is good enough that he could still put things together.

12. Arden Pabst, C:  Pabst is sharing the catching duties at Altoona with Jason Delay.  He’s a strong defender, but is struggling at the plate and could start losing time to Delay, who’s been hot lately.

13. John Pomeroy, RHP:  Released.

15. Danny Beddes, RHP:  Retired.

16. Matt Diorio, RHP:  Released.

17. Matt Frawley, RHP:  The Pirates sent Frawley to the Yankees for Johnny Barbato.  Frawley is currently in high class A.

18. Kevin Mahala, SS:  Released.

20. Adam Oller, RHP:  Released.

21. Matt Eckelman, RHP:  A college draftee, Eckelman spent parts of 2018 and 2019 at Altoona, where he put up good ERAs with poor walk and strikeout rates, which don’t bode well going forward.  He recently moved up to AAA and had a disastrous first outing.  He probably profiles as an upper-level organizational player.

22. Brandon Bingel, RHP:  Released.

23. Garrett Brown, OF:  Released.

25. Hunter Owen, OF:  Now a third baseman, Owen has shown good power with mostly bad BB:K ratios, and has also been old for his levels.  He’s currently having his best season, with a .933 OPS and improved defense, but he’ll be 26 just after the season ends and he’s still in AA.

26. Robbie Coursel, RHP:  Released.

27. Tyler Leffler, 2B:  Released.

29. Geoff Hartlieb, RHP:  The Pirates have pushed Hartlieb, who was drafted out of college, rapidly despite limited experience.  He has upper-90s velocity, but hasn’t developed good enough control yet.  He’s doing well in the Indianapolis bullpen except for the control issues, and could be a major league reliever if he gets a better handle on those.

31. Jordan Jess, LHP:  Released.

33. Austin Shields, RHP:  Released.

35. Pasquale Mazzoccoli, RHP:  Released.

That’s 16 players released or retired out of 28 signed, all within two and a half seasons after the draft.  If that seems like a lot, it is, as we’ll see tomorrow.  More importantly, nobody from this draft has stepped forward as an exciting prospect.  The top pick profiles more as a role player than a starter.  The three remaining prep pitchers (MacGregor, Ogle and Kranick) remain as much projects as prospects, although they still have promise.  There are a few possibilities as relievers (Cederlind and Hartlieb, with Vieaux as a possible long reliever) or backups (Alemais and Pabst).  The Pirates could get some help from this draft, but it’s either of a limited nature or still far away.

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-2 on Tuesday night. The Pirates will activate Chris Archer from the injured list for today’s game. He has not pitched since April 26th due to right thumb inflammation. Archer’s last start was six runs over four innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Diamondbacks will counter with veteran righty Zack Greinke, who has a 3.16 ERA in 56 innings, with 56 strikeouts and an 0.93 WHIP. He faced the Atlanta Braves in his last start and allowed one run over seven innings. On April 25th, Greinke tossed seven shutout innings against the Pirates.

The minor league schedule includes a doubleheader with a morning start time in Greensboro, as well as two other teams playing AM games. Indianapolis will send out Alex McRae, with his first start since one-hit ball over 6.2 innings each him the International League Pitcher of the Week award. Altoona will send out Sean Brady, who will make his second start since being signed as a minor league free agent by the Pirates earlier this month. He gave up five runs over five innings in his Curve debut. Bradenton’s Aaron Shortridge had a 1.17 ERA through four starts, and since then has allowed 12 earned runs over 16.1 innings. Greensboro will send out Osvaldo Bido for game one. The second game will likely be a bullpen game (listed as TBD now). Bido had his worst outing last time out, giving up five runs over five innings.

The full 2019 Pirates Prospects Prospect Guide is now available, up to date as of April 3rd, with every player in the minor league system (NOTE: There have been just three players released and one added since then, so the book is still 99% up to date). Includes full reports on the top 50 prospects, reports on over 150 other players, as well as looks back at the recent drafts and international signing classes. Subscribers get 20% off the purchase of a book.

