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Morning Report: Notes and Reports From Bradenton

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I have an air mattress at my house, but I never had the need to use it until earlier this year. We had it as an extra bed at my bachelor party during Tampa beer week. Maybe it was all of the beers, but I remember thinking how comfortable the air mattress looked.

This past week I left my place in Raleigh with all of my real beds, and returned to my house in Florida, where the only remaining furniture was that air mattress and a wooden stool. After this week, full of house projects and trying to find the best way to write articles with no furniture, I can tell you that the air mattress is, in fact, extremely…not that comfortable.

Aside from bad sleeping arrangements, and projects, I found time to see the Bradenton Marauders and get some updates. Here are some notes from my trip:

**Oneil Cruz has been working on his rehab at Pirate City. Marauders manager Wyatt Toregas told me that he’s on pace to return in about a month. He hasn’t played in games at Pirate City yet.

**Robbie Glendinning has been filling in for Cruz at shortstop, after a questionable demotion from Altoona. It seems that the move was made to give Glendinning more playing time. If that is the case, then there would be no reason to keep him down in Bradenton when Cruz returns, as his hitting seems advanced for this level. I’m not saying that Glendinning is breaking out as a prospect, or anything close to that. I just don’t think we’re going to get a true indication of his upside based on High-A stats, and a challenge in Double-A would be more fitting.

**I see some good raw tools with Travis Swaggerty, but I also see a tendency to swing and miss that hasn’t fully shown up in the stat line. If there’s no adjustment made, I could see Swaggerty having strikeout issues at the higher level, around the 30% range, which is not good when he’s currently showing low power in A-ball.

**Cody Bolton had a rough start when I saw him, although his stuff looked good. He was on extended rest that day, after previously being scheduled to pitch three days earlier. The Pirates have him back on a regular five-day schedule now, but expect him to get more extended periods of rest when needed throughout the year, in order to manage his innings totals. He pitched 44.1 innings last year, not counting extended Spring Training, and is already at 42.2 innings this year, with a little over three months to go in the season.

**Deon Stafford currently has a .583 OPS, which is an issue, as his defense doesn’t look like it will carry him to the upper levels. Stafford hit for a .749 OPS in each of the last two years, while showing enough behind the plate to stick at the position. However, he hasn’t shown enough to have positive value with his defense, making the offense important. He does show some raw tools there, with some power potential, but that has yet to show up in the stats in his young season.

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates won 6-4 over the San Diego Padres on Sunday evening. The Pirates have off today, as they travel home for a six-game homestand, starting with three against the Colorado Rockies. The Los Angeles Dodgers will then be in town for a weekend series.

The minor league schedule includes just two games today, with both Indianapolis and Altoona having the day off. Greensboro will send Osvaldo Bido to the mound for a noon start time against Lakewood. He ranks tenth in the South Atlantic League with a 1.01 WHIP. Bido has allowed eight runs in two starts against first place Delmarva and five runs total in six starts against everyone else. In the only other game, Bradenton will send out Aaron Shortridge, who has given up at least three runs in each of his last four starts. In his first four starts combined, he allowed four runs.

The full 2019 Pirates Prospects Prospect Guide is now available, up to date as of April 3rd, with every player in the minor league system (NOTE: There have been just three players released and two added since then, so the book is still 99% up to date). Includes full reports on the top 50 prospects, reports on over 150 other players, as well as looks back at the recent drafts and international signing classes. Subscribers get 20% off the purchase of a book.

MLB: Pittsburgh (24-20) vs Rockies (20-25) 7:05 PM 5/21
Probable starter: Chris Archer (5.58 ERA, 34:16 SO/BB, 30.2 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (22-18) @ Louisville (18-25) 7:00 PM 5/21 (season preview)
Probable starter: Mitch Keller (3.83 ERA, 50:19 SO/BB, 40.0 IP)

AA: Altoona (22-20) @ New Hampshire (19-22) 6:35 PM 5/21 (season preview)
Probable starter: Sean Brady (8.18 ERA, 8:4 SO/BB, 11.0 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (23-19) @ Ft Myers (25-17) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Aaron Shortridge (3.60 ERA, 36:6 SO/BB, 45.0 IP)

Low-A: Greensboro (28-14) vs Lakewood (14-28) 12:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Osvaldo Bido (2.58 ERA, 37:11 SO/BB, 45.1 IP)

HIGHLIGHTS

From Indianapolis on Saturday, Kevin Kramer wearing the throwback tribute uniform, nearly hits an opposite field home run

Jose Osuna’s first homer of the season

Eric Wood with an RBI single up the middle

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

5/18: Justin Harrer added to Greensboro roster. Jonah Davis assigned to Extended Spring Training

5/17: Trevor Williams placed on injured list. Clay Holmes recalled from Indianapolis

5/17: Geoff Hartlieb added to 40-man roster and recalled by Pirates. Jacob Stalling assigned to Indianapolis (cleared waivers) and Richard Rodriguez optioned to Indianapolis

5/17: Luis Nova added to Bradenton roster. Oddy Nunez placed on injured list

5/16: Tate Scioneaux placed on injured list.

5/15: Chris Archer activated from injured list. Clay Holmes optioned to Indianapolis.

5/15: Colin Selby assigned to Greensboro.

5/15: Matt Eckelman assigned to Altoona from Indianapolis.

5/14: Pirates release Erich Weiss.

5/13: Jung Ho Kang placed on injured list. Jake Elmore added to Pirates roster.

5/12: Tyler Lyons sent outright to Indianapolis

5/12: Zack Kone placed on Greensboro injured list.

5/12: Chris Stratton added to Pirates roster. Dovydas Neverauskas optioned to Indianapolis.

5/11: Pirates acquire Chris Stratton from Angels for cash.

5/11: Pirates release Ronny Agustin

5/10: Patrick Kivlehan traded to Toronto Blue Jays

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

Two former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, one of them is among the most underrated players in team history. George Grantham played seven seasons for the Pirates, spending time at first base, second base and outfield. He was a member of two teams that went to the World Series, the 1925 and 1927 teams. He had a .901 OPS in 913 games with the Pirates and never posted an OPS below .850 with Pittsburgh. That OPS ranks him fifth in team history and second only to Ralph Kiner among the 60 players with at least 750 games played for the Pirates.

The other player born on this date was Joe Harris, who was not only a teammate of Grantham for two years, he also played first base. He is a lot like Grantham in that he is relatively unknown despite a solid career. He was a .317 career hitter and batted .329 with the Pirates in 145 games. Harris once got a lifetime ban from MLB for signing with a semi-pro team, but was reinstated based on his service during WWI.

On this date in 1925, the Pirates beat the Brooklyn Robins 12-3 at Ebbets Field. Everybody in the Pirates lineup had at least one hit, while the 4-6 hitters, Clyde Barnhart, Pie Traynor and Glenn Wright, each managed to collect four hits. Seven different Pirates picked up a double. Here’s the boxscore from that 22-hit game.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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