The Pittsburgh Pirates affiliates will face a handful of teams that are at the top of the standings, but marred with injuries to top prospects.
Currently the Indianapolis Indians are hovering at the bottom of the International League and their individual division. They’ll battle the Toledo Mud Hens who sit half a game back from leading the division, and two games back from the league leaders. The Detroit Tigers affiliate is light on prospects overall, with the biggest name being Justyn-Henry Malloy. He was acquired in the off-season as part of a return from the Atlanta Braves for reliever Joe Jimenez. Malloy leads the way for an offense that is top four in team OPS, along with top four in team ERA. A name that’ll come with some recognition is the younger brother of Austin Meadows, outfielder Parker Meadows. Few other names that might ring a bell for fun: Miguel Del Pozo, Ashton Goudeau, & Andrew Knapp.
The Altoona Curve head to Richmond to face the Flying Squirrels for six games. The Flying Squirrels are currently in first place of the Southwest division, with the Curve 2.5 games back. The San Francisco Giants affiliate had the highest ranked prospect of the week, but Marco Luciano has found himself on the injured list with a back injury. That leaves Luis Matos as the next highest ranked prospect. Matos opened the 2022 season as a Top 100 prospect — #63 on Pipeline 2022 Pre-season & #73 on Baseball America 2022 Pre-season — but saw his stock drop precipitously with a poor showing in High-A. Richmond as a whole is first in team OPS and second in team ERA.
Greensboro Grasshoppers will see the highest quantity of Pipeline top 30 prospects against the Winston-Salem Dash. Unfortunately, two of the nine are on the injured list, with the marquee name Colson Montgomery being one of the two. The Grasshoppers are in a tie for the North division lead with Hudson Valley, while the Dash sit atop the South division. The Dash have the second highest team OPS in the South Atlantic League.
In the Florida State League, the Bradenton Marauders opponent’s short prospect list could actually become shorter at some point this week. The top guy is New York Yankees’ catching prospect Austin Wells, but he is with Tampa on a rehab assignment. After a full week, they may move him along to his next assignment. The next highest rated prospect is a RHP that is currently on the 60-day injured list. That would leave them with three healthy top 30 prospects, all ranked 20th or lower, as 2021 second rounder Brendan Beck (24th) is also out due to injury. It would be a good week for the Marauders to gain on the Clearwater Threshers, who are two games ahead in the division, while playing the Tampa Tarpons who sit at the bottom of the division.
Triple-A: Indianapolis Indians
Opponent: TOLEDO (TIGERS)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .847 OPS
Rank: 4/20
Team ERA: 4.28
ERA Rank: 4/20
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- JUSTYN-HENRY MALLOY | OF/3B | 7
- PARKER MEADOWS | OF | 10
- REECE OLSON | RHP | 11
- ANDRE LIPCIUS | 3B | 20
- BRENDAN WHITE | RHP | 28
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
Opponent: RICHMOND (GIANTS)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .735 OPS
Rank: 1/12
Team ERA: 3.24
ERA Rank: 2/12
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- MARCO LUCIANO (7-Day IL) | SS | 2
- Pipeline Top 100: #20
- Baseball America Top 100: #31
- LUIS MATOS | OF | 7
- MASON BLACK | RHP | 10
- LANDEN ROUPP | RHP | 13
- CARSON SEYMOUR | RHP | 17
- RANDY RODRIGUEZ | RHP | 26
- RYAN MURPHY | RHP | 27
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
Opponent: WINSTON-SALEM (WHITE SOX)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .839 OPS
Rank: 2/12
Team ERA: 4.89
ERA Rank: 7/12
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- COLSON MONTGOMERY (7-Day IL) | SS | 1
- Pipeline Top 100: #33
- Baseball America Top 100: #33
- JONATHAN CANNON | RHP | 10
- NORGE VERA (7-Day IL) | RHP | 12
- KOHL SIMAS | RHP | 15
- JARED KELLEY | RHP | 16
- WILFRED VERAS | 1B/3B | 17
- WES KATH | 3B | 18
- TERRELL TATUM | OF | 24
- LOIDEL CHAPELLI | 2B | 26
SINGLE-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
Opponent: TAMPA (YANKEES)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .656 OPS
Rank: 8/10
Team ERA: 4.16
ERA Rank: 5/10
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- AUSTIN WELLS (Rehab Assignmen) | C | 3
- Baseball America Top 100: #86
- TRYSTAN VRIELING (60-Day IL) | RHP | 16
- ANTHONY HALL | OF | 20
- SEAN HERMANN | RHP | 22
- BRENDAN BECK (60-Day IL) | RHP | 24
- BROCK SELVIDGE | LHP | 29
PIRATES PROSPECTS DAILY
By Tim Williams
I will be covering the next three Pirates games in St. Pete. Watching this team each night, there are a lot of stories I want to dive into. I’m looking forward to getting that opportunity this week as the Pirates take on the Rays.
**This is a lengthy read, but an outstanding, highly informative explanation by Ethan Hullihen of the Minor League Baseball CBA:
A Breakdown of the New Minor League Baseball Collective Bargaining Agreement
**There was no game action on Monday throughout the system. In our Top Performers series, Bubba Chandler and Josh Palacios led the way last week.
**Palacios and Mike Jarvis earned Player of the Week honors in their respective leagues. Anthony Murphy wrote about the big season that Jarvis is having in Greensboro in yesterday’s P2Daily.
**In recapping the latest action from the draft prospects, John Dreker writes about how Dylan Crews still stands out as the best player for the upcoming draft.
Song of the Day
Jeff Reed with the song of the day:
