When the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted John Sever in the 20th round this year, it didn’t get much attention. He is a 6’5″ lefty that can get it into the 90’s with his fastball, so that obviously warrants some attention, but being drafted so low and not requiring a big bonus, he got lost in the shuffle. He also had some control issues this year, wasn’t rated high and the scouting reports said he needed work on his secondary pitches. That being said, the numbers that he has put up this year at Bristol are off the charts.
Sever has made 12 appearances out of the bullpen, though he has developed into more of a piggyback starter recently, seeing as many as 5.1 innings in his last outing and reaching three innings in each of his last four appearances. He has thrown a total of 26.2 innings and he has given up just one earned run. There is also his K/BB ratio to talk about. It sits at 44:6 and it needs to be repeated that he’s done that in 26.2 innings. For comparison, Sever ranks tied for 71st in the Appalachian League in innings pitched and he’s tied for tenth in strikeouts.
Here is the thing about Sever in the Appalachian League. The average age for pitchers in the league is 20.6 years and it’s not really a league meant for college pitchers, at least not ones that pitched at a major college. The average age for batters in 20.2 years, so they are even younger as a group. With three years of college, Sever is pitching in a league that is well below the level of competition he saw in school. There is also the part about being the lefty. A southpaw that can throw strikes, usually does well in the lower levels because even the right-handed batters at this point in their career have trouble with them. They haven’t seen many lefties that can throw strikes, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering how many more right-handed pitcher there are in baseball.
So while Sever has put up eye-popping numbers and he has that 6’5″ frame throwing from the left side, he is the type of player you don’t get too high on until you see him perform at a higher level. For now, he has made himself into someone that you keep in the back of your mind, and if you get the chance to see him pitch for Bristol before the season ends, you sit back and enjoy the show he’s been putting on.
Pirates Game Graph
Source: FanGraphs
Playoff Push
Pittsburgh: The Pirates dropped to a 1/2 game behind St. Louis for the first Wild Card spot and a half game above San Francisco for the second spot. They are currently 2.5 games back from the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central
Indianapolis: The Indians are six games back in the International League West, and nine games back in the Wild Card with 18 games left in the season.
Bradenton: The Marauders are in first place in the Florida State League South, leading by one game over Palm Beach. The Marauders need to win the second half division to make the playoffs.
Today’s Schedule
Minor League Starter of the Day: The most interesting starter for Friday in the minors is obviously Gerrit Cole making his fourth rehab start for Indianapolis. He has looked great in his first and third starts and looked bad in his second outing. Cole really pitched well last time out, retiring 18 of the 19 batters he faced. He looks to extend his pitch count closer to the 100 mark, which should put him in line to rejoin the Pirates for his next start. As for the other minor league starters, Tyler Eppler looks to continue his solid rookie season in pro ball. The sixth round draft pick from this year has made 11 starts and through 50.2 innings, he has a 1.09 WHIP and a .234 BAA. Chad Kuhl has a 1.76 GO/AO ratio and a 1.19 WHIP in 131.1 innings for Bradenton.
MLB: Pittsburgh (64-57) @ Washington (66-53) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Charlie Morton (3.62 ERA, 117:52 K/BB, 149.1 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (62-64) @ Louisville (62-64) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Gerrit Cole (2.93 ERA, 13:4 K/BB, 15.1 IP)
AA: Altoona (54-71) @ Erie (60-64) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Thomas Harlan (3.46 ERA, 20:10 K/BB, 39 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (68-54, 33-20 2nd half) vs St Lucie (67-53) 6:30 PM
Probable starter: Chad Kuhl (3.43 ERA, 84:35 K/BB 131.1 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (46-76, 26-28 2nd half) @ Lexington (49-75) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Dovydas Neverauskas (5.79 ERA, 69:49 K/BB, 105.2 IP)
Short-Season A: Jamestown (27-31) vs Batavia (28-32) 7:05 PM
Probable Starter: Tyler Eppler (3.02 ERA, 35:10 K/BB, 50.2 IP)
RK: Bristol (15-37) @ Kingsport (28-26) 7:00 PM
Probable Starter: TBD
GCL: Pirates (17-31) vs Astros (23-24) 12:00 PM
Probable Starter: Gerardo Navarro (5.77 ERA, 13:11 K/BB, 39 IP)
DSL: Pirates (31-33) vs Astros Orange (27-37) 10:30 AM
Highlights
A couple highlights from the past few days in the minors. The first one is a strikeout from Nick Kingham’s outing on Tuesday night in which he allowed one run over seven innings. It was a nice bounce back performance for him, after he gave up 19 runs in his previous 23.1 innings. The strikeout was his sixth of the game and 106th of the season.
The second highlight is a walk-off win by Altoona on Tuesday night, courtesy of a suicide squeeze by Gift Ngoepe.
Recent Transactions
8/14: Clint Barmes assigned to Altoona on rehab.
8/14: A.J. Morris assigned to Altoona.
8/14: John Axford claimed off waivers from Cleveland Indians.
8/14: Matt Hague designated for assignment.
8/14: Pirates sign pitcher Matt Nevarez. Assign him to Altoona.
8/13: Ernesto Frieri outrighted to Indianapolis.
8/13: Ramon Cabrera claimed off waivers from the Detroit Tigers. Assigned to Altoona.
8/13: Wirfin Obispo designated for assignment.
8/12: Brandon Cumpton recalled from Indianapolis. Casey Sadler optioned to Indianapolis.
8/12: Adrian Sampson promoted to Indianapolis.
8/11: Casey Sadler recalled from Indianapolis. Andrew McCutchen placed on the DL.
8/10: Pirates claim Tommy Field off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels and option him to Triple-A.
8/10: Cody Rhodes assigned to Bristol.
8/10: Justin Topa activated from disabled list. Francisco Diaz placed on DL.
8/9: A.J. Morris assigned to Bradenton.
8/8: Pedro Alvarez activated from the bereavement list. Ernesto Frieri designated for assignment.
This Date in Pirates History
George “Doggie” Miller was one of the first faces of the Pirates franchise. Born on August 15, 1864, he is the only player in the first 25 seasons of the franchise, to spend at least ten seasons with the team. He did it at the hardest position in the field too, spending ten years behind the plate in an era where catchers rarely played 100 games and usually had fairly short careers, or they spent time at other positions just to heal up enough to catch again. Miller deserves some extra respect among Pirates fans, because he was one of the few players that stuck with the team in 1890 when the Player’s League formed. That 1890 team, known as the Alleghenys back then, went 23-113 that season and started playing more of their games on the road because they weren’t drawing at all at home. Miller lasted with the team until 1893, finishing just shy of 1000 hits. He stole 209 bases for Pittsburgh. A full bio can be found here.
Also on this date, the Pirates have made two transactions involving HOF players, Max Carey and Jim Bunning. There are six other birthdays besides Doggie Miller and a game recap from the 1951 season. All can be found here.
