Some notes about Tyler Glasnow, the World Baseball Classic and the remaining minor league schedule and possible playoffs.
**Tyler Glasnow was scheduled to start today for Indianapolis, and while the team website still says Trevor Williams as I write this, I expect Glasnow to get the start. The pitcher on rehab always stays on schedule, unless he’s the one who gets rained out. Yesterday it was Williams getting rained out. I’d imagine we will see Glasnow tonight, Williams tomorrow and Frank Duncan pushed back to Monday. I’ll try to update below if anything changes. If Glasnow pitches, I’ll have a full recap in the Prospect Watch.
** The World Baseball Classic announced the rosters for the qualifier to be held in Brooklyn at the end of next month. Two players from the Pirates will participate. Jared Lakind will pitch for Team Israel, and Kyle Simmons will play for Team Great Britain. Most of you now Lakind I’m sure, he’s been around since 2009 and he’s having a nice season in the Altoona bullpen. He becomes a minor league free agent at the end of this season unless the Pirates re-sign him first. He doesn’t have huge upside, but he’s a lefty who throws low-90s with deception in his delivery, which has led to 59 strikeouts in 59.1 innings and a .226 BAA this season. He will still technically be a member of the Pirates at the time, even if the minor league season ends before the WBC qualifiers, but it could be a good stage for him if he has some success.
Simmons was signed out of the Bahamas last year and has been in the DSL the last two season, seeing limited action shortly after he signed in July. He has seen about half of the playing time this season at second base and while he only hit .160 with one extra-base hit in 94 at-bats, he did manage to draw 30 walks. He’s a good defender with decent speed and the ability to play shortstop. While he is far from a prospect at this point, the WBC will give you a chance to see someone on the DSL Pirates long before most people would see him play. I’m sure we will have some type of update about the tournament which takes place September 22-25, probably beforehand to remind you about it and then afterwards to give you an update on how they did.
** It was not a good day for the affiliates of the Pirates yesterday. They went 0-7 on the day and at one time they held the lead in five of those games. It was really bad for the West Virginia Power, who lost a must-win game against first place Lakewood. Morgantown also didn’t help their cause, dropping a game to a team they are chasing in the wild card. Both have the slimmest of playoff hopes with ten days left in the season. Altoona has a 1.5 game lead for the division title, but they are only 2.5 games up on the third place team, so they are far from guaranteed a playoff spot. There are only 61 games left on the schedule between all eight affiliates, not including playoffs.
PLAYOFF PUSH
The Pirates trail the second wild card spot by 2.5 games.
Indianapolis has been eliminated from the playoffs. Their season ends September 5th.
Altoona leads their division by 1.5 games. The top two teams in the division go to the playoffs, with the first place team getting the home field advantage in the first round.
Bradenton won the first half title. They have home field advantage in the playoffs.
West Virginia is tied for third place in their division, trailing first by seven games.
Morgantown has been eliminated from the division race. They are 7.5 games back for the lone wild card spot.
Bristol has been eliminated from the playoffs. Their season ends September 1st.
The GCL Pirates have been eliminated from the playoffs. Their season ends September 1st.
The DSL Pirates have been eliminated from the playoffs. Their season ends today.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates won 5-3 on Friday night against the Brewers. Jameson Taillon gets the start tonight. He has faced the Brewers twice already, both times in July. In the first game in Pittsburgh, he gave up one run over six innings. In the second game in Milwaukee, he allowed two runs over six frames. Taillon has gone at least six innings in each of his last eight starts. The Brewers will counter with Jimmy Nelson, who has a 4.26 ERA in 148 innings, with 116 strikeouts and a 1.48 WHIP. He faced the Pirates once this season, giving up three runs over six innings back in mid-April. In his last start, Nelson allowed two runs over six innings at home against the Rockies.
In the minors, Yeudy Garcia gets the start for Bradenton. He ranks eighth in the Florida State League with a 2.74 ERA and second with 120 strikeouts, seven behind the leader. Garcia’s ERA was 2.51 before the All-Star break and it has been 2.95 since. Despite the slight increase, his WHIP was 1.60 in the first half, and it’s 1.16 in the second half.
