Hot Stove: Former West Virginia Black Bears on Several Pirates Prospect Lists

Several former West Virginia Black Bears are moving up on the Pittsburgh Pirates prospect lists. Here is a summary of players who have played in Morgantown from four prospect lists. I have included players who spent rehab assignments with the Black Bears. Click on highlighted players names to see their complete stats at MILB.com.

MLB.com Pirates Top 30 Prospect Watch. See entire Pirates list at this link.

1.  Austin Meadows (rehab 2016, 2017)

2.  Mitch Keller (rehab 2017)

5.  Ke’Bryan Hayes (2015)

6.  Ryan Newman (2015)

7.  Will Craig (2016)

9.  Kevin Kramer (2015, rehab 2017)

16. Luis Escobar (2015-16)

21. Stephen Alemais (2016)

22. Edgar Santana (2015)

23. Brandon Waddell (2015, rehab 2017)

25. Dovydas Neverauskas (rehab 2015)

29. Dario Agrazal (2015)


Fangraphs Top 25 list published on December 28, 2017. 

1.  Mitch Keller

2.  Austin Meadows

5.   Ke’Bryan Hayes

8.   Luis Escobar

9.   Kevin Newman

11. Stephen Alemais

12. Kevin Kramer

17. Will Craig

20. Dovydas Neverauskas

21. Edgar Santana

23. J.T. Brubaker (2015)


Baseball America published their Top Ten Pirates prospects for 2018 in October.  Read the entire article at this link.

1. Mitch Keller

2. Austin Meadows

4. Ke’Bryan Hayes

5. Kevin Newman

7. Luis Escobar


Pirates Prospects Top 50 Prospects. Pirates Prospects is a subscription only site and is highly recommended for Pittsburgh Pirates fans who want to follow what is happening down on the farm throughout the year. The Pirates Prospects 2018 Prospect Guide can be purchased at this link.

1.   Mitch Keller

2.   Austin Meadows

5.   Ke’Bryan Hayes

6.   Kevin Newman

10. Luis Escobar

14. Kevin Kramer

16. Edgar Santana

21. Dario Agrazal

22. J.T. Brubaker

23. Dovydas Neverauskas

24. Will Craig

25. Stephen Alemais

26. Brandon Waddell

36. Tristan Gray (2017)

39. Logan Hill (2015)

44. Deon Stafford (2017)

45. Tanner Anderson (2015)

48. Bligh Madris (2017)

49. Ike Schlabach (2017)

Photo Credit: NY-Penn League News

NY-Penn League News is not affiliated with Minor League Baseball, the New York-Penn League, or the West Virginia Black Bears

My 2018 IBWAA Hall of Fame Ballot

Here is my Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA) Hall of Fame (HOF) ballot for 2018.

I took the advice of the great Joe Morgan and didn’t vote for any suspected PED abusers. I won’t debate the issue here. That’s my position and I’m sticking to it. I’ll consider voting for PED users when Shoeless Joe Jackson is eligible for induction to the HOF.

Clicking on each player’s name will take you to Baseball-Reference.com where you can look at their statistics.

Trevor Hoffman

Chipper Jones

Jeff Kent

Fred McGriff

Mike Mussina

Jim Thome

Billy Wagner

Larry Walker

If you are wondering about the IBWAA, here is information from the organization's website:

“The IBWAA seeks neither to replace nor disparage the BBWAA, but does offer distinctions. While the BBWAA requires ten years and hundreds of dollars of paid membership for writers to earn a Hall of Fame vote, the IBWAA has no waiting period, with a $75 lifetime fee.

“In the vast majority of cases, the BBWAA requires the tying of a writer’s online work to a print publication for admission; the IBWAA does not. The IBWAA believes that the hoops an applying writer has to jump through to join the older organization are too many and too narrow, and welcomes all Internet baseball writers. Those with his or her own baseball website of any kind or scope are invited to join, as are those who contribute the written word anywhere within the baseball blogosphere.

"The IBWAA votes for Cooperstown in December, and during September of each championship season holds elections for the Most Valuable Player, Cy Young, Rookie of the Year and Manager of the Year Awards. In 2010, the IBWAA began voting in its own relief pitcher category, establishing the Rollie Fingers American League Relief Pitcher of the Year and the Hoyt Wilhelm National League Relief Pitcher of the Year Awards.

“The IBWAA endeavors to be nimble and inclusive, and encourages members to participate as much or as little as they like. All suggestions are welcome always. Minimum age requirement is 18.

“For more info, please contact IBWAA Director, Howard Cole, info@ibwaa.com."

Photo Credits: IBWAA

 

NY-Penn League News is not affiliated with Minor League Baseball or the New York-Penn League.

Pirates release several former West Virginia Black Bears

Several former West Virginia Black Bears have been released by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Expect more releases before spring training and we will provide updates throughout the off-season. Only Brandon Bingel is listed at the Minor League website, but Pirates Prospects is reporting several other player releases.

Former Black Bears released so far: Brandon Bingel, Yoandy Fernandez, Hector Garcia, Nick King, Huascar Fuentes, Julio de la Cruz, and Sandy Santos.

