2018 Draftees Guiding Power Playoff Push
Over the Power’s final multi-series homestand of 2018, the Pittsburgh Pirates promoted four of their 2018 draft picks to the Kanawha Valley to help their Low-A affiliate make a run at the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division Wild Card spot. But, who are these new faces in the organization? Let’s find out.
On Wednesday, August 15, before the West Virginia Power opened up a three-game series against the Columbia Fireflies at Appalachian Power Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced a flurry of transactions that vastly adjusted the Power’s roster. The Pirates promoted first-round pick Travis Swaggerty, third-round pick Connor Kaiser and 25th-round pick Luke Mangieri from the West Virginia Black Bears, where all three had begun their professional journeys after signing on with Pittsburgh following the 2018 MLB Draft.
All three have brought immediate impacts to the Power both offensively and defensively, as well as each carrying a unique story. The following details these selections’ first week in the South Atlantic League, including how they fared and their stories of how they got here.
OF Travis Swaggerty — 2018 First Round Selection (10th Overall)
As with any first-round pick, there is a ton of information, highlights and projections rumbling around Minor League Baseball already when it comes to Swaggerty. A not-so-highly recruited South Alabama product turned first-round selection is a story that writes itself, and Swaggerty has made sure to live up to the narrative over his first two months as a professional.
Since joining the Power last Wednesday, Swaggerty has put on a show, whether it be at the plate or in his mainstay position of center field. In his first at-bat in the South Atlantic League, Swaggerty wasted no time displaying his offensive prowess, smacking one to the wall in right-center field for a lead-off triple, the second of his now 42-game MiLB career. Though that was the lone hit he got in that game, the Louisiana native quickly gained notoriety among the Power faithful.
The chants began from Rod Blackstone “The Toastman” and the Toast Section:
“He’s got swag! We’ve got swag!”
The next night, Swaggerty was held silent through his first three at-bats against a tough right-hander, Marcel Renteria, who contained the potent Power sluggers for 7.2 innings.
However, West Virginia mounted a furious rally in the eighth, ignited by Mangieri’s ground-rule double to put the tying run in scoring position. Rodolfo Castro promptly doubled him in to tie the game at two and put an end to Renteria’s evening.
Southpaw Aaron Ford then replaced Renteria, and the first batter he faced was none other than Swaggerty, who to that point was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. The University of South Alabama product did not miss his opportunity to come up clutch, grounding a ball up the middle that forced Giovanny Alfonzo to range a long way to his right to reel it in. Alfonzo got there, but Swaggerty turned on some of his breakneck speed and beat the throw to first, keeping the inning alive. And, with everyone so focused on that play, no one caught Castro barreling towards home, as he snuck in there without a throw to give the Power a lead they would not relinquish.
Three games later, Swaggerty uncorked some opposite-field strength, stroking his first South Atlantic League home run (the fifth of his career) over the left-center field fence in the fifth inning of Monday’s 9–0 shutout of the Charleston RiverDogs.
A newly-minted 21-year-old, Swaggerty has enjoyed his time in pro ball. He earned New York-Penn League All-Star honors after hitting .288 over 36 games with the Black Bears, and then found out he was getting promoted to the Power while he was signing autographs at the Mid-Season Classic.
“My manager called me and asked if I had a car,” Swaggerty recalled. “I said I didn’t, and then he told me I needed to get back to Morgantown and pack, because I wasn’t going with the team to Batavia the next day. I was headed to Charleston, West Virginia.”
Originally born in Covington, La., the outfielder was forced to move to Denham Springs, La., when he was a child after his house had a tree fall through it during Hurricane Katrina. Swaggerty dominated at Denham Springs High School, mashing to the tune of a .451 clip with 38 RBI in his senior season, garnering All-Baton Rouge Large Schools Player of the Year and First-Team All-Baton Rouge honors from NOLA.com and The Times-Picayune.
Ranked as the Pirates’ third-best prospect per MLB.com, Swaggerty became the first South Alabama player nabbed in the first round since 1991 when the Pirates called his name in June. Fresh off a season where he was dubbed the 2018 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year after slugging 13 homers and tallying 57 RBI for the Jaguars, Swaggerty has captivated the Minor League scene with his hard-nosed work ethic and five-tool arsenal.
INF Connor Kaiser — 2018 Third Round Selection (86th Overall)
Unlike Swaggerty, Kaiser comes into professional baseball after three seasons at a defined Division-I program in Vanderbilt University. As part of his final swan song with the Commodores, Kaiser single-handedly vaulted Vanderbilt to the Super Regionals after hitting a school record-tying three homers and collecting an NCAA Tournament record-tying 10 RBI in the decisive contest over the Clemson Tigers. Though Kaiser is not touted as much of a power threat, that game will certainly live on in his lore as he moves through the Minor Leagues.
Across his first five games donning a Power uniform, Kaiser is averaging .333 with a double, three RBI and a .770 OPS. He has hit safely in four straight games, including a pair of multi-hit affairs August 16 against Columbia and August 19 versus Charleston. Kaiser also tied his career-high with two RBI Monday night in a 2-for-4 effort with his lone South Atlantic League double.
Most recently, Kaiser was able to tap into his plate discipline in Tuesday’s series finale. The Kansas native worked a lead-off walk against Austin DeCarr in the eighth and eventually came around to score the Power’s first run on Rafelin Lorenzo’s base hit to right.
In just a few games at the Low-A level, Kaiser has portrayed a solid eye at the dish, fanning just four times in 18 at-bats while playing a clean shortstop. The 21-year-old has had the benefit of jumping right into the role of the everyday shortstop with Oneil Cruz on the disabled list, and while he hasn’t made any flashy plays yet, he has yet to make an error in 17 total chances while turning two double plays and racking up 11 assists.
