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 (Kevin Newman, Nick Burdi and Cole Tucker), 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 (Travis MacGregor), 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 updated 2019 Prospect Guide, and links on each name go to their Pirates Prospects player pages.
1. Mitch Keller, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
2. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Indianapolis – 3-for-4, 2B, BB
3. Oneil Cruz, SS, Bradenton – DNP
4. Travis Swaggerty, CF, Bradenton – 0-for-4
5. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB
6. Bryan Reynolds, OF, Pirates – In Majors
7. Will Craig, 1B, Indianapolis – 0-for-4, BB
8. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, HR (2), 2 RBI, BB
9. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
10. Calvin Mitchell, OF, Bradenton – 2-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI
11. Cody Bolton, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
12. Tahnaj Thomas, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
13. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
14. Lolo Sanchez, CF, Greensboro – 0-for-5
15. Pablo Reyes, Util, Indianapolis – 0-for-5
16. Clay Holmes, RHP, Pirates – In Majors
17. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Greensboro – 2.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO
18. Stephen Alemais, 2B/SS, Altoona – DNP
19. Michael Burrows, RHP, Extended Spring Training – DNP
20. Jared Oliva, CF, Altoona – 2-for-5, 2B
21. Ji-Hwan Bae, SS, Greensboro – DNP
22. Max Kranick, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
23. Luis Escobar, RHP, Indianapolis – 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 SO
24. Osvaldo Bido, RHP, Greensboro – DNP
25. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
26. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Altoona – DNP
27. Aaron Shortridge, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
28. Blake Weiman, RHP, Altoona – 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 BB
29. Steven Jennings, RHP, Greensboro – DNP
30. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP
Indianapolis won 6-5 over Lehigh Valley. Dario Agrazal made his third start since joining the Indians. He pitched well enough in those first two games to earn the International League Pitcher of the Week award. He’s only going to get one start this week, but he made his bid for a second straight Pitcher of the Week award. Agrazal went eight innings, giving up one run on three hits. He didn’t walk any batters and picked up seven strikeouts. He had an 11:4 GO/AO ratio and threw 65 of 81 pitches for strikes.
Things got crazy in the ninth, as Matt Eckelman made his Triple-A debut and didn’t retire a single batter. He gave up four runs on four hits before giving way to Luis Escobar for his Indianapolis debut. Escobar retired all three batters he faced for the save.
The Indians scored five runs in the fifth inning. Jason Martin hit his second home run for Indianapolis, a two-run shot. Jacob Stallings brought him home with a double, then after a wild pitch scored Will Craig, Kevin Kramer drove home Stallings with his ninth double. They added a much needed insurance run in the ninth on a Jacob Stallings sacrifice fly. Ke’Bryan Hayes had a walk and three hits, including his league leading 14th double.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona won 8-4 over Erie. Cam Vieaux has been pitching well this season, but he didn’t have it tonight. He went 3.2 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and three walks, striking out just one batter. Vieaux threw 37 strikes and 36 balls. He now has a 3.38 ERA through 37.1 innings. Beau Sulser followed with 3.1 shutout innings on three hits and walk, striking out three batters. Blake Weiman was next and he surrounded one hit with three strikeouts in his lone inning. He has pitched 8.1 shutout innings this season. Blake Cederlind finished the game off with a scoreless ninth. He hasn’t allowed a run since April 15th.
The big hit of the game for the Curve was a three-run homer from Jason Delay, his second of the season. Delay also doubled to raise his average to a .381 mark. Logan Hill added his third home run of the season. He also had a single and a walk. Jared Oliva, Bligh Madris, Mitchell Tolman and Hunter Owen each had two hits.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton had their game suspended in the middle of the third inning with the Marauders leading 1-0 on Thursday night. Oddy Nunez got the start and threw shutout ball for three frames before the rain. The game was resumed on Friday and the Marauders finished off the 5-1 win.
Hunter Stratton took over when the game resumed. He has been pitching in long relief this year and doing well in that role. He had an outstanding game today, tossing four shutout innings on two hits, with no walks and three strikeouts. He now has a 1.23 ERA in 22 innings. Nick Mears took the final two innings and gave up a run on a solo homer, but was strong otherwise, picking up four strikeouts.
The offense was led by Calvin Mitchell, who had an RBI single and an RBI double, his seventh double of the season. Robbie Glendinning also drove in a run with his seventh double. Both Lucas Tancas and Dylan Busby had RBI singles.
In the break between games, it started raining and the regularly scheduled game was postponed until tomorrow.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
Greensboro won 7-6 over Delmarva in 10 innings. Alex Manasa went five innings on Friday night, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks, while striking out six batters. The three walks and three earned runs both tie his season high. In 38.2 innings this season, Manasa has a 3.49 ERA and 38 strikeouts. Yerry De Los Santos was out next in his second appearance since joining Greensboro. He struck out the first four batters he faced before issuing a walk. After a single put two runners on, De Los Santos got a double play to end the inning. Will Gardner made his season debut and allowed one run in one inning of work. Braeden Ogle worked a scoreless ninth, then came back out with a three-run lead in the tenth and allowed two runs (one earned) to get the win.
Rodolfo Castro had just one hit on the night, but it was a two-run homer. It’s his 11th home run of the season, tops among all Pirates. He hit 12 homers last year with West Virginia. Jonah Davis has been struggling badly this year, but he had a big game on Friday. He went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs, while also stealing his first base of the season. Mason Martin had two hits, including his seventh double of the season. He also drove in his 25th run.
Here is the boxscore from the MiLB site.
You can view the season preview here.
