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The Pirates have announced that they plan to send seven players to the Arizona Fall League, which begins play on October 10. The Pirates’ contingent will play for the Glendale Desert Dogs, which will also have trainer Lee Slagle. Most of the players rank among the team’s top prospects and most missed meaningful time this year with injuries. The seven are as follows:
J.T. Brubaker, RHP: The only player in the group who didn’t miss significant time due to injury, Brubaker has spent the season with Altoona. His record is currently 7-5, 4.33.
Taylor Hearn, LHP: The hard-throwing lefty, acquired from Washington in the Mark Melancon deal, has been out since mid-July with an oblique injury. Pitching for Bradenton, he stands at 4-6, 4.12, with a 1.17 WHIP and 106 strikeouts in 87.1 IP.
Mitch Keller, RHP: The Pirates’ top pitching prospect missed a month with a back injury. He went 6-3, 3.14 with a 1.00 WHIP for Bradenton and currently is 1-2, 3.77 with 34 strikeouts in 28.2 IP for Altoona.
Brandon Waddell, LHP: A forearm strain has put Waddell on the disabled list twice. He’s made 14 starts for Altoona, going 3-3, 3.66.
Kevin Kramer, 2B: Kramer was enjoying a breakout season for Altoona when he suffered a broken hand from being hit by a pitch. He’s been out since June 10. When the injury occurred, Kramer was batting 297/380/500.
Cole Tucker, SS: Tucker missed three weeks in June with a fractured thumb. The Pirates promoted him to Altoona in mid-July. While with Bradenton, he hit 285/364/426 with 36 stolen bases, a figure that still leads the Florida State League. In 36 games with Altoona, he’s batting 236/315/347.
Logan Hill, OF: Hill was having a breakout season with Bradenton when the Pirates moved him up to Altoona at the end of June. At that point he was hitting 266/351/513, with 16 HRs. He’s still tied for the league lead in longballs. He went out with a broken hand suffered from being hit by a pitch on July 26. For Altoona, he was batting 278/385/418 with two HRs in 22 games.