The objective of minor league baseball players is to advance to the majors and this week saw now-former Altoona Curve INF Kevin Newman come one step closer to reaching that goal with his promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis.
With Newman getting promoted from the Altoona Curve, it caused a trickle down effect within the organization. His promotion sees Cole Tucker taking the vacated short stop position and looking to make an immediate impact with the Curve.
Newman’s performance in his parts of two seasons with the Altoona Curve dictated his promotion to Indianapolis as the short stop played up to his bill as one of the top prospects within the Pirates’ organization.The 2015 first round draft pick hit .259 in 82 games for the Curve this season seeing a majority of his time leading off for a strong Altoona lineup.
An Arizona product, Newman had an on-base percentage of .310 while his slugging percentage was .359 during his stint in Double-A. Newman becomes the fourth player to be called up to Indianapolis and third in the last three weeks following outfielder Jordan Luplow and pitcher Montana DuRapau.
Newman singled in his first plate appearance for the Indians and finished 3-for-5 scoring two runs on the day.
The first Triple-A at bat for @OfficialKBN is an infield single up the middle. An E4 scores @leanonmeCB and it's 1-0, Tribe! pic.twitter.com/rwRo8RJo5i
— Indianapolis Indians (@indyindians) July 20, 2017
Welcome to Altoona, Cole!
With Newman moving up, a void was left to fill at the short stop position. Insert 2014 first round draft pick, Cole Tucker.
Tucker comes to Altoona following a stellar 133 games for the Bradenton Mauraders. The short stop prospect appeared in 65 games for the Marauders last season as he took over at short stop following Newman’s promotion to the Curve. In 2017, Tucker appeared in 68 games prior to being called up with a slash line of .285/.364/.426.
What’s impressive for Tucker’s development is his walk rate has vastly improved as he has 34 walks this year compared to 33 all of last season playing in 80 games between the West Virginia Power and Bradenton. Also of note for Tucker is his speed. The speedy short stop stole 36 bases while with the Marauders serving as a constant running threat each time he reached base.
Tucker struggled in his Double-A debut going 0-for-5 at the plate with two strikeouts and notching the first two errors of his Double-A career against Bowie Thursday night.
Other roster moves
To make room for Newman, catcher Jackson Williams was demoted to Altoona following a stint in Triple-A where he hit .227 in 22 games. With both Jacob Stallings and Elias Diaz in Indianapolis, Williams was the most expendable catcher.
The Curve made room for Williams on the roster by placing catcher Tomas Morales on the 7-day disabled list with a back strain and by also releasing catcher Zane Chavez.
Also being demoted was infielder Logan Ratledge. Ratledge hit .108 in 15 games following his most recent promotion. Taking the spot on the roster vacated by Ratledge will be infielder Anderson Feliz who comes to Altoona from Triple-A. Feliz hit .192 in his 42-game stint with Indianapolis while he hit .269 in six games with the Curve earlier this season.
Up Next
The Altoona Curve hit the road following a 7-game home stand to take on the Bowie Baysox, losing 7-6 Thursday night. Altoona remains on the road to finish out the 4-game series against the Baysox before heading to Reading to take on the Phillies for a 3-game set. The Curve return home for the home debut of Tucker next Thursday as they take on the Trenton Thunder in what will be a 5-game series.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
