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 – DNP
2. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Indianapolis – DNP
3. Cole Tucker, SS, Indianapolis – 4-for-5, 2 2B
4. Oneil Cruz, SS, GCL Pirates – DNP
5. Travis Swaggerty, CF, Bradenton – 0-for-4
6. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 3-for-4, RBI
7. Will Craig, 1B, Indianapolis – 1-for-5, RBI
8. Jason Martin, OF, Pirates – In Majors
9. JT Brubaker, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
10. Calvin Mitchell, OF, Bradenton – 0-for-4
11. Cody Bolton, RHP, Altoona – DNP
12. Tahnaj Thomas, RHP, Bristol – 1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 1 SO
13. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
14. Lolo Sanchez, CF, Bradenton – 0-for-3, BB, SB
15. Pablo Reyes, Util, Indianapolis – DNP
16. Clay Holmes, RHP, Pirates – In Majors
17. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Bradenton – DNP
18. Michael Burrows, RHP, Morgantown – DNP
19. Jared Oliva, CF, Altoona – 2-for-3, 2 BB
20. Ji-Hwan Bae, SS, Greensboro – 1-for-5, SB
21. Max Kranick, RHP, Bradenton – DNP
22. Luis Escobar, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP
23. Osvaldo Bido, RHP, Greensboro – DNP
24. Eduardo Vera, RHP, Indianapolis – 7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
25. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Altoona – DNP
26. Aaron Shortridge, RHP, Bradenton – 4.1 IP, 11 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO
27. Blake Weiman, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP
28. Steven Jennings, RHP, Greensboro – DNP
29. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Altoona – DNP
30. Jesus Liranzo, RHP, Altoona – DNP
Indianapolis won 8-3 over Louisville. Eduardo Vera had a strong outing, going seven innings with two runs on four hits and a walk, striking out five batters. He was pounding the strike zone, with 63 of 89 pitches going for strikes. This was a nice look for Vera. I’ve watched at least five of his previous starts and he was sitting 89-91 early in the year, then started hitting 92 MPH. I saw one 93 in all of those games. That’s coming from someone who was sitting 93-95 in 2017 and 92-94 last year. On this night, he was sitting 92-94 MPH again, and more importantly, he was using his changeup more often, which is his best pitch, but I wasn’t seeing it much in previous starts. Jake Brentz allowed a homer in the eighth, then Dovydas Neverauskas recorded his sixth save with 1.1 scoreless.
Cole Tucker had quite a game on offense, going 4-for-5 with two doubles. He has eight doubles, a .322 average and a .951 OPS in 27 games with Indianapolis. Kevin Kramer had three singles, two runs scored and an RBI. Darnell Sweeney drove in two runs. Will Craig, Logan Hill, JB Shuck, Christian Kelley and Trayvon Robinson each had an RBI.
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Altoona won 5-1 over Richmond. James Marvel continues to have a strong season, going seven innings on Tuesday night, with one run on four hits and a walk. He struck out eight batters and threw 56 of 89 pitches for strikes. Through 92.2 innings, he has a 3.21 ERA this season. Marvel has given up 0-1 runs in eight of his 15 starts. Blake Cederlind was out next and he finished off the game with two shutout innings while hitting 102 MPH on the radar gun. That might be the first time he has hit that number, though he has hit 101 in the past and hit 100 MPH numerous times (easily 30+) over the last two years, so it’s not a big jump in velocity that got him there.
The top five batters in the lineup each reached base at least twice. Alfredo Reyes led off and went 3-for-5 with a run scored. He hit two doubles. Chris Sharpe batted second and walked three times and scored a run. Jared Oliva had two walks and two singles, with a run scored. Robbie Glendinning had a single, double and two RBIs. Bligh Madris had two singles and two RBIs.
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Bradenton lost 3-0 to Jupiter. Aaron Shortridge had a crazy pitching line and an unfortunate ending to his night. He went 4.1 innings, giving up 11 hits, but just one run. He didn’t issue a walk or pickup a strikeout. Shortridge left the game after taking a line drive off of his arm/elbow. Logan Stoelke allowed one run over 1.2 innings. Joe Jacques gave up two hits in his only inning, but also struck out three batters. Samuel Reyes gave up a run in the eighth.
Bradenton was being no-hit until the eighth inning when Rodolfo Castro picked up a single. Dylan Busby added a single in the ninth. That would be in for them as far as hits. Lolo Sanchez drew the only walk and stole his second base since joining the Marauders. The team struck out 13 times, with two coming from Travis Swaggerty, who has six multi-strikeout games out of his last eight games.
