Sunday, December 31, 2017

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



Saturday, December 16, 2017

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.




Monday, November 20, 2017

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