Altoona and Greensboro both had morning start times, with Altoona seeing the return of Jared Jones after a three-week absence. Indianapolis won behind Quinn Priester, while Bradenton had the bats going all game in their one-sided victory.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
INDIANAPOLIS @ ST. PAUL
Final Score: Indianapolis 4, St Paul 2
Indianapolis Starter: Quinn Priester (2-3, 5.96)
Pitching Line: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Nick Gonzales 2-for-5
- Endy Rodriguez 1-for-5, 2B, RBI
- Ryan Vilade 1-for-4, 2 RBI
- Cal Mitchell 2-for-3, BB
- Malcom Nunez 2-for-4
Game Recap:
Quinn Priester threw six shutout innings in his last outing. He wasn’t nearly that strong in this game, but he ended up going six quality innings. He allowed two runs on six hits, two walks and four strikeouts, while throwing 53 of 91 pitches for strikes. He now has a 5.40 ERA in 31.2 innings.
Angel Perdomo and Cody Bolton each followed Priester with a scoreless frame. Colin Selby got the save by striking out three batters around a walk in the ninth
Indianapolis was down 2-0 until the sixth inning. Endy Rodriguez brought in their first run with his second double of the season. Ryan Vilade followed with a two-run single. Aaron Shackelford made it 4-2 in the eighth with an RBI single.
Nick Gonzales, Cal Mitchell, Malcom Nunez and Chavez Young each had two hits. All eight hits for them were singles.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
ALTOONA VS AKRON
Final Score: Akron 7, Altoona 2
Altoona Starter: Jared Jones (0-1, 2.63)
Pitching Line: 2.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Liover Peguero 0-for-4
- Matt Gorski 1-for-3, HR, RBI, BB
- Matt Fraizer 0-for-4
- Drew Maggi 1-for-4
Game Recap:
Jared Jones returned to Altoona on a limited pitch count, after missing the last three weeks on the Injured List. He went 2.1 innings on 37 pitches. He didn’t walk anyone, but his 20:17 strike/ball ratio was a bit rough. It was still a solid overall return, with one run on two hits and one strikeout.
Nick Dombkowski took over in the third and finished off the inning. He stayed in for two more frames, though he ran into trouble in the fourth. He finish with four runs on six hits in 2.2 innings. Braeden Ogle took over in the sixth. He gave up two runs in 1.2 innings, while recording all five outs on strikeouts.
Travis MacGregor finished the seventh, then stayed on for the final two innings. He threw 2.1 scoreless on two hits and two walks.
Altoona scored two runs in this game. Mason Martin hit his fourth homer in the first. Matt Gorski hit his fifth homer in the fourth. The Curve had just two other hits, singles by Andres Alvarez and Drew Maggi.
Altoona had five batters in the lineup with an average below the .200 mark. Connor Scott is down to a .121 average after an 0-for-4 with three strikeouts.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
GREENSBORO VS JERSEY SHORE
Final Score: Greensboro 8, Jersey Shore 4
Greensboro Starter: Brad Case (1-1, 11.57)
Pitching Line: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Tsung-Che Cheng 1-for-3, 3B, BB, SB
- Hudson Head 1-for-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
- Sammy Siani 1-for-3, HR, 3 RBI, BB
- Maikol Escotto 0-for-4
Game Recap:
Brad Case was one of the top performing pitchers last week out of the bullpen. He got moved to the starting rotation for today’s morning start. It was a limited start, but he continued to pitch well, throwing two no-hit/scoreless innings on two walks and three strikeouts.
Jaycob Deese took over in the third. He threw three innings, allowing one run on three hits, no walks and three strikeouts. Mitchell Miller was next out. He went two scoreless. Oliver Mateo allowed three runs without recording an out in the eighth. Cy Nielson took care of the final two frames in the 8-4 win.
Greensboro scored five runs in the first with just one hit. They opened the scoring with a bases loaded walk to Hudson Head, followed by a Brenden Dixon sacrifice fly. Sammy Siani then connected on a three-run homer, his third of the season.
Tres Gonzalez singled in a run in the fifth inning. Hudson Head then hit his sixth double, which made it a 7-1 score at the time. Gonzalez added an insurance tally with an RBI single in the seventh.
Tsung-Che Cheng had two runs, a walk, his fifth triple and his ninth steal.
LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
BRADENTON VS LAKELAND
Final Score: Bradenton 16, Lakeland 2
Bradenton Starter: Owen Kellington (0-1, 3.78)
Pitching Line: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Jesus Castillo 3-for-5, 2 2B, 3 RBI, BB
- Termarr Johnson 2-for-5, HBP
- Roldolfo Nolasco 3-for-5, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, BB
- Shalin Polanco 0-for-6
- Javier Rivas 3-for-4, HR, 4 RBI, BB
Game Recap:
Owen Kellington had an abbreviated outing due to a high pitch count, but he didn’t get hit hard. He allowed one run over three innings on two hits, a walk and five strikeouts. He threw 57 pitches, with 37 going for strikes. He now has a 3.66 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 19.2 innings.
Carlos Lomeli took the middle innings. He retired all nine batter he faced on a total of 36 pitches, while picking up two strikeouts. Darvin Garcia tossed two shutout frames. Yoldin De La Paz took the ninth in the one-sided win.
