Yesterday’s Morning Report showed how the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired their minor league starting pitchers. Today we look at how they acquired their hitters at each level. This is something I’ve done for the previous three seasons around Opening Day, so I’ll present a quick summary of that data first, then work my way towards the 2018 team.
The 2015 list of positions players on the Opening Day rosters included numerous players on the disabled list, so there were 63 total players for the four teams. It included 34 draft picks, 14 international free agents, 14 players acquired via free agency and one player signed as a non-drafted free agent.
In 2016, there were 56 players on the Opening Day rosters. Of those players, 35 were draft picks, 14 were international signings, four were free agents, one was a trade, one a non-drafted free agent and one minor league Rule 5 pick. With seven fewer players, the Pirates still had one extra player who was originally signed by them, meaning they were much more homegrown than the previous year.
A little more in depth on the 2017 list shows the following summary. There were no players on the disabled list and each team went with 12 position players, so it was a smaller group.
Indianapolis: 5 draft picks, 3 international, 2 trade, 2 free agent
Altoona: 7 draft picks, 4 international, 1 free agent
Bradenton: 10 draft picks, 1 international, 1 minor league Rule 5 pick
West Virginia: 8 draft picks, 3 international, 1 non-drafted free agent
The combined breakdown for the 48 players has 30 draft picks, 11 international signings, three free agents, two acquired via trade, one non-drafted free agent and one minor league Rule 5 pick. That gives them 42 out of 48 players who would be considered homegrown talent.
Now moving on to the 2018 group. I won’t mention the players individually like I did yesterday for the pitchers, mostly due to the amount of position players. Here are the individual breakdowns by each team’s Opening Day roster, followed by the totals below. The Pirates had a few players on the disabled list this year, so there are a few more players than last year.
Indianapolis: 9 draft picks, 1 international, 1 trade, 2 free agents
Altoona: 8 draft picks, 2 international, 2 trade, 1 free agent
Bradenton: 11 draft picks, 1 international, 1 Rule 5 pick
West Virginia: 8 draft picks, 3 international, 1 trade, 1 Rule 5 pick
The breakdown for the system is 36 out of 52 players were draft picks. That’s followed by seven international players, four acquired via trade, three free agents and two players taken in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft. The list is a little less homegrown than it was during the last two years, but nowhere near as bad as 2015 when they needed 14 free agents to fill out the minor league rosters. The international side declining each year coincides with the smaller international bonus pools that the Pirates were getting before MLB changed the rules starting back in July. Those should begin to increase again by next year, as Extended Spring Training is loaded with international players right now.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates won 6-1 over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday afternoon. The Pirates will now send Chad Kuhl to the mound to begin a three-game series in Miami. Kuhl allowed two runs over five innings in his last start, which was at home against the Cincinnati Reds. He gave up four runs over 5.2 innings in his debut. The Marlins will counter with 25-year-old left-handed pitcher Dillon Peters, who threw six shutout innings in his debut, then allowed nine runs over 2.2 innings in his last start.
The minor league schedule includes Dario Agrazal making his second start after he set the bar high in his first game. He threw six no-hit innings a week ago in Altoona’s second game. Luis Escobar makes his second start after allowing one run over five innings in his debut. Alex McRae starts for Indianapolis and Gavin Wallace gets the nod for West Virginia.
MLB: Pittsburgh (9-3) @ Marlins (3-9) 7:10 PM
Probable starter: Chad Kuhl (5.06 ERA, 11:3 SO/BB, 10.2 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (4-3) @ Buffalo (2-2) 6:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Alex McRae (2.45 IP, 5:2 SO/BB, 3.2 IP)
AA: Altoona (4-2) @ Erie (3-4) 6:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Dario Agrazal (0.00 ERA, 2:3 SO/BB, 6.0 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (6-2) @ Clearwater (1-7) 6:15 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Luis Escobar (1.80 ERA, 3:0 SO/BB, 5.0 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (3-5) @ Hickory (1-6) 7:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Gavin Wallace (5.40 ERA, 4:2 SO/BB, 5.0 IP)
HIGHLIGHTS
From Wednesday in Indianapolis, Kevin Kramer and Kevin Newman turning a double play
That Newman-Kramer double play combo though.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
4/12: AJ Schugel assigned to Bradenton on rehab
4/11: Pirates sign Denny Roman and Cristian Charle
4/10: Bryan Reynolds placed on Altoona disabled list. Jason Martin activated from DL.
4/5: Pirates claim Jesus Liranzo from Los Angeles Dodgers. Placed on Altoona disabled list.
4/2: Kevin Siegrist placed on suspended list for Indianapolis.
4/2: Pirates place Joe Musgrove on DL; Recall Clay Holmes
3/31: Pirates release Clark Eagan
3/29: Pirates placed AJ Schugel on disabled list.
3/28: Pirates release seven minor league players, including Barrett Barnes and Cody Dickson
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
There have been six former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date. Included in the group is a catcher for the 1909 World Series champions, one of his teammates for three seasons and someone who is now in the front office.
We start with catcher Mike Simon, who spent five season with the Pirates, the first as a rookie during the 1909 season when the Pirates won their first World Series title. The most impressive thing about that season for Simon is the fact he caught just 50 innings all season, and that is because starting catcher George Gibson caught 150 games. Simon actually had a third catcher behind him (Paddy O’Connor) and between the two backups, they batted 38 times all year. Simon spent five seasons with the Pirates before jumping to the Federal League in 1914. Like most players that decided to jump to the new league, Simon was without a Major League job when the league folded after two years.
For Simon’s last three years in Pittsburgh, he caught pitcher Claude Hendrix, who was born exactly six years after Simon. In 1912, Hendrix, in his second year in the Majors, won 24 games and lost just nine times. He pitched almost as well the following season, posting a similar ERA and WHIP, but finished with a 14-15 record. Hendrix also made the jump to the Federal League and led the league with 29 wins and a 1.69 ERA. Unlike Simon, Hendrix was able to get a job in the NL after the FL folded. He finished his career playing his last five years (1916-20) with the Cubs. Despite putting up a decent ERA each year, he had a losing record in four of those seasons.
Also born on this date is Doug Strange, who played for the 1998 Pirates and has been in the front office for the team since 2002.
On this date in 1955, the Pirates lost their season opener by a 6-1 score to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Sitting on the bench that day, four days away from his big league debut, was Roberto Clemente. You can see the boxscore here, which is loaded with Hall of Famers on the wrong side.
Exactly 102 years ago, Babe Adams threw a one-hit shutout against the Cardinals and the only hit was very controversial. The Pittsburgh Press called the only hit “an easy roller that second baseman Joe Schultz just booted and only the official scorer thought it was a hit”. Adams never threw a no-hitter in his career.
