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 Bryan Reynolds), 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 and Stephen Alemais), 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 – 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, ER, 2 BB, 2 K
2. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Morgantown – 0-for-2, BB, SF
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-4
4. Oneil Cruz, SS, GCL Pirates – DNP
5. Travis Swaggerty, CF, Bradenton – 3-for-8, 2B
6. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 0-for-4
7. Will Craig, 1B, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, 2B
8. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 0-for-3
9. JT Brubaker, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
10. Calvin Mitchell, OF, Bradenton – 2-for-8, 5 K
11. Cody Bolton, RHP, Altoona – DNP
12. Tahnaj Thomas, RHP, Bristol – DNP
13. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
14. Lolo Sanchez, CF, Bradenton – 2-for-6, BB
15. Pablo Reyes, Util, Morgantown – 3-for-4, 2B
16. Clay Holmes, RHP, Pirates – In Majors
17. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Bradenton – DNP
18. Michael Burrows, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
19. Jared Oliva, CF, Altoona – 1-for-4, 2B
20. Ji-Hwan Bae, SS, Greensboro – 0-for-3, BB
21. Max Kranick, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
22. Luis Escobar, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
23. Osvaldo Bido, RHP, Greensboro – DNP
24. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
25. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Altoona – DNP
26. Aaron Shortridge, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
27. Blake Weiman, LHP, Indianapolis – IP, 2 H, ER, K
28. Steven Jennings, RHP, Greensboro – DNP
29. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, ER, 2 BB, 5 K
30. Jesus Liranzo, RHP, Altoona – IP, H
Indianapolis lost to Gwinnett, 5-2. Mitch Keller went five innings, giving up three runs, two of them unearned due to an error on Kevin Kramer. Keller needed a lot of pitches to get that far, throwing 91, 60 of them for strikes. He allowed six hits and two walks, and struck out only two. Keller also hit two batters. Montana DuRapau followed with two innings, allowing an unearned run, and Blake Weiman gave up a run in one inning.
The Indy offense managed only six hits, two by Christian Kelley. Will Craig hit his 13th double. Erik Gonzalez continued his rehab, playing second for seven innings. He went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and an error that cost DuRapau a run.
Here’s the boxscore.
You can view the season preview here.
Altoona lost the first game of its doubleheader with Binghamton, 2-1. The Curve never got any offense going until the bottom of the seventh, when the first two batters reached. All Altoona could come up with at that point, though, was a pair of fly balls to bring in one run. They had only three hits: a double by Jared Oliva and singles by Robbie Glendinning and Bligh Madris.
The lack of offense wasted a good start from Brandon Waddell, who gave up two runs, just one earned, in five innings. He allowed four hits and walked two, while striking out five. Joel Cesar followed with two scoreless innings.
Here’s the boxscore.
Altoona won the second game, 4-3, when Chris Sharpe bounced a single over a drawn-in infield to bring home the free runner in the bottom of the ninth. The game-winner broke up a rough day for Sharpe, who was 0-for-7 until that point. He’s now batting .171 since his promotion to AA. Starter Sean Brady gave up two runs over six innings. Yeudy Garcia threw two innings, allowing only the free runner in the eighth; the Curve got their free runner home in the bottom half on an error. Jesus Liranzo kept Binghamton from scoring in the top of the ninth to get the win.
Altoona had a lot of scoring chances, going 4-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Mitchell Tolman had three hits, and Jerrick Suiter and Bralin Jackson each two. The Curve again had just one extra base hit, Brett Pope’s sixth double. Gift Ngoepe made his return to the organization, playing short and going 0-for-4.
The second game boxscore is here.
You can view the season preview here.
Bradenton blew a one-run lead in the bottom of the seventh, but scored three in the top of the eighth to win the first game of its doubleheader with Fort Myers, 5-2. With the score 2-1, Nick Economos was going for a seven-inning complete game, but couldn’t get the last out. The tying run scored on a two-out error by first baseman Raul Hernandez. (Hernandez is really the backup catcher, but for some reason he’s getting semi-regular playing time at first.) Economos finished with two runs allowed, one unearned, in 6.2 IP. He gave up four hits and three walks, and struck out three. Nick Mears got the last four outs, three of them strikeouts. He got the win but also a blow save, because he was on the mound for the game-tying error.
The Marauders had seven hits, all singles, with Raul Siri the only player getting two. Travis Swaggerty and Rodolfo Castro had run-scoring singles in the eighth. Cal Mitchell had one of the hits but continued to struggle, striking out in his other three times up. The rest of the team struck out only twice combined. Mitchell is in a 2-for-27 skid.
