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Prospect Watch: Grant Koch Homers Again and Domingo Gonzalez Has an Impressive Debut for Morgantown

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P2 Top 30A 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 (Clay Holmes, Jacob Stallings, Pablo Reyes, Kevin Newman 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, Nick Burdi 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, Pirates – In Majors

2. Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B, Indianapolis – 2-for-3, BB

3. Cole Tucker, SS, Indianapolis – 1-for-4, 2B

4. Oneil Cruz, SS, Altoona – 1-for-3, 2 BB, SB

5. Travis Swaggerty, CF, Bradenton – DNP

6. Kevin Kramer, 2B, Indianapolis – 1-for-4

7. Will Craig, 1B, Indianapolis – 0-for-4

8. Jason Martin, OF, Indianapolis – 0-for-4

9. JT Brubaker, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

10. Calvin Mitchell, OF, Bradenton – DNP

11. Cody Bolton, RHP, Altoona – DNP

12. Tahnaj Thomas, RHP, Bristol – DNP

13. Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Morgantown – DNP

14. Lolo Sanchez, CF, Bradenton – DNP

15. Braeden Ogle, LHP, Bradenton – DNP

16. Michael Burrows, RHP, Morgantown – DNP

17. Jared Oliva, CF, Altoona – 0-for-1

18. Ji-Hwan Bae, SS, Greensboro – DNP

19. Max Kranick, RHP, Bradenton – DNP

20. Luis Escobar, RHP, Indianapolis – DNP

21. Osvaldo Bido, RHP, Bradenton – DNP

22. Eduardo Vera, RHP, – Released, article here

23. Gage Hinsz, RHP, Altoona – DNP

24. Aaron Shortridge, RHP, Bradenton – DNP

25. Blake Weiman, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP

26. Steven Jennings, RHP, Greensboro – DNP

27. Brandon Waddell, LHP, Indianapolis – DNP

28. Jesus Liranzo, RHP, Altoona – DNP

29. Rodolfo Castro, 2B, Bradenton – DNP

30. Cam Vieaux, LHP, Altoona – DNP

Prospect-Watch-Indy

Indianapolis lost to Columbus, 6-1.  Cody Ponce made his fourth start for the Indians and ran into control problems, walking four in five and two-thirds innings.  He gave up five hits and five runs, and struck out three.  Matt Eckelman gave up a run in and inning and a third, and also let three of Ponce’s runs score.  Elvis Escobar threw two scoreless innings in his Triple-A debut.  Indy had eight hits, but apart from Cole Tucker’s 15th double they were all singles.  Ke’Bryan Hayes had two hits.

Here’s the boxscore.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-Altoona-Curve

Altoona gave up 11 runs in the seventh inning and lost to Harrisburg, 14-7.  Domingo Robles had a good start, allowing one run in five innings on just three hits and no walks.  He struck out six.  He’s allowed just two runs in his last three starts, covering 21 innings.  Once he was out, though, things went south in a hurry.  Yeudy Garcia allowed two runs in the sixth and allowed the first three batters to reach in the seventh.  Shea Murray then made his AA debut and it couldn’t have gone worse.  He retired only one of seven hitters, with the other six coming around to score along with two inherited runners.  Angel German allowed two of Murray’s runners to score and then two more of his own.  First baseman Jerrick Suiter had to get the last four outs.

On offense, Bralin Jackson and Logan Hill each had three hits.  Jackson hit his second triple and scored three times.  Hill drove in two and hit his 27th double.  Brett Pope added his second home run and Oneil Cruz reached base three times on two walks and a hit.

Here’s the boxscore.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-Bradenton

Bradenton’s season ended on Thursday.

You can view the season preview here.

Greensboro beat West Virginia, 3-1.  Will Kobos continued his strong pitching, allowing a run on three hits and two walks in five innings, while striking out six.  He has a 1.24 ERA in his last six starts.  Cam Alldred, Cody Smith and Yerry De Los Santos combined for four scoreless innings to finish it out.  Grant Koch had two hits, including his eighth home run and fourth in two days.  Luke Mangieri also homered, his fifth.

Here’s the boxscore.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-Morgantown

Morgantown won the first game of its doubleheader with Mahoning Valley, 3-2, in eight innings.  Jesus Valles gave up two runs over five innings, allowing just three hits and a walk while striking out four.  Xavier Concepcion finished with three scoreless innings and stranded the free runner in the bottom of the eighth.  He gave up a hit and a walk, and didn’t strike out anybody.  The offense managed only three hits, the big one being a two-run home run by Will Matthiessen, his fourth homer.  Blake Sabol and Jared Triolo had the other hits, both singles.

Here’s the boxscore.

In game two, Domingo Gonzalez (pictured above) threw six shutout innings as the Black Bears won, 3-1, to finish the sweep.  In his first game after a promotion from the GCL, Gonzalez allowed just three hits and a walk, and struck out eight.  Alec Rennard gave up a run in the seventh.  Morgantown had only five hits.  Kyle Wilkie drove in two runs with a single and a sacrifice fly.  Triolo hit his fifth triple and Matthiessen his fifth double.

The game two boxscore is here.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-Bristol

Bristol lost game two of its three-game series with Johnson City, 7-4.  The two teams will play the deciding game tomorrow.  Dante Mendoza had a shaky start, giving up four hits and three walks in four innings, but he allowed only two runs.  Ryan Troutman struggled in relief, giving up three runs in an inning and a third, and Saul De La Cruz allowed another two, one of them unearned.

Josh Bissonette, Aaron Shackelford and Francisco Acuna led the offense.  Bissonette had a double and two singles, Shackelford had a double and a triple, and Acuna hit a two-run home run.  Daniel Rivero stayed hot, getting two singles.

Here’s the boxscore.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-GCL

The GCL Pirates finished their season with an 18-36 record. Here’s the season recap.

You can view the season preview here.

Prospect-Watch-DSL

The DSL Pirates1 finished their season with a 34-36 record.

You can view the season preview here.

The DSL Pirates2 lost game two of their best-of-three playoff series to the Diamondbacks2, 9-4, ending their season.  Starter Wandi Montout survived four walks to throw three and a third scoreless innings.  Three relievers — Johan Montero, Carlos Campos and Emmanuel Mejia — all got roughed up.  Combined they allowed nine runs, six earned, over four and two-thirds innings.  The Pirates had seven hits, with Randy Romero and Jauri Custodio each getting two.  Jommer Hernandez had a triple and Rodolfo Nolasco a double.

Here’s the boxscore.

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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