Top Ten Hitters and Pitchers for Week 16 of the Minor League Season

With the full-season minor league teams having every Monday off this year, we get to do weekly recaps based on the action from Tuesday to Sunday each week. Below you’ll find a list of the top hitters and pitchers for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the last week. The batters are sorted by OPS and they each had at least 20 plate appearances last week. The pitchers are sorted by ERA and they pitched at least four innings.

Top Hitters

1. Jackson Glenn, FCL/Bradenton – This year’s fifth round pick has been strong in his debut, though that included time in the FCL at 23 years old. Regardless of the competition level vs age debate, he spent part of last week in Bradenton as well and hit .471/.609/.706 in 23 plate appearances.
2. Matt Fraizer, Altoona – Welcome to the weekly Matt Fraizer update, starring Matt Fraizer of the Altoona Curve. As the owner of this weekly article, it’s only fitting that he was right near the top of the list, thanks to his .400/.480/.750 slash line in 25 PAs. Last week it seemed odd that he was all the way down in fifth place. Here’s a scouting report: He can hit
3. Nick Gonzales, Greensboro – Gonzales finished eighth in last week’s article. This past week he hit .444/.464/.704 in 28 plate appearances, with four doubles and a homer. He’s hitting .298/.368/.514 in 60 games, though he still has the big split that favors home, where he has a 1.047 OPS, compared to .657 on the road.
4. Juan Jerez, FCL Pirates – He hit .421/.476/.632 in 21 PAs last week. Jerez was the top prospect from the 2019 DSL group when I did the rankings with a lot of outside help from the people who saw them play. He dropped down to third from that group going into this season behind Dariel Lopez and Sergio Campana, but Jerez is certainly showing why he originally earned the top spot, with an .862 OPS this year.
5. Jack Herman, Bradenton –  He put up a .333/.385/.667 slash line in 26 PAs, with two homers and two doubles. Herman struggled in Greensboro to start this year, got sent to Extended Spring Training, then quickly hit his way out of the FCL. Now he has an .838 OPS in 32 games with Bradenton. He was named the Player of the Week for whatever the name is that they’re temporarily calling the Florida State League.
6. Lolo Sanchez, Greensboro – Sanchez finished second in last week’s article. He has an .807 OPS this year with 14 homers and 27 steals. Unlike many players on Greensboro, he has no lopsided home/road split, with just a slightly better OPS on the road and seven homers in each place. This past week he put up a .333/.429/.500 slash line in 21 PAs.
7. Jared Oliva, Indianapolis – He hit .364/.417/.500 in 24 PAs last week. It’s been a rough season for Oliva, who started with an injury, struggled in Triple-A, got called up anyway and struggled in a part-time role for the Pirates. Since being sent down though, he has as .806 OPS in 18 games.
8. Will Matthiessen, Greensboro – He has the top spot last week for his insane performance, which was part of a stretch in which he had 22 RBIs in 32 at-bats. This past week he had a .320/.346/.480 slash line
9. Jack Suwinski, Altoona – His week was carried by two home runs in one game. It wasn’t particularly strong overall, just better than enough people to get here. Suwinski hit .227/.250/.545 in 24 PAs.
10. Cal Mitchell, Altoona – Mitchell finished sixth in last week’s article, the last of five repeats from the previous week, which gives each of them a nice stretch of play. Mitchell actually had an average week this past week, putting up a .273/.333/.455 slash line in 24 PAs. His .788 OPS this week is 16 points higher than his season OPS.

Top Pitchers

1. Trey McGough, Altoona – He had the best performance last week with seven shutout innings on four hits, one walk and three strikeouts. Since being promoted from Greensboro, he has a 3.45 ERA in 70.1 innings, with a 1.15 WHIP and 58 strikeouts.
2. Max Kranick, Indianapolis – In his previous start, Kranick couldn’t even get out of the first inning. He allowed five runs, though just one was earned. He came back with six shutout innings on four hits, no walks and three strikeouts. Along with five starts for the Pirates, he has a 4.97 ERA in nine starts in Indianapolis.
3. Darvin Garcia, FCL Pirates – Garcia pitched twice in relief, allowing an unearned run on four hits, no walks and six strikeouts in six innings. He has a 3.20 ERA in 25.1 innings, with 31 strikeouts and an 0.87 WHIP. He was named as the Pitcher of the Week for the Florida Complex League.
4. Adrian Florencio, Bradenton – He tossed five shutout frames on two hits, two walks and nine strikeouts. In his last three games, he has thrown 14 shutout innings and struck out 23 batters.
5. Carlos Jimenez, FCL Pirates – The changeup master is doing a good job of getting out FCL hitters…most of the time. He’s had some very poor outings, but there’s been more success recently. Jimenez threw five shutout innings and struck out nine batters. The 18-year-old has a 2.73 ERA in 29.2 innings, with 36 strikeouts and an 0.98 WHIP.
6. Arlinthon De Dios, FCL Pirates – In two appearances, he allowed two hits over 4.1 shutout innings, striking out five batters. He had a 7.20 ERA in his first 20 innings this season, before throwing a shutout inning to end his prior week, then this week followed with two nice games. So he’s on a nice little run compared to his rough start.
7. Tahnaj Thomas, Greensboro – His outing wasn’t particularly strong, but it was enough to get him here. Thomas went four shutout innings in his start, allowing two hits and four walks, with four strikeouts. He has a 4.18 ERA in 51.2 innings, with 55 strikeouts and a 1.53 WHIP.
8. Christian Charle, FCL Pirates – He tossed four shutout innings on one hit, no walks and six strikeouts. His week consisted of two appearances, both two innings each. He has a 2.76 ERA, an 0.99 WHIP and 33 strikeouts in 29.1 innings.
9. Carlos Campos, Bradenton – He gave up one run in 5.2 innings last week over two relief appearances. One of those games was three innings without a hit/walk. Campos started the year in the FCL. Since joining Bradenton, he has a 2.53 ERA in 10.2 innings.
10. Luis Ortiz, Bradenton – We had to go 12 spots here because the final three all had the same 1.80 ERA last week. Ortiz is the only pitcher here who also made it last week. In five innings, he allowed three hits, no walks and eight strikeouts. He now has a 3.15 ERA in 68.2 innings, with 87 strikeouts and a 1.28 WHIP.
11. Po-Yu Chen, FCL Pirates – He had his worst performance last week, giving up a run in five innings. Yes, that is his worst. In 26 innings, he has an 0.69 ERA, zero walks and 29 strikeouts.
12. Wilkin Ramos, FCL Pirates – Obviously a lot of good pitching in the FCL last week, which is kind of bad because they play Pirates vs Pirates games, and those usually contribute to these articles. That didn’t apply here as Ramos allowed one run over five innings and struck out eight batters against the Braves. It’s a nice sign from him, especially since he has a 1.72 WHIP this season in 25 innings.