Top prospect Jameson Taillon will try to bounce back from a rough start when he takes the hill tonight, as all four full-season affiliates are playing at home at the same time. West Virginia and Altoona were both off yesterday. Prior to the start of Altoona’s regularly scheduled game today, they will complete a game from May 23rd, that was suspended with a 2-2 tie in the eighth inning. Two new teams are on the daily schedule as the Dominican Summer League season got under way Saturday. For a look at the players to watch on the DSL teams, check out our season preview here. For a look at the possible starters over the next few weeks, please check out our Probable Pitchers Chart. Check out the 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 (40-19) vs Durham (37-21) 7:05pm
Probable starter: Brandon Cumpton (4-3, 3.51)
Yesterday’s Result: Indianapolis 6, Columbus 2
Brandon Cumpton will make his 11th start of the season tonight, his ninth for Indianapolis. He has also started twice for Altoona and pitched once in relief for Indianapolis. Cumpton has pitched a total of 61 innings this year, allowing 56 hits, four homers and 23 walks. He has 49 strikeouts, an impressive 2.76 GO/AO ratio and a .241 BAA. He is coming off his worst start since joining Indianapolis, going five innings on Wednesday against Pawtucket. He gave up six runs on nine hits and a walk, though he did record 10 outs via groundballs. In four home starts at AAA, he is 2-1, 2.63 in 24 innings.
AA: Altoona (23-33) vs Reading (20-33) 7:00pm
Probable starter: Jameson Taillon (3-5, 3.26)
Yesterday’s Result: Altoona was off yesterday
Jameson Taillon will make his 12th start of the season tonight. It will be his seventh home start of the year. Taillon allowed four runs on four hits and four walks in five innings during his last start. He did not face Reading when these two teams met last month for a four game series. In the month of May, he was 1-3, 3.48 in six starts, with 38 strikeouts in 31 innings. He has pitched much better at home this year, posting a 2.02 ERA in Altoona, 5.04 on the road. His 68 strikeouts on the season are the fourth most in the Eastern League, six behind the leader.
High-A: Bradenton (23-34) vs Daytona (28-27) 6:30pm
Probable starter: Nick Kingham (6-2, 3.34)
Yesterday’s Result: Bradenton 5, Daytona 3
Nick Kingham will make his 12th start of the season tonight. He has pitched a total of 59.1 innings this year, allowing 49 hits, six homers and 13 walks. He has 68 strikeouts, an 0.96 GO/AO ratio and a .220 BAA. In his last start, Kingham allowed three runs on five hits(two homers), while walking none and striking out seven batters. He has pitched much better at home this year, going 3-1, 1.96 in four starts, with a .198 BAA. In the month of May, he was 4-0, 3.58 in six starts, with 35 strikeouts in 32.2 innings. He is the Florida State League leader in strikeouts.
Low-A: West Virginia (31-26) vs Delmarva (23-31) 7:05pm
Probable starter: John Kuchno (2-3, 4.91)
Yesterday’s Result: West Virginia was off yesterday
John Kuchno will make his ninth start of the season tonight. His last two appearances have come in relief. He has pitched 47.2 innings this year, giving up 52 hits, four homers and 21 walks. Kuchno has 38 strikeouts, a 1.94 GO/AO ratio and a .287 BAA. In his last outing, he struck out a season high nine batters in 5.2 innings of relief work, though he did give up five runs. At home this year, he is 2-1, 5.84 in three starts and two relief outings. He had a 4.73 ERA over 26.2 innings in May, with a terrific 2.92 GO/AO ratio.
DSL: Pirates1 (1-1) vs Rangers (2-0) 10:30am
Yesterday’s Result: Rockies 10, Pirates1 7
DSL: Pirates2 (0-2) vs Nationals (1-1) 10:30am
Yesterday’s Result: Orioles2 4, Pirates2 1
Recent Transactions
5/31 Added Zack Thornton to Indianapolis roster. Placed Kyle Waldrop on disabled list.
5/31 Acquired Atahualpa Severino. Assigned him to Indianapolis.
5/31 Acquired Graham Godfrey. Assigned him to Indianapolis.
5/31 Activated Chase d’Arnaud from disabled list. Assigned him to Indianapolis.
5/31 Promoted Alex Presley to Pittsburgh Pirates. Assigned Josh Harrison to Indianapolis.
5/28 Alex Dickerson activated from DL. Stefan Welch assigned to Jamestown roster.