Bradenton scored 16 runs, nearly scoring in every inning that they batted, but they got shut down in the eighth by a position player.
Jesus Castillo, Rodolfo Nolasco, Javier Rivas and Geovanny Planchart each had three hits. Castillo hit two doubles and drove in three runs. Nolasco hit his second homer and his eighth double. He had three runs and two RBIs. Rivas hit his second homer. He drove in four runs. Planchart had three RBIs.
Tanner Tredaway joined Bradenton today. He went 2-for-4, with two runs, two RBIs and a walk.
Shalin Polanco batted in the clean-up spot, despite struggling on offense all season. The team scored 16 runs around his 0-for-6 at the plate. He scored two runs, but each time he reached base, it was on a fielder’s choice.
Termarr Johnson had two singles (one off of the position player), but he struck out three more times. He’s at 21 strikeouts in 44 plate appearances.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
It’s time to see if Connor Scott can pitch, he isn’t going to make it as a hitter. Shame because he looks like a good defensive outfielder. Mentioned it yesterday but his hitting is atrocious.
Watching him yesterday, it looks like he would benefit from dropping his hands. His swing plane is too high and he doesn’t have the upper body strength to do anything when he’s making contact with a short, compact swing.
Jared Oliva lite?
Oliva doesn’t have the arm of Scott, but he does have major league hits. Scott’s probably not going to get a major league plate appearance.
Memorial Day is in sight and that Altoona roster is looking like a wasteland of busted prospects.
Yep, most of their position players looks like organizational depth or non-prospects. At least there’s Davis and a couple that could rebound. Hopefully a few guys from Greensboro will earn a promotion.
Love the turnaround for Javier Rivas at Bradenton. Last two games he is 5 for 8, 5 RBI, 1 HR, 1 BB, 0 K. For May he has 2 BB/7 K which is a major turnaround from April where he had 4 BB/34 K. Tip of the cap to both Rivas, and Hitting Coach Quintin Brown.
Others watched were Cal Mitchell and Nick Gonzales in AAA. Both struck out a ton in April – Mitchell 5 BB/33 K; NG 9 BB/ 30 K. In May Mitchell has turned it around – in 29 AB he has 2 BB and only 6 K (around a 19% K rate) and is hitting for a .992 OPS. NG is hitting around .880 OPS, but in only 19 AB he has 1 BB and 8 K (around a 40% K rate).
Those OF’s in A+ Jase Bowen (.881 OPS), Sammy Siani (.917 OPS), and Hudson Head (.842 OPS) are all improving their stock and they are all in their age 22 seasons.
Johnson is the worst “best hitter in the draft” I’ve ever seen.
Still a small sample size, but you have to wonder how so many people could all be wrong.
I hope we see something, but jeeze, he has been terrible.
Why is Swaggerty out? Injury or personal?
Pirates came out and said he is battling a virus and will be back later this month. It’s also been mentioned that his family has been going thru the ringer for the past year. Hopefully everything works out for him.
One more thing. I just checked to see again how Blake Sabol is doing so far, and he’s doing quite well considering he was a Rule 5 selection. It’s painful to see, actually, because I felt he was ready to contribute at the MLB level, and he has …. with the Giants. The Pirates offense sure could have used him. The beat goes on for this franchise.
I think the Pirates looked at him and thought where could he play? He isn’t a catcher and would be a bat only player. That hasn’t worked out for Cal Mitchell. It’s still very early.
And yet the Giants said, I’ll take that “not catcher” guy and put him in as a catcher. Though he is still striking out in 40% of this PAs
Eh, doesn’t make it the right move.
oh totally with you, hated not protecting him…I imagine he’d have been called up and helping out this season somewhere.
Yea, at the time I was surprised by not protecting him but I understood why the Pirates did it based on their offseason approach. He reminds me of other players like Madris, who had upper level success and not MLB sustained success.
Yup……pretty dumb move not protecting that guy. Zero sense.
I watched both the Bradenton and Indianapolis games tonight. Johnson looks more beefed up. I’m somewhat concerned about the strikeouts because of how highly touted he was (Wade Boggs in the making; best contact hitter scouts have seen in decades etc). Everything I read that MLB Pipeline has about him, I’m not so sure, and that’s even with the limited sample size. In all fairness, one of the strikeouts was totally bogus. Terrible call. He was taking a base from a high outside pitch and the ump called a strike. Wrong call! Time will tell with Johnson, so hopefully he reaches his potential. Btw, who is this Nolasco guy?? He is fun to watch.
For Indy, Priester labored a little bit but but it was still a quality start. His fast ball seemed to top out at only 93 mph. Not sure what that means, but I see a pitcher who should be a quality #3 for the Pirates. Gonzales is still striking out way too much. At this point I’ve resided myself to the fact he may never be what I had hoped he’d be. I still think we’ll see him get a chance no matter the strikeouts at some point. And Endy really has a pretty swing, but he hasn’t found his groove for the season just yet. Let him stay at AAA until he finds that groove. But I’m definitely excited about his potential.
Gonzales is a typical Pirate draftee. A highly touted prospect failure.
Both Termarr and Nick G were touted as the best hitters in their class.😕😕