Minor League Primer: Bradenton Marauders

The Minor League season has officially kicked off. I will be doing primers for each level over the next week. This should be a very exciting year for the Pirate’s minor leagues affiliates as they start to see many of their top prospects reach the upper levels.  This is the true test to see if these top prospects really deserve to be considered in that category.  I have always said that the biggest jump in the minors for hitters is from High-A to AA and for pitchers from AA to AAA.  The Pirates will see many prospects do that this year.  I have already done my Triple-A and Double-A Primers, see the link at the bottom of the page.

Bradenton Marauders: Class A Advanced

Not to long ago the Pirates full squad was at Bradenton getting ready for the 2016 season.  Now playing in Bradenton is the Pirate’s High Single-A affiliate the, Bradenton Marauders. The Marauders have a very intriguing team that is led by some of the Pirate’s most recent draft picks.

Leading this group of prospects is actually the lead-off hitter for the team, Kevin Newman.  Newman was selected by the Pirates with the 19th overall pick in first round of the 2015 amateur draft.  Many were not excited by this selection last year, including myself.  However, there were some positives about the pick.  He is the only player in Cape Cod League history to win back-to-back batting titles.  Also, Keith Law considered him a top ten talent in the draft.  Law was the only one who had him rated that high as many others had him in the 20-30 range.  With that

being said, obviously Law saw something he liked, and same goes for the Pirates’ scouts.  Newman did not help build any excitement up about himself in his first pro action last year.  He struggled at Short Season-A ball, batting just .226 with an OPS of .620.  He played 38 games for the West Virginia Black Bears, and even with his struggles was promoted to Low-A West Virginia Power.  With this promotion he started to get back on track as a hitter.  In 23 games with the Power he batted .306 with a .367 OBP and a .743 OPS.  Those numbers were more of what we were hoping to see from the first round pick.  The interesting point here is that just after 23 games at Low-A, the Pirates are aggressively starting Newman at High-A.  As I have mentioned in other articles the Pirates are very cautious with promoting prospects, they like to see these prospects get a few hundred at-bats at each level usually.  One thing to consider, is how Newman played 3 years at the University of Arizona and in the Cape Cod League.  At his age and the level of competition he faced in the NCAA/CCL, the Pirates feel that he is too advanced to spend more time in Low-A. Newman comes into the 2016 season ranked as the Pirate’s #11 prospect. The other bit of news here is that Newman is the starting shortstop and is being paired with a second baseman who was drafted the round after him.

Kevin Kramer was the Pirate’s 2nd round pick last year and #3 overall for the team.  Kramer played shortstop at UCLA to start his career, but he ended his collegiate career playing 2nd and 3rd base after injuries.  Last year in Short Season-A West Virginia, Kramer played mostly 2b.  Even though 2nd was his primary position, he did log innings at SS and 3b as well.  This year it seems the Pirates are committed to using Kramer as a second baseman.  Kramer played 46 games with the Short-A Black Bears and played 12 games for the Low-A Power.  Like Newman, the Pirates are giving Kramer the opportunity to jump to High-A quickly and show that he is advanced due to his college experience.  Between the two levels, the former Bruin hit .291 with an OBP of .375.  Seems that Newman and Kramer could be similar style players on the offensive side of things.  Neither seem to have a lot of power, but they represent more the new approach the Pirate’s front office is taking.  Both seem to be singles/doubles hitters with line drive power and the ability to get on base. If Kramer puts up numbers like he did all last season he could find himself climbing the prospect ranks in the Pirate’s organization.  Kramer was ranked as the #22 prospect in the Pirates system coming into this season.  It will be interesting to watch him develop along with Newman as they could be the Bucs middle infield in a few years.

The other middle infield prospect to watch is 2014 first round pick Cole Tucker.  Tucker is a raw, but projectable shortstop, who like Newman, was not a very popular pick.  The reason I waited until now to mention Tucker is because he will not play much this year.  Tucker in late August 2015 received surgery on a tear in his labrum.  At the time he was projected to be out 10-12 months.  All reports indicate that it will be closer to the 10 month range.  Even so this could work out for Bradenton.  They will not have to worry about trying to get both Newman and Tucker playing time at shortstop for now.  Even when Tucker comes back it may not be an issue as Newman may get the call to Altoona by then.  Expect to see Tucker around the end of June.