Brandon Bingel

Brandon Bingel Career Stats

YEAR	TEAM			W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV		IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB		SO	AVG	WHIP
2016	WV			0	2	2.91	16	0	0	0	4		21.2	19	10	7	1	1	9		16	.238	1.29
2017	WV			0	2	4.88	17	0	0	0	0		24.0	24	14	13	3	2	7		15	.261	1.29
Minors Career	-			0	4	3.94	33	0	0	0	4		45.2	43	24	20	4	3	16		31	.250	1.29

Yoandy Fernandez

Yoandy Fernandez Career Stats

YEAR	TEAM			W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV		IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB		SO	AVG	WHIP
2017	WV			5	0	2.95	18	0	0	0	2		36.2	37	14	12	2	2	9		53	.262	1.25
Minors Career	-			5	0	2.95	18	0	0	0	2		36.2	37	14	12	2	2	9		53	.262	1.25

Hector Garcia

Hector Garcia Career Stats

YEAR	TEAM			W	L	ERA	G	GS	CG	SHO	SV		IP	H	R	ER	HR	HB	BB		SO	AVG	WHIP
2013	DSL PIR			3	2	2.40	17	1	0	0	1		41.1	30	15	11	1	0	22		41	.200	1.26
2014	BRS			1	5	3.38	13	13	0	0	0		48.0	40	22	18	2	1	19		50	.222	1.23
2015	WV			1	2	6.91	5	5	0	0	0		14.1	10	11	11	1	0	10		19	.185	1.40
2016	PIR			1	0	0.00	4	0	0	0	0		6.0	4	0	0	0	1	1		8	.182	0.83
2017	PIR			0	0	0.00	3	0	0	0	0		4.0	0	0	0	0	2	0		4	.000	0.00
2017	WV			1	0	1.93	5	0	0	0	0		9.1	9	3	2	0	1	1		11	.257	1.07
2017	WV			0	1	6.75	11	0	0	0	1		12.0	20	11	9	0	1	5		6	.357	2.08
2017 [-]	3 teams			1	1	3.91	19	0	0	0	1		25.1	29	14	11	0	4	6		21	.282	1.38
Minors Career [+]	5 teams			7	10	3.40	58	19	0	0	2		135.0	113	62	51	4	6	58		139	.222	1.27

Nick King

Nick King Career Stats

YEAR	TEAM			G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB		SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2016	WV			28	92	12	18	24	4	1	0	11	9		27	0	2	.196	.265	.261	.526
2017	WV			7	25	1	5	7	0	1	0	3	3		5	0	1	.200	.286	.280	.566
2017	WV			13	42	1	7	9	2	0	0	3	2		14	0	0	.167	.239	.214	.453
2017	PIR			20	57	9	11	13	2	0	0	3	11		12	5	0	.193	.338	.228	.566
2017 [-]	3 teams			40	124	11	23	29	4	1	0	9	16		31	5	1	.185	.297	.234	.530
Minors Career [+]	3 teams			68	216	23	41	53	8	2	0	20	25		58	5	3	.190	.283	.245	.529

Huascar Fuentes

Huascar Fuentes Career Stats

YEAR	TEAM			G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB		SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2014	DSL PIR			5	16	3	4	7	0	0	1	2	2		5	1	0	.250	.429	.438	.866
2015	DSL PIR			60	201	34	59	107	16	7	6	45	23		36	6	5	.294	.399	.532	.932
2016	BRS			47	166	25	42	59	9	1	2	19	12		44	4	0	.253	.333	.355	.689
2017	WV			6	14	3	2	2	0	0	0	1	1		2	0	0	.143	.278	.143	.421
2017	BRS			36	137	20	35	48	13	0	0	16	7		31	1	2	.255	.318	.350	.668
2017 [-]	2 teams			42	151	23	37	50	13	0	0	17	8		33	1	2	.245	.314	.331	.645
Minors Career [+]	3 teams			154	534	85	142	223	38	8	9	83	45		118	12	7	.266	.357	.418	.775

Julio de la Cruz

Julio de la Cruz Career Stats

YEAR	TEAM			G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2013	DSL PIR			61	211	22	42	68	12	1	4	37	21	0	48	4	1	.199	.317	.322	.640
2014	PIR			41	156	10	38	51	7	0	2	20	6	0	32	1	0	.244	.281	.327	.608
2015	BRS			48	179	15	43	55	12	0	0	18	6	0	48	1	2	.240	.267	.307	.575
2016	BRS			47	163	17	34	51	5	0	4	15	15	1	49	1	1	.209	.283	.313	.596
2017	WV			34	120	9	24	36	4	1	2	13	11	0	43	0	2	.200	.265	.300	.565
Minors Career [+]	4 teams			231	829	73	181	261	40	2	12	103	59	1	220	7	6	.218	.286	.315	.601

Sandy Santos

Sandy Santos Career Stats 

YEAR	TEAM			G	AB	R	H	TB	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB		SO	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
2013	DSL PIR			54	171	20	35	47	2	2	2	18	11		47	6	3	.205	.251	.275	.526
2014	DSL PIR			51	187	34	49	65	7	3	1	26	21		41	15	6	.262	.378	.348	.726
2015	BRS			48	191	35	49	89	11	4	7	16	24		55	7	4	.257	.338	.466	.804
2016	WV			63	228	26	64	94	16	4	2	34	20		64	7	10	.281	.336	.412	.748
2017	WV			40	116	16	21	37	4	0	4	10	17		55	7	4	.181	.301	.319	.620
2017	WV			43	147	20	34	57	6	4	3	19	10		42	3	2	.231	.281	.388	.669
2017 [-]	2 teams			83	263	36	55	94	10	4	7	29	27		97	10	6	.209	.291	.357	.648
Minors Career [+]	4 teams			299	1040	151	252	389	46	17	19	123	103		304	45	29	.242	.319	.374	.693

Photo & Stats Credits: MiLB.com

 

NY-Penn League News is not affiliated with Minor League Baseball, the New York-Penn League, or the West Virginia Black Bears