It wasn’t a good day for the playoffs on Saturday, with Bradenton losing 5-4 to even up their series, while Altoona had their game rained out. Everything I wrote for Brandon Waddell in yesterday’s Morning Report still stands today, so you can check that link out if you want to read up on him and his match-up with Akron. Altoona needs to win today or their season is over. From the prospect standpoint, the big game will be in Bradenton tonight.
Mitch Keller pitched the first game of the playoffs back on Tuesday and he went 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out eight batters. It was his second start for Bradenton and besides the strikeouts, it was nothing like the first game when he threw six shutout innings. That playoff start was the first time all season he issued three walks in one game.
Of course, Keller was the one who set the expectations high with his terrific regular season, so it’s easy to forget that he’s still 20 years old and pitching a level higher in the playoffs. Mentally he may have tried to treat it like any other game, but it was obviously bigger than any other game he pitched this season. You might say that he could be wearing down this late in the season, especially with all of the innings he has put in this year, but he also hit 99 MPH. So I think we could see him settle down tonight with that first playoff start out of the way and at least display better command, which should lead to better results.
An interesting note with Keller and Waddell pitching today, two top 20 prospects. Exactly one year ago, the playoff starters for the Pirates were Tyler Glasnow, Steven Brault and Stephen Tarpley. All three of them pitched poorly on that night, though Brault and Tarpley put up bad numbers, while Glasnow had command issues and gave up seven hits, three walks and a hit batter, but only allowed two runs in five innings. He threw 102 pitches in his outing and was in trouble every inning. So you would hope for better results from the pitching prospects tonight.
Waddell was scheduled to start last September 12th for Morgantown, but rain pushed him back a day (sound familiar?) and he ended up throwing six shutout innings on September 13th. Keller was about to attend the Fall Instructional League at this time last year. Quite a difference for both of them, each three levels higher than where they finished last year. As usual, we will have live coverage of both games, as well as the Pirates game.
** No one told Bradenton that they aren’t supposed to hit homers in the playoffs. In their first three years in the playoffs, they didn’t hit a single homer. That was back in 2010, 2011 and 2014. This year they have homered seven times in four games, including at least one in each game. Jordan Luplow and Connor Joe each have hit two homers. Michael Suchy, Taylor Gushue and Kevin Kramer hit the others. During the regular season, they hit just 69 homers, though in the Florida State League, that had them as the fifth best team in that category.
**Here are the playoff schedules for Altoona and Bradenton, which will remain up in the Morning Report until both teams either win, or have been eliminated. Note that the FSL finals says “@ Tampa” for the final three games, but they will be played in Bradenton, with the Yankees batting in the bottom of the inning.
Bradenton
9/6: Marauders 11, St Lucie 6
9/7: Marauders 4, St Lucie 1
Marauders win series 2-0
FSL Finals
9/9: Marauders 8, Tampa 1
9/10: Tampa 5, Marauders 4
9/11: Marauders @ Tampa 5:00 PM
9/12: Marauders @ Tampa 6:30 PM (if necessary)
9/13: Marauders @ Tampa 6:30 PM (if necessary)
Altoona
9/7: Akron 12, Altoona 8
9/8: Altoona 3, Akron 1
9/9: Akron 9, Altoona 4
9/11: Altoona @ Akron 6:05 PM
9/12: Altoona @ Akron 7:05 PM (if necessary)
PLAYOFF PUSH
The Pirates trail the second wild card spot by a 5.5 games.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates lost 8-7 to the Reds on Saturday night. Ryan Vogelsong gets the start today, his tenth of the season. He has also pitched ten times in relief. Vogelsong has faced the Reds three times this season, all as a reliever. Twice he allowed one earned run over two innings, while throwing 1.1 shutout innings the other time. He has allowed five earned runs in each of his last two starts, once against the Cubs and once versus the Cardinals. The Reds will counter with Brandon Finnegan, who has a 4.17 ERA in 159.2 innings, with 133 strikeouts and a 1.32 WHIP. He has allowed two earned runs in each of his last three starts, throwing a total of 18 innings while striking out 27 batters. Finnegan has not faced the Pirates this season.
