The month of June has come to an end, so it’s time to take a look at the team leaders around the farm system for the Pittsburgh Pirates. I’m going to include Morgantown and the DSL, but it’s a little too early to include the GCL or Bristol, so they can wait until the end of next month.
INDIANAPOLIS
Starting at the top with Indianapolis, Josh Bell leads the team with 45 runs, 96 hits, 19 doubles, 12 homers, 51 RBIs, a .410 OBP and a .541 slugging
Alen Hanson leads with five triples and 18 stolen bases
Max Moroff leads with 48 walks
Adam Frazier leads with a .333 average, which actually leads the entire league
For pitchers, Tyler Glasnow leads with seven wins, a 1.70 ERA, 105 strikeouts and 90 innings pitched
Jameson Taillon leads with an 0.81 WHIP
Jorge Rondon has six saves
ALTOONA
Austin Meadows leads with eight triples, nine stolen bases, a .365 OBP and a .611 slugging
Harold Ramirez leads with 43 runs and 83 hits
Jose Osuna leads with 18 doubles and 38 RBIs
Eric Wood has nine homers
Erich Weiss has 27 walks
Edwin Espinal has a .317 average
For pitchers, Tyler Eppler leads with 94.2 innings pitched and 61 strikeouts.
Jared Lakind leads with a 1.83 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP
Montana DuRapau has 13 saves
Eppler, Clay Holmes and Cody Dickson have six wins
BRADENTON
Kevin Newman leads with a .366 average, .428 OBP and .494 slugging
Kevin Kramer leads with 70 hits and 30 RBIs
Chase Simpson leads with four triples and he’s tied with Taylor Gushue with six homers
Connor Joe has 15 doubles
The recently released Jeff Roy has nine steals
Elvis Escobar and Jordan Luplow have 31 runs scored
Michael Suchy has 32 walks
For pitchers, Yeudy Garcia leads with a 2.17 ERA and 81 strikeouts
Austin Coley has nine wins and 76.2 innings pitched
Stephen Tarpley has a 1.16 WHIP
Luis Heredia has nine saves
WEST VIRGINIA
Tito Polo leads with 46 runs, 68 hits, 12 homers, three triples, 20 stolen bases, a .551 slugging and .302 average
Danny Arribas has 41 walks and a .395 OBP
Ryan Nagle has 15 doubles
Carlos Munoz has 38 RBIs
For pitchers, Mitch Keller has a 2.71 ERA, 79 strikeouts, 0.86 WHIP
Logan Sendelbach has 81 innings pitched
Julio Eusebio has six saves
Keller, Sendelbach and Dario Agrazal have five wins
MORGANTOWN
Sandy Santos leads with 11 runs, 16 hits, four doubles (tied with Albert Baur), a .435 OBP, .585 slugging and .390 average
Jordan George leads with three triples and nine walks
Hunter Owen and Kevin Krause have the only homers, one each
Erik Forgione and Ty Moore have three steals
Albert Baur has nine RBIs
For pitchers, Neil Kozikowski has a 2.16 ERA and an 0.36 WHIP
James Marvel leads with 15.2 innings pitched
Julio Vivas has 13 strikeouts
Yunior Montero has two wins and Brandon Bingel has two saves
DSL
Rodolfo Castro leads with 11 runs, 21 hits, six doubles, two triples (tied with Cristopher Perez), one homer (tied with Rudy Guzman) and 13 RBIs
Cristopher Perez leads with a .462 OBP, .543 slugging and .391 average
Sherten Apostel has 14 walks
Francisco Mepris and Rudy Guzman have four steals
For pitchers, Leandro Pina has a 0.00 ERA and 0.85 WHIP
Roger Santana leads with 22.2 innings pitched and 23 strikeouts
Ramon Garcia has four saves
Wilmer Contreras and Oliver Garcia have two wins
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
The Pirates were off on Thursday.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates were off yesterday, as they traveled to Oakland for three games against the A’s. Jeff Locke will be on the mound for Pittsburgh, while Oakland will go with Sonny Gray. In Locke’s last two starts combined, he has allowed one run over 13.2 innings, with ten hits and one walk. He has recorded three strikeouts in each of his last three games. Gray has a 5.03 ERA in 78.2 innings, with 63 strikeouts and a 1.46 WHIP. He has pitched well in his last two games, giving up one run over six innings against the Brewers, then two runs over six innings against the Angels.
In the minors, Indianapolis has a doubleheader today with Wilfredo Boscan going in game one and no starter announced yet for the second game. Two top 30 prospects are on the mound tonight with Stephen Tarpley going for Bradenton and Gage Hinsz on the mound for West Virginia. Tarpley looks to continue a recent run in which he has allowed just two runs in 22 innings over four starts. He has a .226 BAA and a 1.16 WHIP in nine starts this season. Hinsz allowed three runs over five innings in his last start. After striking out a career-high nine batters on June 14th, he has just four strikeouts in ten innings since.
