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Prospect Watch: Lots of Offense for a Change

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Except for Altoona, everybody in the system had big days on offense.  There were also some good pitching performances, which hadn’t been much of a thing lately.

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS

Prospect Watch: Enmanuel Terrero Has a Career Day; Pitching Prospects Have a Third Straight Rough Day

TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

Season Preview

Game Time:  6:35pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Quinn Priester

  • Final Line: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 9 K

Notable Performances:

  • Nick Gonzales 4-5, 2 2B, 3B
  • Endy Rodriguez 3-5, HR (2)
  • Miguel Andujar 3-4, 2B, HR (1), BB, 3 runs
  • Ryan Vilade 3-4, BB
  • Chavez Young 2-4, 2B, SB, 3 RBI
  • Cody Bolton IP, K
  • Yerry De Los Santos IP, H, BB, 2 K

Game Recap:

Indianapolis (6-8) hammered St. Paul, 9-2.  Quinn Priester gave up two runs over four and two-thirds innings.  If you were concerned about his ability to miss bats, this one looks good, as he fanned nine and walked nobody.  He did need 86 pitches, hence the early exit.

After Priester left, four pitchers combined for four and a third scoreless innings.  Daniel Zamora got four outs, three on strikes.  John O’Reilly, Cody Bolton and Yerry De Los Santos each threw an inning.  Indy pitchers fanned 16 altogether.

The offense produced 17 hits and had some welcome breakouts, as well as a 3-for-4 (with a walk) Pirates debut for Ryan Vilade.  Nick Gonzales had the biggest day, with a single, two doubles and a triple.  His OPS suddenly is .900.  Endy Rodriguez had three hits, including his second home run of the year.  Miguel Andujar hit his first, as well as a single and a double.  Chavez Young had a single, double and three RBIs.

It wasn’t all positives.  Cal Mitchell continued to struggle, going 1-for-5 with four whiffs.  His OPS stands at .422.  Malcom Nunez was 0-for-5, dropping his OPS to .436.

DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE

Season Preview

Game Time:  1:35pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Sean Sullivan

  • Final Line: 2.1 IP, 2 H, BB, 3 K

Notable Performances:

  • Henry Davis 0-3, 2 BB
  • Matt Fraizer 1-4, BB

Game Recap:

Altoona (3-5) took an early 4-0 lead over Erie, but eventually lost, 5-4, in ten innings.

The Curve were done in by major struggles with runners in scoring position, something that’s been a recurring theme in the system so far this year.  They had only six hits, all singles, but nine walks helped give them a plentitude of chances to score runs.  They went 2-for-16 with RISP.  Andres Alvarez was 0-for-5 with four strikeouts and eight runners stranded.  Drew Maggi, whose hot hitting didn’t last into the season, was 0-for-4 with seven runners stranded.  Henry Davis and Mason Martin, batting third and fourth, each went 0-for-3 with two walks and four runners stranded.  Davis is batting .185 on the season.

Sean Sullivan made his season debut and threw two and a third scoreless innings.  It’s not clear why he came out, but it took him 54 pitches to get that far.  He allowed only two hits and a walk, but he had a lot of deep counts.  (I watched part of his start and he was nibbling a lot.)

Matt Eckelman followed Sullivan and got the Curve into the sixth, still leading 4-0.  In that inning, though, Eckelman and Travis MacGregor combined to give up four runs, all unearned due to a two-out error by Maggi.

The game stayed 4-4 until the tenth.  The Curve failed to get the free runner home as, after a walk, Matt Fraizer popped out and Dylan Shockley hit into a double play.  In the bottom half, Cam Junker gave up an RBI single to end it.

Shockley and Lolo Sanchez each had two hits.  Curve hitters struck out 13 times.

HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS

Season Preview

Game Time:  4:05pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Mitchell Miller

  • Final Line: 2 IP, 2 K

Notable Performances:

  • Abrahan Gutierrez 2-3, 2 BB
  • Jase Bowen 1-4, HBP, SB
  • Ernny Ordonez 3-4
  • Jackson Glenn 2-4, HR (1), 3 RBI

Game Recap:

Greensboro (5-2) went with a bullpen game and picked up a 7-3 win over Jersey Shore.

Mitchell Miller did the opener thing and, after two very bad relief appearances to start the season, went six up and six down on 24 pitches.  Drew Irvin, Grant Ford and Oliver Mateo followed and, oddly, each one gave up a run on two hits and a walk over two innings.  Santiago Florez threw a scoreless ninth.

Everybody in the lineup had at least one hit, run or RBI.  Ernny Ordonez had three hits, and Jackson Glenn had two, including a three-run home run that opened up a big lead in the eighth.  Abrahan Gutierrez reached base four times on two hits and two walks.  The Hoppers had 11 hits overall, with Glenn’s longball being the only one for extra bases.

LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS

Season Preview

Game Time:  6:00pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Braxton Ashcraft

  • Final Line: 3.1 IP, 2 H, BB, 6 K

Notable Performances:

  • Jesus Castillo 2-5
  • Enmanuel Terrero 3-5, 2B
  • Wyatt Hendrie 2-5, 2B
  • Tres Gonzalez 2-5, 2B
  • Javier Rivas 2-5
  • Deivis Nadal 2-5, HR (1), SB
  • Alexander Mojica 1-5, HR (1)
  • Derek Diamond 5 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, BB, 3 K

Game Recap:

Bradenton (4-4) got all of its runs in the first two innings and bombed Lakeland, 10-3.

The Marauders piled up 16 hits in all.  Enmanuel Terrero had three, including a double; after going hitless in his first five games, he’s 7-for-10 in his last two and has his OPS up to .845.  Jesus Castillo stayed hot, picking up two hits to keep his average at .400.  Javier Rivas bounced back from a dismal game yesterday to pick up two hits.

The first seven hitters in the Marauders’ order had two hits each, except Terrero’s three.  Alexander Mojica and Deivis Nadal each hit their first home runs.  The only player who went hitless was Braylon Bishop.

Braxton Ashcraft had another scoreless rehab outing, going three and a third.  He fanned six and allowed just two hits and a walk.  Darvin Garcia fanned the last two batters in the fourth, then Derek Diamond covered the last five innings.  Diamond ran into trouble in his first inning, allowing three runs, but his last four were scoreless.

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Wilbur Miller
Wilbur Miller
Having followed the Pirates fanatically since 1965, Wilbur Miller is one of the fast-dwindling number of fans who’ve actually seen good Pirate teams. He’s even seen Hall-of-Fame Pirates who didn’t get traded mid-career, if you can imagine such a thing. His first in-person game was a 5-4, 11-inning win at Forbes Field over Milwaukee (no, not that one). He’s been writing about the Pirates at various locations online for over 20 years. It has its frustrations, but it’s certainly more cathartic than writing legal stuff. Wilbur is retired and now lives in Bradenton with his wife and three temperamental cats.

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