Yesterday was a busy day for transactions in Altoona, among them the addition of Neil Walker to the roster on a rehab assignment. He continues that assignment tonight. Indianapolis leads their division by 5.5 games over second place Columbus and by 14 games over their opponent tonight, the Toledo Mud Hens. For a look at the possible starters over the next few weeks, please check out our Probable Pitchers Chart. We have added a Recent Transactions section to the bottom of this page, for all Pirates minor league transactions. A full recap of yesterday’s action can be found here.
AAA: Indianapolis (24-11) VS Toledo (10-25) 7:15pm
Probable starter: Brooks Brown (1-0, 1.57)
Yesterday’s Result: Indianapolis 2, Scranton/WB 1 in 11 innings
Brooks Brown will make his third start of the season. He has also pitched six times in relief. In his two starts, Brown has pitched great, both times working with limited pitch counts. He has thrown a combined eight shutout innings, allowing two hits, one walk and he has struck out seven batters. On the year, he has 19 strikeouts in 23 innings, with a 1.45 GO/AO ratio and a .175 BAA. Brown faced Toledo on 4/9, giving up one run over three innings of work.
AA: Altoona (14-20) VS Richmond (16-16) 6:30pm
Probable starter: David Bromberg (0-4, 5.57)
Yesterday’s Result: Altoona 9, Richmond 8
David Bromberg will make his fourth start of the season tonight. He has also pitched three times in relief. In his starts, Bromberg is 0-3, 3.94 in 16 innings, with 16 hits, five walks and 12 strikeouts. Right-handed batters are hitting .371 against him. He has faced Richmond twice already this year. In his start on 4/15 against them, he allowed two runs over five innings. Eight days later, he gave up one run in three innings, with five strikeouts, in their second meeting.
High-A: Bradenton (13-21) VS Charlotte (10-23) 6:30pm
Probable starter: Robby Rowland (2-0, 4.40)
Yesterday’s Result: Bradenton 4, Charlotte 3
Robby Rowland will get his seventh start of the season. He has thrown a total of 28.2 innings this season, allowing 29 hits, two homers, eight walks and he has 19 strikeouts. Rowland has been excellent at getting groundballs in all four of his seasons as a pro, continuing that by posting a 1.48 GO/AO ratio this year. He has a big BAA split against right-handed batters and lefties. Rowland has held righties to a .203 average with no home runs, while left-handers are batting .348 with two homers. He faced Charlotte on 4/10, giving up two runs on five hits in three innings of work.
Low-A: West Virginia (16-17) @ Lexington (16-17) 7:05pm
Probable starter: John Kuchno (1-1, 4.33)
Yesterday’s Result: Lexington 2, West Virginia 1
John Kuchno will make his seventh start of the season tonight. He had two rough outings to begin the year, but since then, he has pitched much better. In his last four starts, he has allowed three runs over 19.2 innings. Kuchno has had some control problems this season, walking 16 batters over 27 total innings. He has also had some low strikeout performances, including one in each of his last two games. He has a 1.52 GO/AO ratio and has given up just one home run.
Recent Transactions
5/9 Neil Walker added to Altoona roster.
5/9 Zach Thornton added to Altoona roster. Justin Howard and Jeff Inman added to Disabled List. Jason Townsend activated from DL.
5/9 Cesar Lopez added to Bradenton roster.
5/8 Duke Welker promoted to majors. Josh Harrison rejoins Indianapolis.
5/8 Tim Alderson promoted to Indianapolis. Quinton Miller promoted to Altoona. Jhondaniel Medina added to Bradenton roster.
5/6 Phil Irwin placed on Indianapolis DL. Oscar Tejeda added to Indianapolis roster.
5/6 Matt Curry placed on DL. Justin Howard and Miguel Perez added to Altoona roster.
5/5 Daniel Grovatt added to Bradenton roster. Jhondaniel Medina assigned to Extended Spring Training
5/5 Zack Dodson added to Bradenton roster. Junior Sosa sent to West Virginia.
5/4 Jeff Larish added to Indianapolis roster.
5/4 Barrett Barnes put on West Virginia disabled list
5/3 Jordy Mercer promoted to majors. Charlie Morton added to Indianapolis roster.
5/3 Jose Contreras promoted to majors. Jared Hughes sent to Indianapolis.
5/3 Pirates sign Jeff Gibbs
