Pittsburgh Pirates 16-20 Prospects: Final Season Stat Lines

We have looked at the Pittsburgh Pirates top minor league prospects season stat lines.  So far we have looked at prospects ranked 1-15.  Here are prospects 16-20:

16.  Luis Escobar, Starting Pitcher, West Virginia Power

Luis Escobar is one of the rising prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system.  Escobar pitched all season for the Pittsburgh Pirates Low-A affiliate.  He made 25 starts and 26 total appearances for the West Virginia Power.  Escobar accumulated 131.2 innings with a 3.83 earned run average. The most impressive stat of Escobar’s season was his strikeout total.  He punched out 168 batters in his 131.2 innings.  He did walk 60 batters, but he held opponents batting average to just .200.

17. Jordan Luplow, Outfielder, Altoona Curve & Indianapolis Indians

Luplow has received an opportunity for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the last month.  However, he was just about the best hitter in the minor leagues this year between Altoona and Indianapolis.  He appeared in 73 games for the Curve, as he started the year there.  He posted a slash line of .287/.368/.535.  On top of a really good slash line, he also put up 16 home runs and 15 doubles, while only striking out 45 times with 29 walks. For Indianapolis, Luplow was even more impressive, albeit it was a small sample size of just 44 games.  He put up a robust slash line of .325/.401/.513.  On top of that, he added seven home runs, seven doubles, and one triple.

18. Kevin Kramer, Second Baseman, Altoona Curve

Kramer was the Pittsburgh Pirates second-round pick in 2015.  The former UCLA Bruin is quickly turning into a prospect who should make an impact at the major league level.  Kramer put up a slash line of .297/.380/.500, hitting six home runs, 17 doubles, and three triples.  However, he did strikeout 50 times in 53 games.  Unfortunately, Kramer broke his hand and did not play in another regular season game for the Curve, though he did make it back for the playoffs.

19. Cal Mitchell, Outfielder, Gulf Coast League

Mitchell was the Pittsburgh Pirates second round pick, and was the 50th overall pick in the 2017 draft.  The prep outfielder played mainly left field for the Pittsburgh Pirates Gulf Coast affiliate.  Mitchell had a solid professional début and quickly showed why the Bucs drafted him as high as they did.  He hit .243 and got on base at a really strong clip of .351.  Mitchell only slugged .352, but that is common for prep players transitioning to wooden bats.   He did hit 11 doubles and two home runs in 43 games while striking out 35 times.

Next: Prospects Stats 11-15

20. Clay Holmes, Starting Pitcher, Indianapolis Indians

The 2017 campaign was the most important season of Clay Holmes’ career.  He struggled in his first full season back in 2016, and if he were to stay a legitimate potential starting pitching prospect he needed to have a better 2017.  Well, he did.  Holmes made 24 starts for Triple-A Indy and had 25 total appearances.  He had a quality season going 10-5 with a 3.36 earned run average.  In his 112.2 innings of work, he struck out 99 batters while posting an impressive 61.5 percent ground ball rate.  In 2016 batters hit for a .272 average, this season he reduced that number to .232.

*All numbers are courtesy of Baseball Reference