The Pittsburgh Pirates and Indianapolis Indians announced that six players from Altoona have been promoted to Indianapolis for the final eight games of the season. Pitchers Quinn Priester and Colin Selby, infielders Malcom Nunez and Aaron Shackelford, catcher Endy Rodriguez and outfielder Matt Gorski will all get in some extra time before their season ends. Priester, Selby and Gorski will continue on to the Arizona Fall League, which starts on October 3rd, while Rodriguez is slated to play winter ball in the Dominican.
Priester had a 2.87 ERA in 15 starts this season with Altoona, posting a 1.20 WHIP and 79 strikeouts in 81 innings. He missed the start of the season due to an oblique injury.
Rodriguez joined Altoona last month and hit .356/.442/.678 in 31 games, after putting up a .936 OPS in 88 games with Greensboro.
Gorski missed time this year, interrupting what was a great season. He finished with a .278/.357/.599 slash line in 80 games, with 24 homers and 20 stolen bases.
Nunez joined Altoona at the trade deadline from the St Louis Cardinals. He had an .823 OPS in 83 games before the trade, playing in a more hitter-friendly home park than Altoona. After the deal, he had an .857 OPS in 29 games.
Shackelford showed some nice improvements this year after last year in Greensboro, going from a .728 OPS in a hitter-friendly park, to an .813 mark this season in 113 games. He had 23 doubles and 26 homers, while seeing a small bump in his walk rate and a small decline in his strikeout rate.
Selby missed some time this year, so the trip to Indianapolis before the AFL will allow him to get in a decent amount of work before his off-season begins. He had a 2.20 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 32.2 innings this year.
Indianapolis made room on the active roster by transferring Kevin Padlo, Josh VanMeter and Taylor Davis to the Development List.