Here’s the boxscore.
The Marauders made it a sweep with a 4-1 win in the second game. They went for a bullpen game and got three scoreless innings apiece from Joe Jacques and Samuel Reyes. They each struck out four. Ike Schlabach threw the other inning and gave up the lone run. Travis Swaggerty and Lucas Tancas each had two hits. Swaggerty hit his seventh double but also got caught stealing twice. Tancas drove in a pair of runs. Dylan Busby added his tenth double.
The second game boxscore is here.
You can view the season preview here.
Greensboro lost to Lakewood, 4-2. The Grasshoppers managed only three hits: singles by Connor Kaiser and Mike Gretler, and Mason Martin’s 16th double. They had only two at-bats with runners in scoring position. Alex Manasa gave up three runs in six innings. He gave up eight hits and two walks, and struck out three. Cristofer Melendez fanned four in two innings of relief work, but also gave up a solo home run.
Here’s the boxscore.
You can view the season preview here.
Morgantown beat Williamsport, 6-5, in 11 innings. The Black Bears got the winning run on an error in the bottom of the 11th after failing to score with the bases loaded and nobody out in the 10th. Tenth round draft pick Cameron Junker got the win with three scoreless and hitless innings, twice keeping the free runner from scoring from second. He walked one and fanned four. Grant Ford, the Pirates’ fifth round pick, had a much better start than his first, when he couldn’t throw strikes. He gave up a run in three innings on a hit and a walk, and struck out three. Ford threw 25 of 37 pitches for strikes. Mike LoPresti fanned four in two and a third scoreless innings. Most of the damage came off Francis Del Orbe, who gave up four runs, one unearned, in two and two-thirds innings.
Pablo Reyes and Ke’Bryan Hayes started their rehabs, playing nine innings in center and at third, respectively. Reyes went 3-for-4 with a double, while Hayes was 0-for-2 with a walk, a sacrifice fly and a steal. Cory Wood (19th round) hit his third double and first triple. The college hitters drafted by the Pirates in the earlier rounds continued to struggle. Jared Triolo (2nd Supp.), Kyle Wilkie (12th), Matt Gorski (2nd) and Blake Sabol (7th) combined to go 1-for-14, the one hit being Triolo’s fourth double. Those four are batting a combined .209 (23-for-110). It’s very early, but considering the dismal showing of the Pirates’ college hitting draftees from last year, it’s a concern.
Here’s the boxscore.
You can view the season preview here.
Bristol beat Princeton, 8-4. The offense came from 2019 draftees Aaron Shackleford (14th round), Ernny Ordonez (33rd) and Eli Wilson (16th), and from Jesus Valdez, whom the Pirates acquired late last season for David Freese. Shackleford had three hits, including his fourth double. Ordonez and Wilson each hit their first professional home runs. Valdez reached base four times, twice on singles and twice on walks. He also stole his first base.
Adrian Florencio made his second pro start and it went better than his first, when he gave up five runs in five innings. This time he also went five, but allowed three runs, two earned, while giving up five hits and a walk. He struck out three. Yordi Rosario followed with two scoreless innings. Trey McGough struck out three in his one inning, but gave up two hits, a walk and a run. Bear Bellomy gave up two hits and fanned two in a scoreless ninth.
Here’s the boxscore.
You can view the season preview here.
The GCL Pirates were rained out on Saturday. They will make the game up as part of a doubleheader on July 5th.
Here’s the boxscore.
You can view the season preview here.
The DSL Pirates1 got only one hit in a 6-3 loss to the Red Sox2. Juan Jerez had the only hit, a single, although the Pirates did get 11 baserunners via walks and hit batsmen. Starter Listher Sosa, who’s just 17, has been struggling and continued to do so in his fourth start. He gave up four runs, three earned, in four innings. Antonio Gonzalez, who’d been pitching well, walked four in relief while retiring only two batters.
Here’s the boxscore.
The DSL Pirates2, after a rare loss yesterday, resumed their rampage through the league with a 6-0 win over the Giants. Carlos Jimenez, a Venezuelan righty who’s still only 16 and listed at 6’2″, 140 (obviously has room to fill out), threw four and two-thirds shutout innings. He gave up six hits and a walk, and fanned eight. He now has 32 strikeouts in 24.1 IP. Domingo Gonzalez gave up just one hit over the last four and a third. Deivis Nadal, Rayber Romero and Luis Hernandez each had two hits, including Nadal’s first triple. Romero stole two bases, giving him a dozen, and Nadal stole his seventh. Nadal is batting .351 and Romero .360; both turned 17 this year.
Here’s the boxscore.
You can view the season preview here.