MLB: Pittsburgh (21-18) @ Diamondbacks (23-20) 3:40 PM
Probable starter: Chris Archer (4.33 ERA, 29:12 SO/BB, 27.0 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (19-16) vs Scranton/WB (18-15) 11:05 AM  (season preview)
Probable starter: Alex McRae (5.40 ERA, 32:12 SO/BB, 36.2 IP)

AA: Altoona (18-19) @ Binghamton (21-12) 10:35 AM (season preview)
Probable starter: Sean Brady (9.00 ERA, 6:1 SO/BB, 5.0 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (21-16) vs Fort Myers (24-13) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Aaron Shortridge (3.43 ERA, 30:4 SO/BB, 39.1 IP)

Low-A: Greensboro (23-12) vs Delmarva (27-7) 11:00 AM DH (season preview)
Probable starter: Osvaldo Bido (2.21 ERA, 32:9 SO/BB, 40.2 IP)

HIGHLIGHTS

From the Pirates, since the minor league side played just two games total between Sunday and Monday. Here’s Josh Bell with another RBI hit.

Here’s Bryan Reynolds, who also added an RBI single on Monday night.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

5/14: Pirates release Erich Weiss.

5/13: Jung Ho Kang placed on injured list. Jake Elmore added to Pirates roster.

5/12: Tyler Lyons sent outright to Indianapolis

5/12: Zack Kone placed on Greensboro injured list.

5/12: Chris Stratton added to Pirates roster. Dovydas Neverauskas optioned to Indianapolis.

5/11: Pirates acquire Chris Stratton from Angels for cash.

5/11: Pirates release Ronny Agustin

5/10: Patrick Kivlehan traded to Toronto Blue Jays

5/9: Tyler Lyons designated for assignment. Pirates recall Clay Holmes and Montana DuRapau (added to 40-man).

5/9: Matt Eckelman and Luis Escobar promoted to Indianapolis. Joel Cesar promoted to Altoona. Samuel Reyes and Logan Stoelke promoted to Bradenton. Cristofer Melendez and Will Gardner promoted to Greensboro.

5/8: Keone Kela placed on injured list

5/8: JB Shuck assigned to Indianapolis

5/6: Pirates sign Sean Brady and assign him to Altoona.

5/6: Jacob Brentz promoted to Indianapolis. Erich Weiss assigned to Extended Spring Training

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

Four former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including a pitcher who played nine seasons for the team, and the franchise’s first 20-game winner. Also on this date, Roberto Clemente had a huge game in Cincinnati.

On this date in 1967, Clemente went 4-for-5 with three homers and drove in seven runs. The Pirates scored seven runs on the day and lost 8-7 in ten innings, despite one of the best games of his entire career. He would have another three home run game near the end of the 1969 season and the Pirates won that game by a 10-5 score. You can find the boxscore of the 1967 game here.

Among the players born on this date, Al McBean played for the 1961-68 Pirates, then after playing for the Padres and Dodgers, he returned to Pittsburgh during the 1970 season. He pitched in 376 games for the Pirates, 75 as a starter. McBean won 65 times and picked up 59 saves for Pittsburgh. He had a 3.08 ERA in 1,016 innings.

Harry Salisbury, 1882 pitcher who won 20 games during the first season of the franchise. He started 38 games and pitched 38 complete games. That not only ended up being his only season with the team, it was his last season in the big leagues.

Also born on this date, outfielder Jimmy Wasdell (1942-43) and 1916 shortstop Jimmy Smith. Wasdell was one of four players acquired from the Dodgers in the Arky Vaughan deal at the end of 1941. He hit .259 over 122 games in 1942, then was sold to the Phillies after four early season pinch-hit appearances in 1943. Smith split time at shortstop with Honus Wagner at the beginning of the 1916 season. Wagner would play first base at times, while Smith took his spot at shortstop. After hitting .188 through early June, Smith was sent to the minors.

Wilbur Miller
Wilbur Miller
Having followed the Pirates fanatically since 1965, Wilbur Miller is one of the fast-dwindling number of fans who’ve actually seen good Pirate teams. He’s even seen Hall-of-Fame Pirates who didn’t get traded mid-career, if you can imagine such a thing. His first in-person game was a 5-4, 11-inning win at Forbes Field over Milwaukee (no, not that one). He’s been writing about the Pirates at various locations online for over 20 years. It has its frustrations, but it’s certainly more cathartic than writing legal stuff. Wilbur is retired and now lives in Bradenton with his wife and three temperamental cats.

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