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Morning Report: News and Notes from Around the System

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Here are some new and notes from around the system for your Tuesday morning.

*The Pittsburgh Pirates signed 17-year-old Dominican catcher Darwin Baez on Sunday. He’s the sixth catcher they have signed since July 2nd and he will fill out one of the Dominican Summer League rosters. Baez will probably have a tough time getting playing time this year with some interesting new catchers signed ahead of him. The only returning catcher from last year’s DSL team is Ruben Gonzalez, a 20-year-old who didn’t show much on offense as a first-year pro last year. Gonzalez was still a solid defensive catcher and his age/experience could get him some playing time over a younger group of players. The Pirates have now signed 61 international players since July 2nd.

*Hector Quinones, who was drafted in the 32nd round last year, has decided to retire. He was down at Pirate City in Extended Spring Training until leaving on Saturday. Quinones played for the GCL Pirates, Bristol and Morgantown last year, posting a 4.84 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 35.1 innings between the three clubs. He was also part of our winter league coverage, seeing time in Puerto Rico. He was likely scheduled back for one of the short-season teams this year, unless West Virginia had multiple bullpen spots open.

*We mentioned last week that two players were dropped from our top 50 prospects when Kyle Crick and Dovydas Neverauskas each made their 31st MLB appearance in the same game. Now Max Moroff is back with the Pirates and we could see another one drop out soon. He needs eight more at-bats and then we need to figure out who moves into that open 50th spot (last week it was Bligh Madris and Alex Manasa). With Edgar Santana and Colin Moran still in the majors, we could be reaching for three more names before you know it. Santana needs six more appearances, while Moran needs 53 more at-bats, so he has some time still.

*Jesus Liranzo made his debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates last night, seeing a short relief outing for the Altoona Curve. He retired both batters he faced on fly balls. Liranzo was placed on the disabled list right after the Pirates picked him up from the Los Angeles Dodgers off waivers. He wasn’t actually injured, just needed to build back up to pitch after sitting around for a short time on waivers. To make room for Liranzo, Sam Street was assigned to Morgantown, which is just a paper move and he should be back as soon as a spot opens up in Altoona. In most case like this, the player actually stays with the team.

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 6-2 to the Colorado Rockies on Monday night. The Pirates will send Trevor Williams to the mound today for his fourth start. He allowed one run over six innings in his start against the Chicago Cubs last week. In his first start, he threw six no-hit innings. The Rockies will counter with 28-year-old right-handed pitcher Chad Bettis, who has a 2.04 ERA in three starts, with 12 strikeouts and a 1.13 WHIP in 17.2 innings.

The minor league schedule includes the second start for Taylor Hearn, who went five innings in his first game, allowing just one hit. Indianapolis was postponed during each of the last three days, so they could shuffle their rotation a little. They have a doubleheader today and Nick Kingham is listed as one starter, while game two could be Austin Coley, who was supposed to start Saturday/Sunday before the postponements. Sergio Cubilete makes his second start for West Virginia, while Bradenton has yet to announce a starter.

MLB: Pittsburgh (11-5) vs Rockies (10-8) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Trevor Williams (1.56 ERA, 10:7 SO/BB, 17.1 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (4-4) @ Syracuse (6-3) 4:05 PM DH (season preview)
Probable starter: Nick Kingham (0.82 IP, 16:3 SO/BB, 11.0 IP)

AA: Altoona (6-3) @ Akron (5-5) 6:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Taylor Hearn (0.00 ERA, 4:3 SO/BB, 5.0 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (8-3) vs Palm Beach (7-4) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: TBD

Low-A: West Virginia (6-5) @ Charleston (5-6) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Sergio Cubilete (11.57 ERA, 1:3 SO/BB, 2.1 IP)

HIGHLIGHTS

From Sunday, Starling Marte had five hits and they are all in this video.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John 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.

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