Miguel Hernandez goes for the GCL Pirates, while fifth round draft pick Blake Cederlind is likely starting for Bristol, although it says TBD. Morgantown is also TBD, who sounds like he will be busy today. (UPDATE: TBD has been scratched in favor of Justin Masterson in game two for Indianapolis and Luis Escobar for Morgantown)
MLB: Pittsburgh (38-41) @ A’s (35-44) 10:10 PM
Probable starter: Jeff Locke (5.12 ERA, 28:46 BB/SO, 89.2 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (43-37) @ Toledo (33-46) 5:35 PM DH (season preview)
Probable starter: Wilfredo Boscan (3.46 ERA, 5:35 BB/SO, 54.2 IP) and Justin Masterson
AA: Altoona (44-34) vs Bowie (34-45) 7:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Alex McRae (8.55 ERA, 8:13 BB/SO, 20.0 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (41-34) vs Charlotte (36-40) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Stephen Tarpley (3.40 ERA, 15:42 BB/SO, 45.0 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (40-37) vs Columbia (38-40) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Gage Hinsz (4.44 ERA, 7:21 BB/SO, 26.1 IP)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (7-7) vs Auburn (9-5) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable Starter: Luis Escobar
Rookie: Bristol (5-3) vs Burlington (5-3) 7:00 PM (season preview)
GCL: Pirates (2-3) vs Blue Jays (3-3) 12:00 PM (season preview)
DSL: Pirates (7-16) vs Yankees1 (11-11) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is the third hit from Josh Bell on Wednesday. He also had a walk in this game, reaching base in all four plate appearances.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
7/1: Julio Vivas promoted to West Virginia.
7/1: Rinku Singh assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab
6/30: Jorge Rondon sent outright to Indianapolis.
6/30: Erik Lunde assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.
6/30: Raul Hernandez assigned to Bradenton.
6/30: Jose Regalado placed on disabled list. Tanner Anderson promoted to Bradenton.
6/30: Tomas Morales assigned to Indianapolis. Ed Easley released.
6/30: Jose Osuna promoted to Indianapolis. Jhondaniel Medina assigned to Altoona.
6/29: Pirates sign Nick King and Daniel Cucjen.
6/28: Trevor Williams activated from temporary inactive list.
6/28: Carl Anderson assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.
6/28: Pirates sign Max Kranick. Assigned to GCL Pirates.
6/27: Pirates sign Buddy Borden. Assigned to Bradenton.
6/27: Jeff Roy assigned to Bristol.
6/27: Erik Lunde placed on the disabled list.
6/26: Pirates purchase the contract of Chad Kuhl. Kyle Lobstein optioned to Indianapolis.
6/26: Pirates designate Curtis Partch for assignment.
6/26: Pirates unconditionally release Cory Luebke.
6/26: Trevor Williams placed on bereavement list.
6/26: Tomas Morales sent to Bradenton.
6/25: Justin Maffei assigned to Altoona.
6/25: Luis Paula and David Whitehead assigned to Bristol on rehab.
6/24: Pirates purchase the contract of Adam Frazier. Designate Cole Figueroa for assignment.
6/24: Juan Nicasio activated from restricted list. Designate Jorge Rondon for assignment.
6/24: Jacob Stallings optioned to Indianapolis.
6/23: JT Brubaker added to Bradenton roster. Colten Brewer placed on temporary inactive list.
6/23: Tito Polo assigned to Bradenton.
6/22: Pirates recall Kyle Lobstein. Wilfredo Boscan optioned to Indianapolis.
6/22: Jhondaniel Medina assigned to Indianapolis.
6/21: Pirates recall Wilfredo Boscan. Curtis Partch optioned to Indianapolis.
6/21: Pirates sign Braeden Ogle.
6/20: Trace Tam Sing and Erik Lunde added to Bradenton roster. Pablo Reyes placed on temporary inactive list.
6/19: Steven Brault sent to Morgantown on a rehab assignment.
6/19: Pirates purchase the contract of Jacob Stallings. Jason Rogers optioned to Indianapolis.
6/19: Tomas Morales promoted to Indianapolis.
6/18: Pirates option Rob Scahill to Indianapolis. Recall Jason Rogers, Jorge Rondon and Curtis Partch.
6/18: Cory Luebke designated for assignment.
6/18: Juan Nicasio placed on restricted list.
6/17: Pirates released Garrett Russini and Guido Knudson.
6/17: Pirates sign Matt Frawley, Stephen Owen and Arden Pabst.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Three former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus a trade of note. Starting with the players, we have pitcher Al Tate (1946), pitcher Frank Barrett (1950) and outfielder Fritz Scheeren (1914-15). Barrett has an interesting note to his career stats. They have been officially wrong for at least the last 40 years. Sometime between his last game and the printing of the 1976 baseball encyclopedia, his stats got changed to what they read now. He actually pitched a little less with the Pirates and gave up a run less. In this article from 2012, I broke down where the changes were made, which gave him a 4.15 ERA, when in fact he had a 2.45 ERA during his brief stay in Pittsburgh.
On this date in 1921, the Pirates traded pitcher Elmer Ponder to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for outfielder Dave Robertson. The Pirates were hardly using Ponder and Robertson was struggling with Chicago, so both players got a chance for more playing time with their new team. Robertson put on a show at the plate with Pittsburgh, hitting .322 the rest of the way and he drove in 48 runs in 60 games. Ponder got hit around in Chicago, so short-term, it looked like a great deal. Robertson, who won two home run crowns earlier in his career, decided to hold out in Spring Training the next year and the move backfired. The Pirates released him and he later signed with the Giants, but had a tough season, and one that would be his last in the majors.
