The Indianapolis Indians haven’t gotten off to the best of starts. With their loss on Tuesday, not only are they 0-4, but they’ve also been outscored 35-12 in those games.
Quinn Priester struggled in his first outing of the season, and the strong pitching outings have been few and far in-between so far.
Even the offense has struggled to score runs, with the top of the order struggling to put the ball into play.
One of the strong points has been the play of Tucupita Marcano, who picked up two more hits Tuesday, including his first home run of the season. Acquired in the Adam Frazier trade, versatility has been key for Marcano, who has already logged games at second, third and shortstop, playing strong defense at each.
The difference has been his hitting. He’s hit well before, but never with a lot of power. This year he’s been one of the more reliable hitters when it comes to extra-bases, as he’s already logged two doubles and a home run.
Marcano is in the middle of a very thick middle infield picture, and it’s been defense that helped him stand out last year. Adding a little power would really help in getting him another look in the majors.
Ji-Hwan Bae, Starting Center Fielder?
It’s easy to overreact to a specific play, especially over the course of 162 games. So seeing that play Ji-Hwan Bae made in center field it would be easy to immediately want to throw him out there on an everyday basis.
Even though he doesn’t have the most experience playing the outfield, he showed just how much his natural athleticism can make up for that. It was a big play in a big spot. Pair that with his two-run home run he launched the other way over the Green Monster, and you can see why there’s plenty to be excited about with him.
Bae will probably get an extended look in the outfield at some point this season, but that also depends on how Jack Suwinski and Rodolfo Castro perform. Both have had their struggles recently, especially with strikeouts, opening the door for Bae to play everyday.
Even Castro keeps struggling they can rotate through some of those outfielders they have in the minors to see if they can find an answer out there while Bae plays second base.
Tuesday night shows they have a pretty good backup plan though.
Pirates Prospects Daily
By John Dreker
Pirates moved above .500 with a win on Tuesday. They play again this afternoon. We will post a Live Discussion article after the lineups become available. We had an article drop yesterday. Including the Live Discussion, we had ten articles posted yesterday. See links below.
**Pirates Recap: Reynolds Stays Hot, A Happy Ro-Day and Bae
**Prospect Watch: Quinn Priester Hammered in First Start A look at Quinn Priester’s opener
**Pirates Place Austin Hedges on Injured List; Add Tyler Heineman to 40-Man Roster Some 40-man roster moves before yesterday’s game
**Five Sleepers to Follow in the Pittsburgh Pirates System in 2023
**Cody Bolton Amped-Up For Move to the Bullpen
**Pirates Prospects Daily: The Minor League Season Begins This Week
**Pirates DVR: Canaan Smith-Njigba, JP Massey, Tres Gonzalez
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