The State College Spikes, one of the Pirates' rookie-league teams, finished their season on Wednesday and, pleasantly enough, the finale featured a strong performance from the team's top prospect, pitcher Luis Heredia, who struck out five batters and allowed one walk and two hits in five shutout innings. Heredia finishes his season with 40 strikeouts and 20 walks in 66.1 innings, solid numbers from a kid who turned 18 last month.
↵The team's top hitters were 2012 draftees Tyler Gaffney (.925 OPS) and Barrett Barnes (.857), both of whom played shortened seasons. Outside of Heredia, the team's pitching staff wasn't especially strong, although 2012 fifth-rounder Adrian Sampson had a strong pro debut. None of the team's most interesting starting pitching prospects -- Clay Holmes (who posted a good ERA, but weak peripheral numbers), Jake Burnette, Jason Creasy, Joely Rodriguez -- did much.
↵Here are the Spikes' stats for the whole season.
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