Later tonight about half of the Bradenton Marauders will play in the Florida State League All-Star game. They had nine players selected for the team, plus the coaching staff will be there after winning the league title last year. While the team has three days off from regular season games, I wanted to take a quick look at every player at the All-Star break. I’m just going to go over each of them and comment on how they are doing compared to where I thought they would be at this time going into the season. The list is in alphabetical order, broken up into hitters and pitchers. I’ll do the same for West Virginia early next week when they go on their All-Star break.
HITTERS
Daniel Arribas – As you’ll note on offense, almost everyone is where I expected them or better. Arribas is the lone exception because I figured he would get more playing time in his last year before minor league free agency. Hasn’t hit well when he has played either.
John Bormann – Except for the “former Major Leaguer” tag he now has, Bormann is doing as expected. He’s a glove-first catcher behind a prospect, so he’s seeing limited time.
Will Craig – Defense is better than I thought it would be at first base and a recent surge at the plate has him about where I expected offensively at this time. On account of the defense, you could say he’s slightly ahead of what I expected.
Jordan George – He has a solid approach at the plate and he’s slightly old for the league, so his .789 OPS seems about right, maybe a little better than expected.
Ke’Bryan Hayes – Learning that his off-season workouts were cut short due to last year’s back/rib injuries, the expectations were lowered a little and I think he’s right where you should have expected, getting on base, but no power. Showing more speed and solid defense.
Logan Hill – I’d be crazy if I expected anyone to have 15 homers at the All-Star break in the FSL, but if you told me one player would have it, Hill would be my guess. He is country strong. Definitely a pleasant surprise so far.
Casey Hughston – The strikeouts are piling up, but I wouldn’t have expected an .800 OPS at this point.
Christian Kelley – We noted that Kelley looked better at the plate last year despite not really showing up in the stats and that has carried over into this season. He’s doing great on offense and he’s solid defensively behind the plate. Be careful with expectations though, brutal summers in the FSL can do a number on the stat line for catchers by the end of the season.
Kevin Krause – His numbers on offense are coming back to earth after a great start. So right now he’s doing better overall than I expected, though his time has been limited due to a hamstring injury in early May.
Logan Ratledge – I expected him to start the year in the FSL, but he was back in West Virginia. He’s a solid utility player and doing as expected now that he’s with Bradenton.
Alfredo Reyes – A quick start to season put thoughts in my head that he could be breaking out finally. Offense has returned to normal levels and defense is strong/solid wherever you put him, so he’s back to fulfilling expectations.
Trace Tam Sing – I would have expected him to barely play because that’s been his role for three years, but I didn’t expect him to be released.
Cole Tucker – Tucker had a breakout of sorts with the display of power and a ton of stolen bases. Unfortunately, his thumb injury and the time he will miss, has him about even now. Defense has looked solid as well.
PITCHERS
Dario Agrazal – Has continued to increase his velocity while losing none of his plus command. Showing terrific progress, including an increase in strikeouts. That got him a promotion to Altoona yesterday.
Jess Amedee – I expected him to be an average middle reliever and that is what he has been.
Jake Brentz – Started off great, while hitting 100 MPH numerous times. I expected him to have some control issues and they really aren’t there, but the results have been just average recently.
Julio Eusebio – This is one where his performance has nothing to do with the grade. He was used once as a filler to help out a short-handed bullpen, but I figured he would be a regular in the bullpen this season, if not for Bradenton, then at least West Virginia.
Taylor Hearn – We knew control would be an issue at times and also putting in a full season as a starter could lead to him wearing down late, but it’s hard not to be a little disappointed by his results. The strikeouts are there in bunches and the velocity is the best in a rotation full of hard-throwers, just hasn’t been able to dominate enough.
Bret Helton – I didn’t like him as a starter last year. Nothing really stood out about his pitching. As a reliever, we are seeing the velocity that was reported in college (94 MPH) and he’s had some success in spot starts, so I’d say he’s doing slightly better than expected.
Gage Hinsz – Shoulder soreness really halted his progress after two terrific starts. Hasn’t been the same since, so one of the bigger disappointments, even though the velocity and signs of a plus curve are still there.
Mitch Keller – While he has looked good on the mound, he hasn’t been on it enough to say he has lived up to expectations.
Seth McGarry – Has basically dominated while also showing improved velocity. Definitely performing better than expected.
Yunior Montero – You can basically repeat the same thing I said about Jake Brentz. If I did this about a month ago, he would be a player mentioned as exceeding expectations, but recent struggles has him back to normal. Still doing well, just not better than expected.
Logan Sendelbach – Looked like he had potential at times last year, so seeing limited innings this year is a disappointment, although this rotation had no room for him when everyone is healthy. The Agrazal promotion could get him more innings.
Sam Street – He’s filling the role he is perfect for as a bullpen utility guy
Pedro Vasquez – Has been one of the best pitchers in the FSL, so you could say he has exceeded expectations. I even thought he would begin the year with West Virginia due to inexperience and age, and that was after seeing him in Spring Training, so he is well ahead of schedule.
Daniel Zamora – I really liked what I saw from him last year, especially against lefties, who have a very difficult time with his sweeping slider and velocity (with control) that gets into the low-90s. I’d say I’m not surprised, but I’d be lying if I thought he would have an 0.67 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and more strikeouts than innings.
