The Pittsburgh Pirates have promoted hard-throwing left-handed pitcher Jake Brentz to the Altoona Curve. Brentz has been pitching for the Bradenton Marauders, representing the team in the Florida State League All-Star game over the weekend.
Acquired late last year in the Arquimedes Caminero deal, the 22-year-old Brentz has a fastball that touches 100 MPH, and that has helped him strikeout 33 batters over 26 innings this season. He has a 3.81 ERA, a .230 BAA, a 1.23 WHIP and a 1.14 GO/AO ratio.
In other news, DSL pitcher Samuel Reyes has been promoted to the GCL Pirates, who start their schedule on Monday. Reyes is the younger brother of Pablo Reyes, who is now teammates with Jake Brentz in Altoona. The younger Reyes has a fastball that sits mid-90s and mixes it with four other pitches. He made five appearances in the DSL this season, allowing five runs over 9.2 innings, with ten strikeouts. He was signed this past off-season for a $45,000 bonus.
Abigail Miskowiec reported last night that West Virginia reliever Geoff Hartlieb will be promoted to Bradenton, joining starter Cam Vieaux, who was promoted early yesterday. Expect West Virginia to announce some roster moves to fill in the two empty roster spots. Vieaux is starting tonight for Bradenton, taking the spot of Dario Agrazal. Hartlieb will replace Brentz. If they make the moves today, we will update this article.
+ postsJohn started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
Brentz is an interesting choice. Seems like he still has some things to work on at High-A. Both McGarry and Zamora more deserving at this juncture, but Brentz does have a higher upside then those two.
In the bigger picture, neither McGarry or Zamora are really potential MLBers, at least at this point. Brentz has the stuff to make it and potentially do well in the big leagues if he can control his stuff more consistently so it makes sense to push him up against better competition.
I disagree with the McGarry assessment. He has really improved this season and that ability to hit 97 MPH is back. Right now, McGarry is a more rounded pitcher and isn’t far off the velocity of Brentz. You’re probably talking about 2-3 MPH difference.
I could see Brentz getting the promotion first because he’s the one who is Rule 5 eligible and you want to see what he can do at the upper levels. He still has a 5.00 ERA since the end of April.
Zamora has some possibilities as a LOOGY because his slider is extremely tough on lefties. I’ve seen him throw that 2-3 times and then freeze a batter on an inside fastball, which is 88-90, but looks like more after three mid-70s sliders. Solid command of his pitches too.
Actually Brentz is designed as a closer. He is very deseeving of the promotion