The two arms to watch at Bradenton are Stephen Tarpley and Yeudy Garcia.  I have written about Tarpley before.  Acquired last year in the Travis Snider deal, he was very impressive in Low-A last season.  The Pirates #19 prospect pitched to a 2.48 ERA and a 1.15 WHIP.  Batters did hit .241 off of Tarpley, but he also struck out 105 batters in 116 IP.  Tarpley has a little more life on his fastball for a lefty, as he typically sits 92-95 in starts, but he has hit 97 mph before.  Tarpley has a great make up to be a potential #2 arm in a rotation one day.  He possesses good size at 6’2″, has a strong-arm, and the ability to be deceptive with a 3/4 arm slot.  Tarpley will be the ace of the staff as he has more experience and polish between the two prospects.  Right behind him will be a breakout prospect from last year in right-handed pitcher Yeudy Garcia. Garcia is the Pirates #19 prospect, who the Pirates signed out of the Dominican in 2013 at 20 years of age.  Since signing he has been outstanding so far in his pro career, even though he has started at an older age.  Last year in Low-A, Garcia threw to a 2.10 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and struck out over 8 batters per 9 innings.  One negative when looking at Garcia, is he can be a bit erratic at times due to his inconsistent mechanics. He has walked over 3 batters per nine innings.  Not that this is a huge issue, but it could be something to watch as he moves up the system and continues to work on his mechanics.  Garcia has a power arm which sits in the mid-90’s.  Last year in the Low-A All-Star game, he ran up his fastball to as high as 99 mph.  He is a fastball and slider pitcher, but has a change-up as well.  The change-up will be key to his future success.  If Garcia can develop his change-up he will have three solid pitches which will allow him a chance to start at the MLB level, if not he may be a future back-end of the bullpen guy.  Either way this could be a fun 1-2 starting pitcher combo to as they show off their power stuff against Single-A hitters.

There are few other prospects that could breakout at High-A this year. The first one is a guy who I wrote about before in Jordan Luplow.  Luplow was the Pirates third round pick in 2014 out of Fresno State.  At Fresno State he played the corner outfield spots.  So far in his career, the Pirates have had Jordan play 86 games at third base, the most out of all positions he has played.  However, this year he has played left-field in the first few games. This is because the Pirates are trying former 2014 supplemental first round pick Connor Joe out at 3b and because Luplow had surgery this offseason on his shoulder.  If you look at Luplow’s basic numbers none of them really jump off the page at you.  He is a career .267 hitter and has 19 homers over 171 games.  The thing that sticks out to me is his peripheral numbers.  The Pirate’s number #26 prospect in his career has posted an OBP of .364 and a slugging percentage of .449, which totals to be a .813 OPS.  He also has posted a strong BB/K ratio of .77/1.  These numbers suggest that Luplow has good discipline of the strike zone with the ability to draw walks and hits the ball with power behind it.  Luplow projects as a future middle of the lineup hitter in my eyes (#5 type guy).  At High-A this year it will be interesting to see if he can continue to keep his K rate down and keep his OPS around .800.  Luplow will never be a .300 hitter, but if he continues to put up strong peripheral numbers he could be a very nice asset for the Pirates in a few years.

The next prospect is Connor Joe.  The theme of this article seems to be “unpopular” draft picks.  Joe may truly be the most unpopular one of recent memory.  Joe was primarily a catcher at San Diego University, but had played 1b and OF as well.  Many had Joe projected to go in the late 2nd round rather than in the supplemental first round. With other upside prospects on the board like Jacob Gatewood and Monte Harrison, many were let down to get a player who seemed to have a low ceiling. Joe does not have any tools that really stick out, and he missed the 2014 season with back issues.  Last year he played in 80 games at Low-A and only hit .244, but did put up an impressive OBP of .366.  Joe is  now playing 3b this year, as I mentioned above.  The former first round pick does not have a clear position, but the key for him will just be to stay healthy and on the field.  If he can stay healthy, the organization may figure out which position will best suit him, which could lead to more consistent offensive numbers.

Last year the Pirates took the NCAA Championship winning pitcher Brandon Waddell from the University of Virginia.  The left-hander is completely skipping Low-A this season.  Waddell was a 5th round pick and has good

command of his pitches.  His fastball is average, it sits around 90-92, but he possesses a deceptive arm angle with a plus slider as well.  I do not think Waddell will be a starter at the big league level, but rather an effective reliever.  However, the Bucs are going to give Waddell the as many opportunities to start in the minors ( Justin Wilson/Tony Watson path)

Some lesser known players to watch are Pablo Reyes, Elvis Escobar, Austin Coley, and Sam Street.  Pablo Reyes is a 2b who has put up strong offensive number in the minors including a .279 batting average and a .775 OPS.  Escobar is a speedy outfielder who signed for 500K in 2011, the same year Harold Ramirez signed.  Escobar hit .285 last year in WV.  Austin Coley was an 8th round pick in 2014 and has pitched to a decent 3.85 ERA, along with a strong k/bb ratio, 3.8/1.  Street projects as one of the better relief pitchers in the system.  Coming into this year the 2014, the 16th round pick has posted a 1.83 ERA with an incredible 5.47/1 k/bb ratio.  Street does not have power stuff, but has good off-speed pitches and is able to locate, making him effective.

The guy you have forgotten about that is at High-A is Luis Heredia.  The former top 5 prospect has made one appearance this year and it was out of the bullpen.  It will be interesting to see if Heredia will continue to throw out of the bullpen, and if he does successfully if they transition him back to the rotation. It seems as if Heredia has been in the system forever, but he is still just 21 years of age.  The Pirates gave him around a 3 million dollar bonus, they will continue to try and figure him out.

What I think is most interesting about Bradenton’s team is they have a lot of players who we have drafted over the last 2-3 years. Many are still trying to prove that they belong in the Pirates organization.  This is a big level for those players as they look to make the jump to AA as soon as possible.  With that we will start to see how Neal Huntington’s most recent drafts are taking shape.

Next: AA Primer

Related Story: AAA Primer