Kaiser was a summer collegiate standout during his time at Vanderbilt. In 2016, the infielder claimed Defensive Player of the Year honors in the New England Collegiate Baseball League after playing 35 games for the Newport Gulls.
He then flipped the script when he participated in the Cape Cod Baseball League in 2017, putting together an offensive summer to the tune of a .300 average with two homers and 16 RBI for the Yartmouth-Dennis Red Sox over 37 contests.
A solid defensive mind with a contact-minded bat, Kaiser figures to spend significant time with the Power next season, with Cruz almost certainly guaranteed to elevate to the High-A level in 2019.
INF Luke Mangieri — 2018 25th Round Selection
When Mangieri came to Charleston August 15, he gave the Power something they had been missing for a good portion of 2018, a bona fide first baseman. After seeing their Opening Day first baseman, Mason Martin, struggle at the Low-A level and get assigned to Bristol, Kyle Watson had taken the reigns at that position. Watson filled the role nicely, but the utility infielder was unable to find a consistent stroke at the plate and found himself in Morgantown the day before Mangieri took his place.
Mangieri brings a nice mix of power, discipline and defensive ability to the Kanawha Valley. Following his three-year tenure at Bradley University, Mangieri left as the active leader in hits (174), runs (104) and doubles (31), while boasting a .314 average over 145 career games with nine homers and 84 RBI.
The offensive numbers are certainly impressive for the 25th-rounder, and a nice addition to those stats are his strikeout numbers. Starting with his senior year at Dunlap High School in Illinois, Mangieri only fanned four times while torching the classification with a .455 clip. Translate that to his three seasons with Bradley, and Mangieri was struck out just 83 times in 554 at-bats, a whopping 15 percent, with no more than 31 in any campaign.
He has carried that keen eye into the professional ranks, going down 39 times over his first 178 at-bats (22 percent). Mangieri is no Nick Madrigal, who has just four strikeouts over his first 117 at-bats in pro ball (3.4 percent), but his numbers are certainly promising for a young hitter who has the ability to spray the ball all over the park.
Over his 44 games with the West Virginia Black Bears, Mangieri averaged .247 with two homers and 16 RBI, launching his first career home run June 22 against State College. Mangieri also posted a 12-game hitting streak from June 30 to July 15 and enjoyed the friendly confines of Monongalia County Ballpark, boasting a .316 clip in 22 home games versus a .181 road stroke.
The Peoria, Ill., native has taken his promotion to the South Atlantic League in stride, hitting safely in his first four games with the Power before going 0-for-4 with a walk Tuesday night against Charleston. Two of Mangieri’s four Low-A hits have been doubles, with one setting the table for West Virginia’s comeback win over Columbia last Thursday and the other driving in a run in the Power’s 9–0 shutout over the RiverDogs Monday evening.
Funny enough, Mangieri comes from a football family. His older brothers, P.J. and Nick, suited up for the University of Nebraska and University of Indiana football squads, respectively, while his younger brother, Charlie, is set to hit the gridiron for Northwestern this fall. Mangieri, of course, took the baseball route, and has started his professional career on the right note.
Reliever Logan Stoelke — 2018 9th Round Selection
On Monday, August 20, before the Power’s second game against the Charleston RiverDogs at Appalachian Power Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates sent their fourth 2018 draft pick to the West Virginia Power in the form of right-hander Logan Stoelke.
Stoelke debuted in the series finale against the RiverDogs Tuesday night, blazing through the three batters he faced in the eighth inning of the Power’s 3–2 loss to Charleston in extras. Stoelke struck out the first two batters he faced looking before inducing a weak ground out back to himself to cap his lone inning of work. He used just 15 pitches (11 for strikes).
The Pirates’ ninth-round pick brings a four-pitch repertoire to the Power, sporting a four-seam fastball, change-up, slider and splitter. He has been devastating opposing hitters since joining the Minor League ranks, posting an 0–1 record with a 1.77 ERA over his 17 appearances in Morgantown while converting all six of his save opportunities. Stoelke also struck out 31 batters and walked just eight.
Selected out of Louisiana-Lafayette, Stoelke departed the Rajun Cajuns with a 5–1 record over 34 career games, racking up a 3.26 ERA across 49.2 innings.
Interestingly enough, Stoelke turned his focus solely to pitching just a few years ago. In an article written by Baseball America, Stoelke’s first three seasons on the mound are detailed as “used sparingly”, as he made just 13 trips from the pen and totaled 16.1 innings. In fact, Stoelke was mainly used as a defensive replacement outfielder over his first three college years, participating in 54 games and not making a start until 2017. He tallied just three hits in 17 at-bats.
However, after the Rajun Cajuns’ pitching staff was bit by the injury bug, ULL head coach Tony Robichaux transformed Stoelke into a primary bullpen arm for his pitching corps. It’s not like Stoelke was foreign to pitching, but to suddenly switch from hitting and pitching to becoming the team’s primary closer is a sizable shift for any player. Stoelke appeared unphased though, as he dominated in his final season at ULL, going 4–0 with a 2.97 ERA in 21 outings while accruing 10 saves.
With a solid four-pitch mix and a focused approach on the mound, Stoelke should slide in nicely into a rather reliable Power bullpen.
Heading into their final series against the Rome Braves at State Mutual Stadium Thursday night, the Power sits 3.5 games back of the Kannapolis Intimidators in the race for the South Atlantic League’s Northern Division Wild Card spot. With a bolstered lineup and an extra piece added to the back end of the bullpen, West Virginia is gearing up for one final run at the 2018 playoffs.
12 games remain in the 2018 regular season, and this Power team is poised to battle down the stretch. Trust me, you don’t want to miss a second of it.
