Even with Jameson Taillon’s Major League debut taking center stage today, it’s still the big time for draft coverage. This morning, we have three draft links, with two relevant to this draft and one just for fun. Later on today, we will have our tiered draft rankings, which is always one of the most popular articles of the year. If you missed it from Tuesday afternoon, Baseball America published their fifth mock draft and had the Pirates taking Wake Forest 3B/1B Will Craig. Details can be found here. Here are the new links for this morning:
Jonathan Mayo and Jim Callis have some draft buzz as the deadline approaches. The most important thing to remember when reading our tied rankings later today is that some of these numbers being thrown around for high school kids in this article could scare off teams picking early. The Pirates don’t have a large draft pool to work with, but if they really like one of these kids and they fall to them, there are ways to make cap room to ensure they can sign them.
Baseball America has some numbers that really stand out in this draft class. Connor Jones, Matt Thaiss and Zack Collins are all players who might be available when the Pirates make that 22nd overall pick. BA has some interesting stats on them, good for Thaiss, but negative for Jones and Collins.
The last link is just for fun, but the results pertain to the Pirates. Jim Callis redrafts the 2011 class knowing what we know now. You will find three current Pirates are all taken in the first round, which is a good sign for the Pirates, and their ability to draft. The 2011 draft was when the Pirates went all in on spending, sensing ahead of time there would be a change to the system. Only the Red Sox ended up with more players in this redraft.
PLAYOFF PUSH
Bradenton is 8-2 in their last ten games. They are in first place in their division, four games ahead. The first half of the FSL season ends on June 22nd. Their magic number is nine.
West Virginia is 5-5 in their last ten games. They are in fifth place in their division, trailing first place by 7.5 games. The first half of the SAL season ends on June 19th. Their elimination number is down to five.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Game One
Source: FanGraphs
Game Two
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates won 3-1 over the Mets. The Pirates won 3-1 over the Mets. Yes it happened twice yesterday. Today’s starter is Jameson Taillon, making his long-anticipated Major League debut. He had a 2.04 ERA in Triple-A this season, leading the International League in WHIP and ranking seventh in strikeouts. The Mets will counter with Noah Syndergaard, who has a 1.91 ERA in 70.2 innings, with a 10:90 BB/SO ratio and an 0.96 WHIP.
In the minors, Justin Masterson will make his first start for Indianapolis, taking the place of Taillon in the rotation for now. He gave up two runs over five innings in a start for Bradenton, then in a relief appearance for Indianapolis, Masterson allowed one hit and two walks in 1.1 shutout innings.
Brandon Waddell started his Double-A career with two quality starts. Then in his last four games combined, he has allowed 14 runs over 17.1 innings, failing to go at least six innings in all four games.
For Bradenton, Stephen Tarpley will make his sixth start, as he looks to get on track after missing the start of the season with a Spring Training oblique injury. In three of his starts, he failed to make it to the fifth inning due to a high pitch count. We added the DSL season preview below to the schedule. It will be there all season for easy access.
MLB: Pittsburgh (32-26) vs Mets (31-26) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Jameson Taillon (MLB Debut)
AAA: Indianapolis (30-27) @ Columbus (33-25) 12:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Justin Masterson (0.00 ERA, 2:0 BB/SO, 1.1 IP)
AA: Altoona (32-25) @ Erie (23-36) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Brandon Waddell (4.99 ERA, 10:22 BB/SO, 30.2 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (32-24) vs Tampa (36-20) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Stephen Tarpley (5.87 ERA, 10:22 BB/SO, 23.0 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (29-28) vs Delmarva (32-24) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Logan Sendelbach (3.72 ERA, 13:39 BB/SO, 58.0 IP)
DSL: Pirates (0-2) vs Yankees1 (2-0) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here are a couple extra-base hits from young middle infielders in Indianapolis. The first is from Alen Hanson, his fourth homer of the season.
Next up is Max Moroff with a two-run double.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
6/6: Clay Holmes assigned to Extended Spring Training. David Whitehead added to Altoona roster.
6/4: Pirates released Nate Irving, Edgar Figueroa, Eric Thomas and Eliezer Ramirez.
6/4: Pirates option Rob Scahill and Wilfredo Boscan to Indianapolis. Recall Curtis Partch and Cory Luebke.
6/4: Ryan Vogelsong transferred from 15-day disabled list to 60-day DL.
6/4: Guido Knudson added to Indianapolis roster.
6/2: Gage Hinsz assigned to West Virginia. Mitch Keller assigned to Extended Spring Training.
6/2: Justin Masterson assigned to Indianapolis. Frank Duncan assigned to Altoona.
6/2: Arquimedes Caminero assigned to Indianapolis on rehab.
6/2: David Whitehead assigned to GCL Pirates.
6/1: Pirates release Michael Fransoso.
5/29: Justin Masterson assigned to Bradenton.
5/29: Jhondaniel Medina assigned to Altoona.
5/28: Tony Watson reinstated from paternity list. Kyle Lobstein optioned to Indianapolis.
5/28: Cole Tucker promoted to Bradenton. Jess Amedee added to West Virginia roster.
5/27: Trevor Williams and Jim Fuller assigned to Indianapolis.
5/27: Kevin Newman placed on disabled list. Colten Brewer added to Bradenton roster.
5/27: Logan Sendelbach added to West Virginia roster. Jess Amedee assigned to Extended Spring Training.
5/26: Jhondaniel Medina promoted to Indianapolis.
5/25: Pirates place Tony Watson on paternity list. Recall Rob Scahill.
5/25: Pirates place Arquimedes Caminero on disabled list. Recall Kyle Lobstein.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Three former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus a trade of note and a game from 1989 that went bad for the Pirates and one of their announcers. First the players, and there is one that spent ten seasons in Pittsburgh. Pitcher George Brunet (1970 Pirates) and pitcher Scott Ruskin (1990), share a birthday with pitcher Don Robinson, who played for the Pirates from 1978 until 1987. Robinson wasn’t just a good pitcher, he was also one of the better hitting pitchers. He won three Silver Slugger awards during his career. Robinson won 65 games for the Pirates, and in 1979 when the Pirates won the World Series, the team went 18-7 in his starts. He was traded to the Giants in 1987 for Mackey Sasser and cash.
On this date in 1928, the Pirates traded catcher Johnny Gooch and first baseman Joe Harris to Brooklyn for catcher Charlie Hargreaves. Gooch played eight years in Pittsburgh and was the catcher for two World Series teams in 1925 and 1927. Harris was a .317 career hitter at the time and hitting .391 in limited action in 1928, but the Pirates must have seen the writing on the wall, as he hit .236 the rest of the season and never played in the big leagues again. The Pirates ended up getting the better part of the deal, but not by much. Hargreaves was a starter in 1928 and 1929, but became a seldom-used bench player in 1930, his last season in the Majors.
On this date in 1989, the Pirates took a ten run lead in the top of the first inning and announcer Jim Rooker promised to walk home from Philadelphia if the Pirates blew the lead. He may have wanted to wait a little bit because the Phillies had their offense going and they were only down by four before the fourth inning ended. They went on to defeat the Pirates by a 15-11 score and Rooker did the walk from Philly to Pittsburgh for charity in the off-season, which was the only good thing that came from the game for the Pirates. The boxscore can be found here.
