Pittsburgh Pirates: The Team Can Improve By Selling

The Seinfeld Duo

So who will replace these two?  While Triple-A Indianapolis is not the most loaded minor league affiliate in the organization, their top two offensive prospects are a shortstop and a second baseman.  The Indians shortstop is Kevin Newman, the Pittsburgh Pirates first round pick in 2015 and a top 10 prospect.  Newman is having a really nice season and has had a pretty solid minor league career.

The Triple-A leadoff hitter is batting .207/.355/.393.  While his slugging percentage is not very impressive, he is doing other things to make up for it.  First off he is batting over .300 which is always great to see.  However, he also is getting on base at a .355 clip thanks to his 24 walks while only striking out 37 times in 78 games.  Furthermore, he has stolen 21 bases this year.  His base running has always been noted.  He is exactly what the Pittsburgh Pirates could use at shortstop and at the top of their lineup.

Then, on the other side of the infield in Indianapolis is a second base prospect in Kevin Kramer.  Kramer, like Newman, is a top 10 prospect in the organization and was drafted in 2015.  The former UCLA Bruin was taken in the second round.  He is a little different style of player than Newman however. Kramer brings a little more power to his game.  This year, he has 11 home runs in Triple-A.  Those home runs go along with his slash line of .277/.341/.474.  So one can see that he still gets on base at a respectable clip, but hits for more extra-base hits.  All in all, he has 20 doubles and three triples.  He also has stolen seven bases, showing that he has decent speed.