For Indianapolis,top prospect Gerrit Cole will start today after being pushed back a day, while Charlie Morton made his fourth rehab appearance last night. Bradenton was rained out yesterday in game two of their doubleheader after being rained out on Thursday. They will try to make the game up as part of a doubleheader today. West Virginia has off today. 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 (21-8) @ Lehigh Valley (11-16) 6:35pm
Probable starter: Gerrit Cole (2-1, 2.31)
Yesterday’s Result: Lehigh Valley 7, Indianapolis 1
Gerrit Cole will make his sixth start of the season tonight. It will be just his second start on the road. In his only other road start, Cole gave up one run on four hits and four walks in 6.1 innings. In his last game, he went seven innings for the first time this year, allowing one run on three hits and four walks. On the year, Cole has thrown 23.1 innings, giving up 17 hits, one home run and 15 walks. He has 19 strikeouts, a 1.24 GO/AO ratio and a .205 BAA. Right-handed batters are hitting just .093 against him.
AA: Altoona (11-17) @ Erie (15-11) 7:05pm
Probable starter: Stolmy Pimentel (2-0, 0.30)
Yesterday’s Result: Akron 6, Altoona 3
Stolmy Pimentel will make his sixth start of the year, looking to continue his incredible start to the season. He has allowed just one run in 30.1 innings, giving up 19 hits and 14 walks. He has 28 strikeouts and had held opponents to a .179 BAA. Right-handed batters are having a particularly tough time, hitting just .121 against him. In his last start on Monday, he threw seven shutout innings. In his first start of the year, Pimentel shut out Erie for six innings. He leads the Eastern League in ERA.
High-A: Bradenton (10-17) @ Palm Beach (13-14) 5:05pm DH
Probable starter: Robby Rowland (1-0, 4.76) and Matt Benedict (0-4, 4.97)
Yesterday’s Result: Bradenton 8, Palm Beach 1
Robby Rowland will make his sixth start of the season tonight. This will be his fifth start on the road, where he has gone 1-0, 4.50 this season. Rowland is coming off a rough outing on Saturday against St Lucie, when he allowed five runs on five hits and three walks in four innings. On the year, he has 17 strikeouts, a 1.35 GO/AO ratio and a .264 BAA in 22.2 innings. Righties are hitting .192 with no homers against him, while left-handed batters are hitting .371 with two homers. Matt Benedict will get the other start tonight, looking for his first win with the Mauraders. Between last season and this year, he is a combined 0-12, 7.02 in 13 starts and six relief appearances. He lost to Palm Beach on 4/18, giving up two runs over five innings.
Low-A: West Virginia (12-16) VS Greenville (10-18) 5:05pm 5/5
Probable starter: John Kuchno (0-1, 5.14)
Yesterday’s Result: West Virginia 3, Greensboro 0
West Virginia is off today. When they return on Sunday, they will begin a four game series against Greenville, before going on the road for seven games in seven days. This is their only scheduled day off during the month of May. West Virginia is tied for fourth place in their division, 4.5 games behind both Hagerstown and Hickory. The Power are 5-9 at home and 4-6 in their last ten games.
Recent Transactions
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
4/30 Phil Irwin added to Indianapolis roster. Bryan Morris recalled by Pirates.
4/30 Altoona activated Adalberto Santos from DL
4/30 Placed Zack Von Rosenberg on the DL. Added Jhondaniel Medina to Bradenton roster
4/28 Jhonathan Ramos promoted to Altoona. Emmanuel De Leon added to Bradenton roster.