Nick Kingham, Casey Sadler, Brandon Cumpton – The rehab guys aren’t really in the same class as the other players. Kingham overall has been a little disappointing due to his fastball being too hittable recently. Sadler has pitched well and is in Indy, while Cumpton came with zero expectations after being out two full years, so anything is a plus with him.
PLAYOFF PUSH
Bradenton trails in their division by 2.5 games with three games remaining in the first half. They do not play first place Palm Beach again during the first half.
West Virginia has been eliminated from the first half playoffs.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 9-5 to the Chicago Cubs on Friday night. Pittsburgh will send Ivan Nova to the mound tonight to make his 14th start. In his last outing, he allowed just one hit and no walks over six shutout innings. At PNC Park this season, he has a 2.29 ERA in six starts. The Cubs will counter with Jake Arrieta, who has a 4.68 ERA in 73 innings, with 79 strikeouts and a 1.33 WHIP. He faced the Pirates back in April and allowed three runs over 5.2 innings.
In the minors, Steven Brault starts for Indianapolis six days after pitching one inning in relief and 11 days after his last start. In that start, he gave up one run over six innings. In his previous start, he threw seven shutout innings. In both games, he struck out eight batters. Oddy Nunez starts for West Virginia. He has not allowed more than three hits in any of his last four starts. Bradenton is currently off for the Florida State League All-Star game, which takes place tonight. We will have a quick recap of the game in tomorrow’s Morning Report. Altoona needs to finish last night’s game before they play today’s game. That game will resume with the Curve up 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth. The regularly scheduled game will now be seven innings.
MLB: Pittsburgh (30-37) vs Cubs (33-33) 8:15 PM
Probable starter: Ivan Nova (2.83 ERA, 7:48 BB/SO, 89.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (36-30) @ Charlotte (29-36) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Steven Brault (2.11 ERA, 26:66 BB/SO, 68.1 IP)
AA: Altoona (35-29) @ Hartford (29-35) 6:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Tanner Anderson (4.23 ERA, 17:39 BB/SO, 61.2 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (36-28) @ Clearwater (36-31) 7:00 PM 6/19 (season preview)
Probable starter: TBD
Low-A: West Virginia (29-35) @ Kannapolis (38-28) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Oddy Nunez (3.35 ERA, 8:42 BB/SO, 48.1 IP)
DSL: Pirates (6-6) vs Dodgers2 (10-1) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is the seventh strikeout of the night from Luis Escobar on Thursday night. Video includes the entire at-bat.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
6/16: Pirates sign Shane Baz.
6/16: Justin Maffei assigned to Altoona.
6/15: Ronny Agustin assigned to West Virginia.
6/14: Matt Frawley sent to New York Yankees as part of earlier trade.
6/14: Francisco Cervelli activated from disabled list. A.J.Schugel optioned to Indianapolis.
6/13: Adrian Valerio and Victor Fernandez activated from disabled list. Sandy Santos and Andrew Walker assigned to Morgantown
6/13: Barrett Barnes placed on disabled list. Justin Maffei and Eury Perez assigned to Indianapolis.
6/13: Anderson Feliz assigned to Altoona.
6/12: Jameson Taillon activated from disabled list. Phil Gosselin optioned to Indianapolis.
6/11: Kevin Kramer placed on disabled list.
6/10: Chris Diaz traded to Miami Marlins.
6/10: Dovydas Neverauskas and Tyler Glasnow optioned to Indianapolis. A.J. Schugel and Edgar Santana promoted to Pittsburgh.
6/10: Pat Light designated for assignment.
6/10: Jason Stoffel assigned to Indianapolis. Placed on disabled list.
6/8: Brandon Waddell placed on disabled list.
6/8: Brandon Cumpton assigned to Bradenton.
6/8: Pirates recall Dovydas Neverauskas. Johnny Barbato optioned to Indianapolis.
6/7: Francisco Cervelli placed on disabled list. Jacob Stallings added to Pirates.
6/7: Tomas Morales assigned to Indianapolis. Zane Chavez activated from Altoona disabled list.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Four former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including one of the best hitters ever. Before we get into the players, there is one trade of note. Two days after the Pirates traded away Hall of Fame pitcher Pud Galvin in 1892, they traded away the player they got in return for him. Cub Stricker was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Adonis Terry. Stricker never even played for the Pirates, but he was a valuable trade piece, as it brought Terry to replace Galvin in the rotation. The new pitcher won 18 games and put in 240 innings the rest of the season.
The players born on this date include pitcher Bennie Daniels, who was a member of the 1960 World Series champs. He started his time with the Pirates in 1957 and played four seasons with the club. Also we have Joe Bowman, who put in five seasons in Pittsburgh from 1937-41, and Zeb Terry, who played shortstop for the team in 1919.
Finally, we have Pete Browning, an outfielder for the team in 1891 and the man who is known as the original Louisville Slugger. Browning hit .341 during his career, collecting 1,646 hits in only 1,183 games. He won three batting titles during his career, including the only one in the Player’s League, which was a league loaded with talent, that only existed during the 1890 season.
