Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Kyle McPherson threw a one hitter tonight for the Bradenton Marauders, leading them to a 4-1 win over Brevard County. McPherson took a no-hitter in to the ninth inning, before allowing a solo homer with one out, ending the no-hit campaign, as well as the shutout.
The start is just another amazing accomplishment for McPherson, who has arguably been one of the best pitchers in the system, statistically, over the last two years. Coming in to tonight’s start, McPherson had a 3.22 ERA in 58.2 innings, with an amazing 49:5 K/BB ratio. Last year McPherson put up a 3.59 ERA in 117.2 innings in West Virginia, with a 124:31 K/BB ratio.
McPherson was added to the 40-man roster this off-season, to avoid losing him in the Rule 5 draft. His strong numbers this year, highlighted by his extremely low walk rate, and topped off by tonight’s outing, are more than deserving of a promotion. Terry Mathews saw McPherson in action last month, and had a great report on his arsenal that night. Pirates’ pitching coordinator Jim Benedict was in attendance for the start tonight.
McPherson was helped by runs from the Bradenton offense in the 4th, 5th, and 6th tonight. Jarek Cunningham led off the fourth with a double, and scored later in the inning. David Rubinstein did the exact same thing in the fifth inning. Bradenton added a fourth run in the eighth on a ground rule double by Elevys Gonzalez.
McPherson struck out the side in the eighth inning, but allowed the solo homer with one out in the ninth, ending his no-hit campaign. He allowed a two out walk in the ninth before ending things with a ground out to first base.
