In Altoona today, Charlie Morton will be on the mound for the first time in 13 days. He left his last start early after experiencing some tightness in the back of his shoulder. Both Altoona and Indianapolis have early morning start times today. Clay Holmes has been named for West Virginia. 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 (29-12) VS Buffalo (23-15) 11:05am
Probable starter: Andy Oliver (3-1, 2.70)
Yesterday’s Result: Indianapolis 14, Buffalo 7
Andy Oliver will make his ninth start of the season today. He currently sits second in the International League with 50 strikeouts, one behind the leader, but he also leads the league with 29 walks. Oliver has been nearly unhittable this year at times, giving up three hits or less in five of his starts. Batters are hitting .185 against him, just .161 from the left-hand side. In his last outing, he gave up one run on three hits over five innings. His day was cut short though due to a season high six walks, which led to a high pitch count. Oliver is 1-1, 2.67 in five home starts this year.
AA: Altoona (17-22) VS Trenton (21-18) 10:30am
Probable starter: Charlie Morton (1-0, 0.90)
Yesterday’s Result: Trenton 6, Altoona 4
Charlies Morton will get his fifth rehab start today, his third for Altoona. He initially made one start for Bradenton, giving up two runs over three innings. Morton then moved up to Altoona, where he started twice, allowing one run in ten total innings of work. In his start for Indianapolis on May 3rd, he threw three no-hit innings, allowing one unearned run, while walking two batters. In 16 total innings, he is holding batters to a .130 average, while walking five and striking out ten.
High-A: Bradenton (15-24) @ Clearwater (20-18) 7:00pm
Probable starter: Robby Rowland (2-1, 4.15)
Yesterday’s Result: Clearwater 4, Bradenton 1
Robby Rowland will make his eighth start of the season tonight. He has pitched a total of 34.2 innings, allowing 35 hits, three homers, ten walks and he has 19 strikeouts. Rowland has a .263 BAA and a 1.63 GO/AO ratio. He has had a tough time with the strikeouts recently, picking up just four in his last three starts combined. Five of his starts have come on the road, where is a combined 2-0, 4.13 in 24 innings. Left-handed batters are hitting .364 against him, righties are batting just .192 with no homers.
Low-A: West Virginia (19-20) VS Lexington (20-19) 7:05pm
Probable starter: Clay Holmes (1-3, 6.10)
Yesterday’s Result: Hickory 8, West Virginia 7 in 10 innings
Clay Holmes returned from the DL today and will make his eighth start of the season tonight. He has pitched a total of 31 innings, allowing 33 hits, 25 walks, three homers and he has 17 strikeouts, with a 2.04 GO/AO ratio and a .277 BAA. In his last start, he went four innings, allowing three runs on six hits and three walks. He was out for eight days, after suffering a minor ankle injury. West Virginia is currently in third place, 4.5 games behind Hagerstown. They are 6-4 in their last ten and they have lost two in a row. The Power are starting a brief four game homestand today before going back on the road. They are 9-9 at home this season. They won two of three in their only series against Lexington this year.
Recent Transactions
5/16 Clay Holmes activated from DL. Josh Smith assigned to Jamestown roster.
5/16 Chase d’Arnaud assigned to Bradenton on rehab.
5/16 Cesar Lopez sent to Extended Spring Training. Kurt Yacko assigned to Bradenton roster
5/13 Jake Burnette added to West Virginia roster. Clay Holmes placed on DL.
5/13 Jeff Karstens added to Bradenton roster.
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.