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Greensboro lost 12-6 to West Virginia. Just like Aaron Shortridge, Luis Nova gave up 11 hits over 4.1 innings. For Nova though, it resulted in seven runs, with six being earned runs. He didn’t walk anyone, but he did hit two batters. Nova has made four starts now with Greensboro, getting knocked out early in two games, while allowing two runs over 12 innings in the other two combined. Cody Smith followed and gave up four runs in his only inning. Cristofer Melendez allowed one run in 1.2 innings. Will Gardner came in and shut down the Power, tossing two perfect frames with four strikeouts.
Mason Martin got the scoring started with a first inning single. He later scored on a single by Fabricio Macias. In the third inning, Martin hit his league-leading 19th home run. He has driven in 67 runs, which is nine more than the second most in the league. The Grasshoppers also got the fifth home run of the season from Jack Herman and the first from Michael Gretler. Herman also drew two walks and scored two runs. Ji-Hwan Bae stole his 11th base, while both Martin and Macias each picked up a steal.
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Morgantown lost 7-3 to Batavia. Will Kobos made his second start and went four innings, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk, with three strikeouts. He debuted this year with four runs over 2.1 innings. Denny Roman followed with three runs over two innings, with two of those runs being earned. Xavier Concepcion tossed a shutout seventh inning, and Austin Roberts threw a scoreless eighth.
The Black Bears had five hits and five walks on the night. Cory Wood batted lead-off and had a single, his first double, a walk, a run scored and an RBI. Brett Kinneman had a walk, hit-by-pitch and a run scored. No one else reached base more than once and Dean Lockery’s second double of the season was the only other extra-base hit.
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Bristol lost 6-5 to Elizabethton. Tahnaj Thomas recorded just one out in his debut, giving up two runs, before being pulled due to his pitch count. Compared to that performance, he did better on Tuesday, but this was another ugly outing for the young right-hander from the Bahamas. He went 1.1 innings, giving up three runs on three hits and three walks, with one strikeout. He threw 50 pitches during that brief time, with 26 going for strikes. Yordi Rosario followed and gave up three runs in 2.2 innings. Enrique Santana followed with three shutout frames and Oliver Garcia tossed a scoreless eighth.
The Pirates broke out for five runs, starting with a home run to lead off the game from Jesus Valdez. He also had a single, walk and two runs scored. Aaron Shackelford reach base all five times up with his third double and four walks. Brendt Citta drove in two runs. Daniel Rivero picked up his first RBI.
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The GCL Pirates lost 4-1 to the Twins. Arlinthon De Dios made his U.S. debut and allowed three runs (two earned) over four innings. He was followed by Willy Basil, who contributed two shutout innings and three strikeouts. Starlyn Reynoso allowed a run in the seventh and tossed a scoreless eighth.
The lone run scored in the ninth inning with help from an error. Nick Garland picked up an RBI single after Andres Alvarez reached second base on a single and a throwing error. The Pirates had six hits total, all singles, getting one each from Juan Pie, Angel Basabe, Emilson Rosado and Yoyner Fajardo. Rosado also added two walks. Oneil Cruz did not play today, so it appears that he’s still early in his rehab process.
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The DSL Pirates1 won 5-4 over the Rangers1, a team that came into the day with a 17-3 record. The Pirates got the first big game for Sergio Campana ($500,000 bonus) as a pro. He went 4-for-4 to give him a .235 average this season. He hit his second triple, scored a run and picked up an RBI. Juan Jerez ($380,000) hit his seventh double and Luis Tejeda ($500,000) hit his third double. Jerez picked up his 17th RBI. Franrielis Bastardo went 1-for-3 with a single and a bases loaded walk.
Starter Joelvis Del Rosario, who is struggling in his second season after a solid debut last year, allowed four runs over five innings. The Pirates scored two runs in the seventh to give the win to Carlos Campos. He tossed three shutout innings. The game was shortened to eight innings due to rain.
The DSL Pirates2 moved to 18-3 on the season with a 12-1 win. The victory by the Pirates1 actually helped the Pirates2 take over as the best team in the league. This was the second appearance from Jorge Ramos, who turned 17 years old earlier this month. The 6’0″ right-hander from Mexico tossed four innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits, with no walks and two strikeouts. He was followed by Francisco Hodge, who threw three shutout innings to keep him at a 0.00 ERA in 19.1 innings this season. Hodge is a second-year player, who had a 2.76 ERA as a starter last year. The game was shortened to seven innings due to weather.
Dariel Lopez ($400,000) raised his average to .422 by going 3-for-5 and driving in three runs. Bryan Mateo had three hits, including his second double. Deivis Nadal ($185,000) had two hits, two runs, an RBI and a walk. He’s hitting .355 through 18 games. Jose Berroa ($230,000) had a single, walk, RBI and three runs scored. He also picked up an outfield assist. Jauri Custodio had two hits, including his sixth double. He drew a walk and also drove in two runs. Jommer Hernandez was 1-for-3 with a walk, RBI and two runs scored.
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