The weather played havoc with the minor league schedule yesterday, forcing both Altoona and West Virginia to postpone their games. Both teams will make the games up today as part of a doubleheader. 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 (25-11) VS Toledo (10-26) 7:15pm
Probable starter: Andy Oliver (2-1, 2.82)
Yesterday’s Result: Indianapolis 4, Toledo 3
Andy Oliver will make his eighth start of the season tonight. He has pitched great this year, except for control problems that have followed him for the last couple years. Oliver has a .187 BAA and 44 strikeouts in 38.1 innings, but he also has allowed 23 walks, the second highest total in the International League. Last year he led the IL in walks, the year before he finished second in the league. Oliver faced Toledo on 4/9, throwing five shutout innings. In his last start, he threw six shutout innings against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
AA: Altoona (14-20) VS Richmond (16-16) 5:00pm DH
Probable starter: David Bromberg (0-4, 5.57) and Casey Sadler (4-2, 2.86)
Yesterday’s Result: Altoona was rained out
Casey Sadler will make his eighth start of the season tonight. He has pitched a total of 44 innings, allowing 40 hits, three homers, 11 walks and he’s picked up 23 strikeouts. He has a very impressive 2.23 GO/AO ratio and a .247 BAA. In his last start, Sadler threw eight innings, allowing just one unearned run. He faced Richmond on 4/16, allowing one run over seven innings in a no-decision. 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 (13-22) VS Charlotte (11-23) 6:30pm
Probable starter: Zack Dodson (0-0, 5.40)
Yesterday’s Result: Charlotte 7, Bradenton 3
Zack Dodson will make his second start of the season tonight. He missed the beginning of the year, serving out the rest of his 50 game suspension from last season. In his first start against Dunedin six days ago, Dodson went five innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits and two walks, while striking out four batters. Last year for West Virginia, he was 6-6, 4.86 in 21 starts.
Low-A: West Virginia (16-17) @ Lexington (16-17) 6:05pm DH
Probable starter: John Kuchno (1-1, 4.33) and Jason Creasy (2-0, 4.05)
Yesterday’s Result: West Virginia was rained out
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. Jason Creasy will make his first start of the season. He has pitched 11 times out of the bullpen, after spending all of last season as a starter for State College. Creasy has pitched 20 innings this year, allowing 25 hits, two homers, four walks and he has 17 strikeouts. He has an 0.91 GO/AO ratio and a .298 BAA. Creasy has made five straight scoreless appearances, throwing a total of 7.1 innings in those games.
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