Austin Shields is scheduled for the GCL Pirates today. He has made three relief appearances, throwing a total of 4.1 innings. Adam Oller gets the start for Bristol. The DSL season ends today.
MLB: Pittsburgh (65-61) @ Brewers (56-72) 7:10 PM
Probable starter: Jameson Taillon (2.92 ERA, 10:60 BB/SO, 74.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (64-69) @ Toledo (63-71) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Tyler Glasnow (1.94 ERA, 55:122 BB/SO, 102.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (71-60) vs Erie (57-75) 6:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Alex McRae (5.38 ERA, 22:58 BB/SO, 75.1 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (67-62) vs Charlotte (63-65) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Yeudy Garcia (2.74 ERA, 52:120 BB/SO, 118.1 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (66-64) vs Lakewood (67-63) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Bret Helton (3.97 ERA, 47:89 BB/SO, 127.0 IP)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (31-35) @ Mahoning Valley (33-32) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable Starter: James Marvel (4.92 ERA, 18:37 BB/SO, 53.0 IP)
Rookie: Bristol (24-38) vs Princeton (33-27) 7:00 PM (season preview)
GCL: Pirates (20-33) vs Braves (27-27) 10:00 AM (season preview)
DSL: Pirates (27-42) vs Rangers1 (51-19) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is a ground rule double from Kevin Newman. He has not hit well in August, batting .242/.304/.306 in 16 games.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
8/25: Nick Kingham assigned to Altoona. Chase Simpson activated from disabled list.
8/22: Kyle Lobstein activated from the disabled list.
8/21: Evan Piechota promoted to Morgantown.
8/21: Yeudy Garcia activated from disabled list. Henry Hirsch placed on temporary inactive list.
8/20: Jung Ho Kang placed on disabled list. Josh Bell recalled from Indianapolis.
8/20: Stephen Alemais promoted to West Virginia. Alfredo Reyes placed on disabled list.
8/20: Ke’Bryan Hayes assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.
8/20: Pirates release Edgardo Leon
8/18: Pirates release Josh Outman.
8/18: Juan Diaz assigned to Bristol.
8/18: Jeremias Portorreal and Gabriel Brito promoted to GCL Pirates.
8/17: Josh Smith assigned to Indianapolis.
8/15: Yeudy Garcia and Chase Simpson placed on disabled list.
8/15: Hector Garcia assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab.
8/15: Nick Kingham and Justin Topa assigned to Bradenton.
8/14: Tyler Glasnow assigned to Altoona on rehab.
8/14: Jason Creasy assigned to Altoona.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Five former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, plus current Pirate shortstop Jordy Mercer turns 30 today. Starting with the most recent former players first:
Mike Maddux, 1995 Pirates. He gets lost in the shadow of his HOF brother, but he actually played 15 seasons in the majors, throwing a total of 472 games. His Pirates career was short with eight relief appearances and a 9.00 ERA. He was signed in April and released in May.
Mike Edwards, 1977 second baseman. He went 0-for-6 in seven games as a September call-up, then he got traded prior to the 1978 season. He has a twin brother named Marshall that played in the majors for three seasons. The strange part about them is that his brother batted and threw lefty, while Mike hit and threw right-handed. The Pirates also had a player named Mike Edwards during the 2006 season.
Charlie Engle, 1930 infielder. The Pirates selected him in the Rule 5 draft. He hit .264 in 67 games. Only other Major League experience was 20 games for the 1925-26 Athletics.
Eddie Mulligan, 1928 infielder. Had a 25-year pro career. His .233 in 27 games, seeing very little time despite spending the entire year with the Pirates
Dave Wright, pitcher on July 22, 1895. His first two appearances in a Pirates’ uniform were actually mid-season exhibition games that he started. He only non-exhibition game appearance with the Pirates came as a reliever, throwing the last two innings of a game on July 22nd. He gave up six runs in his first inning, then threw a scoreless ninth. His only other Major League game came in 1897 and he defeated the Pirates, throwing a 15-14 complete game.