MLB: Pittsburgh (69-71) vs Reds (59-82) 1:35 PM
Probable starter: Ryan Vogelsong (4.07 ERA, 25:44 BB/SO, 59.2 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (70-74) (season preview)
AA: Altoona (1-2) @ Akron (2-1) 6:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Brandon Waddell (4.12 ERA, 61:94 BB/SO, 118.0 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (1-1) @ Tampa (1-1) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Mitch Keller (0.00 ERA, 1:7 BB/SO, 6.0 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (71-68) (season preview)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (38-38) (season preview)
Rookie: Bristol (25-43) (season preview)
GCL: Pirates (22-34) (season preview)
DSL: Pirates (27-42) (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here are two highlights from earlier this season for Mitch Keller. In both of them, you get the entire at-bat from his tenth strikeout of the game (different games)
Both videos are from April, when his fastball was about three MPH slower than it is now.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
9/9: Curtis Partch and Kelvin Marte sent outright to Indianapolis.
9/7: Josh Smith assigned to Altoona.
9/6: Pirates recall Tyler Glasnow, Drew Hutchison, Trevor Williams and Pedro Florimon. Kelvin Marte and Curtis Partch designated for assignment.
9/6: Henry Hirsch assigned from Altoona to Bradenton.
9/5: Jung Ho Kang activated from disabled list.
9/3: Jacob Taylor assigned to Morgantown.
9/2: Pirates recall Jameson Taillon, Steven Brault, Jason Rogers and Adam Frazier. Chris Stewart activated from disabled list.
9/1: Jung Ho Kang sent to Indianapolis on rehab.
9/1: Pirates receive Jake Brentz and Pedro Vasquez from Mariners to complete earlier trade for Arquimedes Caminero.
8/31: Pirates trade Kyle Lobstein to Baltimore Orioles for Zach Phillips.
8/31: Logan Ratledge promoted to Bradenton. Alfredo Reyes activated from West Virginia disabled list.
8/31: Pirates release Raymond Rodriguez, Ramy Perez and Ramon Garcia.
8/31: David Whitehead assigned to Morgantown.
8/30: Tito Polo and Stephen Tarpley sent to New York Yankees as part of Ivan Nova trade from August 1st.
8/30: Jason Creasy and Jhondaniel Medina promoted to Indianapolis.
8/30: Justin Maffei and Trace Tam Sing assigned to Indianapolis.
8/30: Henry Hirsch and Junior Lopez promoted to Altoona
8/30: Nick Neumann activated from Bradenton disabled list.
8/30: Alen Hanson promoted to Pirates. Jameson Taillon and Steven Brault assigned to Bristol.
8/30: Pirates purchased contract of Kelvin Marte. Kyle Lobstein designated for assignment.
8/30: Mitch Keller and Sean Keselica promoted to Bradenton. Scooter Hightower and Matt Frawley promoted to West Virginia
8/30: Mike Wallace promoted to Morgantown.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Six former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including two that played for World Series winners. We start with Don Slaught, catcher from 1990 until 1995. The Pirates won the NL East the first three years Slaught was in Pittsburgh, serving in a platoon role with Mike LaValliere. Slaught hit .305 in 475 games with the Pirates, including a .345 average in 1992. That year he hit .333 in the playoffs, driving in five runs.
Dave Roberts, 1979-80 pitcher. Came over in the Bill Madlock trade from the Giants. Roberts had a 3.26 ERA in 21 appearances in 1979 for the Pirates. After two appearances in 1980, he was sold to the Mariners. Roberts was also in the minors for the Pirates after they picked him up on waivers in 1964 and then again when he was returned to the team following the 1967 rule 5 draft.
Jackie Hernandez, shortstop from 1971 until 1973. For the 1971 World Series champs, he hit .206 in 88 games, seeing some time at third base, along with 65 starts at shortstop. He went 7-for-31 and drove in two runs during the postseason.
Glenn Spencer, pitcher in 1928, then again from 1930 until 1932. He went 23-29. 4.48 in 42 starts and 80 relief appearances with the Pirates.
Frank Moore, Pirates pitcher on June 14, 1905. Threw three shutout innings in his only Major League appearance. At 6’4″ back in 1905, he got the nickname “Giant”. His only game included one odd occurrence rarely seen in baseball. His catcher was lefty Homer Hillebrand, who caught three times for the Pirates.
Steve Brodie, center fielder for the 1897-98 Pirates. The Pirates thought so highly of Brodie, that they gave up Jake Stenzel to get him. Stenzel would be the franchise’s all-time leader with a .360 batting average, so if you didn’t know by name, that should explain how much they gave up. Brodie hit .283 with 74 RBIs in 142 games for the Pirates. He was released during the 1898 season due to financial reasons. While modern day stats seem to disagree, giving him a career -3.9 WAR for his defense, Brodie was widely considered to be one of the best defensive center fielders of his time.
