After making the jump to Bradenton in 2021 as a teenager, Dariel Lopez moved up to Greensboro this past year, taking advantage of one of the most hitter friendly ballparks in the minors.
A late season injury prevented him from reaching the 20-home run plateau, but he still managed to slash .286/.329/.476, with 19 home runs, 58 RBI and a 116 wRC+.
It was officially announced on Thursday by the team that Lopez would miss the entire 2023 season after dislocating his knee in an off-season workout session.
Lopez has some of the most intriguing power in the system, and was in position to have a breakout type season depending on how he responded to Double-A Altoona.
The strikeout numbers climbed slightly last year, and his swing and miss numbers were borderline worrisome, but time was always on Lopez’s side due to his young age for the level he had been playing at.
While missing out on a whole year of development is a big blow, Lopez will still be 22-years-old next year, which is a perfect age for Double-A.
The Lefty Situation
Jarlin Garcia was brought in to help stabilize a bullpen that struggled last year. After leaving a spring game with an injury, it looks like it will be some time before we see him on the mound.
LHP Jarlín García sustained an injury to nerves in the "mid-humerus biceps region." He is in "no-throw status" for the foreseeable future, per director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk.
The team will run more image and diagnostic tests in 4-5 weeks, then assess daily from there.
— Justice delos Santos (@justdelossantos) March 16, 2023
An injury to a nerve makes sense when it was earlier stated that he had a problem gripping a baseball.
If Garcia is going to miss a significant amount of time, the Pirates have no other left-handed relief pitchers on the 40-man besides Rule 5 pick Jose Hernandez.
They had several lefties in camp as non-roster invites, with Caleb Smith already being reassigned back to the minor league side of things. Rob Zastryzny was pitching for Canada in the WBC, but with their run over, he should rejoin the team.
The Pirates could always go with someone outside of the organization, leverage some of the depth they have in the middle infield, and outfield to bring in a pitcher, or they could claim someone off waivers.
Angel Perdomo has had an up and down spring, and in true reliever fashion it’s been a small sample of outings that has really inflated his home runs. He’s struck out six batters in 5.2 innings, spanning six appearances out of the bullpen.
In his last outing against the Blue Jays, he struck out the side. While having both your lefties being inexperienced like Perdomo and Hernandez is risky, they both have a lot more upside than any of the other options.
Pirates Prospects Daily
By John Dreker
The Pirates won 9-6 over the New York Yankees on Thursday night, but the news from the game was Carlos Santana leaving due to left knee discomfort. Tyler Samaniego also left the game early. Here’s the boxscore from the game.
**Medical Updates on Andrew McCutchen, Jarlin Garcia and Dariel Lopez Here are some details on the medical updates from above, plus two other updates.
**Pirates Release Three Lower Level Minor League Players
**New Mock Draft from Baseball America, Same Name at the Top New mock draft season has arrived
**Pirates DVR: Roansy Contreras And Luis Ortiz Pitch In WBC, Mike Burrows
**Pirates Prospects Daily: Mitch Keller Getting the Opening Day Nod is a Great Baseball Story
**World Baseball Classic Recap: David Bednar and Duane Underwood Jr Help Their Teams Advance This article was updated during the day with the Japan/Italy results and today’s schedule
Song of the Day
Today’s Lineup
The Pirates are at home against the Tampa Bay Rays today. 1:05 PM. TV game. Happy St Patrick’s Day
The squad vs. the Rays.
