Four night games on the schedule. Henry Davis continued his strong season in an Altoona victory. Top pitching prospects Thomas Harrington and Anthony Solometo were both on the mound.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Prospect Watch: Sean Sullivan Has Another Good Start, Bradenton Rallies to Win
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
INDIANAPOLIS @ ST. PAUL
Final Score: St Paul 2, Indianapolis 1
Indianapolis Starter: Hunter Stratton (0-0, 2.35)
Pitching Line: 2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Nick Gonzales 1-for-4
- Endy Rodriguez 0-for-4
- Jared Triolo 1-for-4
- Malcom Nunez 1-for-3, HR, RBI
- Ryan Vilade 1-for-2, 2B, 2 BB
Game Recap:
Reliever Hunter Stratton got the start for Indianapolis on Friday night. He allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in two innings, while throwing 16 of 30 pitches for strikes. He came into the day with a 2.35 ERA in 15.1 innings, though it came with a 1.83 WHIP.
Starter Osvaldo Bido took over in the third inning. He had a terrific outing, throwing five shutout innings on four hits, no walks and four strikeouts. It didn’t go quite as smooth as that sounds, as he also hit three batters. He threw 55 of 88 pitches for strikes.
Yerry De Los Santos tossed a scoreless eighth, but Indianapolis lost 2-1.
The Indians scored their only run on a third inning homer by Malcom Nunez, his third of the season. Ryan Vilade had a good day, collecting a double and two walks. Everyone else went 3-for-23 with three singles and one walk.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
ALTOONA VS AKRON
Final Score: Altoona 2, Akron 1
Altoona Starter: Aaron Shortridge (2-2, 4.91)
Pitching Line: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Liover Peguero 2-for-5, 2B
- Matt Fraizer 0-for-4
- Henry Davis 2-for-4, 2B, RBI, BB
- Matt Gorski 1-for-4
Game Recap:
Aaron Shortridge had a terrific outing on Friday, throwing six shutout innings on four hits, one walk and three strikeouts. He threw 52 of 81 pitches for strikes. He lowered his season ERA almost a full run, going from 4.91 down to a 3.98 mark.
Matt Eckelman took over in the seventh. He threw shutout ball in his first inning, then allowed a run in the eighth to tie the game. Juan Minaya stranded two inherited runners to end the eighth, then tossed a scoreless ninth. Oliver Garcia got the win with a shutout frame in the tenth.
Henry Davis reached base on a double, single and a walk. He got on base again in the tenth, which shows up as a ground out in the boxscore, but it was a walk-off grounder that gave Altoona a 2-1 victory. Jacob Gonzalez singled home Davis in the fourth with the first run of the game. Davis now has a .310 average and a 1.132 OPS. He played right field in this game.
Liover Peguero had a single and his sixth double. Gonzalez had two hits. Connor Scott had a single, walk and his third steal.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
GREENSBORO VS JERSEY SHORE
Final Score: Greensboro 6, Jersey Shore 4
Greensboro Starter: Anthony Solometo (0-2, 3.96)
Pitching Line: 4.2 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 6 BB, 6 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Jase Bowen 1-for-4, 2 SB
- Hudson Head 1-for-4, HR, 3 RBI
- Maikol Escotto 2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
- Sammy Siani 0-for-3, BB, SB
Game Recap:
Anthony Solometo had some rough control on Friday night, which led to him walking six batters, while throwing more balls than strikes. He went 4.2 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits, to go along with those six walks and six strikeouts. He threw just 44 strikes in 91 pitches. His ERA actually went down two points in the game, giving him a 3.94 mark and 40 strikeouts in 29.2 innings.
Santiago Florez took over in the fifth and recorded the final out, while stranding an inherited runner. He threw a scoreless sixth, before giving way to Eddy Yean, who allowed a run in his only frame. Will Kobos continued to dominate High-A hitters, throwing two no-hit innings with four strikeouts. He has thrown 16.1 scoreless innings on four hits, while striking out 20 batters.
Greensboro got a huge hit early when Hudson Head hit his third homer of the season, a three-run shot. Mike Jarvis doubled home a run in the fourth, then Maikol Escotto doubled in two runs in the sixth.
Jase Bowen had a single, two steals and an outfield assist. Sammy Siani had a walk, a steal and an outfield assist. Will Matthiessen had three walks and two runs scored.
LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
BRADENTON VS LAKELAND
Final Score: Lakeland 3, Bradenton 2
Bradenton Starter: Thomas Harrington (4-0, 3.65)
Pitching Line: 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Jesus Castillo 2-for-4, 3B, RBI, HBP
- Shalin Polanco 0-for-4, BB
- Rodolfo Nolasco 1-for-5
- Javier Rivas 0-for-5
- Enmanuel Terrero 0-for-5
Game Recap:
Thomas Harrington was cruising through his night until they had a lightning delay, which went too long for him to continue to pitch. He ended up with three shutout innings on one hit, no walks and four strikeouts. He threw 28 of 40 pitches for strikes.
Blake Cederlind followed Harrington with his first pitching appearance since he played for the Pirates in 2020. It didn’t go well, but just that he was finally out there was significant enough. He gave up two runs in his only inning on two walks, a hit batter and two balks. Cederlind threw 12 of 27 pitches for strikes.
Julian Bosnic took over next. He threw two shutout innings, with one walk and four strikeouts. Ryan Harbin joined the game in the seventh inning. He was strong for two shutout/no-hit innings, striking out five batters. Michael Fulgencio had the ninth, throwing a scoreless inning to give Bradenton a chance while down one run.
The Marauders got their first run on a seventh inning triple by Jesus Castillo. A catcher’s interference call in the bottom of the ninth led to a game-tying double by Omar Alfonzo with two outs.
After the dramatic comeback, Fulgencio balked home the winning run in the tenth. All three Lakeland runs scored on balks.
The human windmills were in full effect during this game, with 30 total strikeouts. They also combined to go 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
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.
Hope Endy gets his bat going soon. Kind of surprised to see him struggling a bit this year.
He started slow last year and I’m guess his injury pushed him back some this year. With Endy I’m not worried if he is going to hit, just when is he going to take off.
feels like he’s close to putting it together, definitely not overmatched.
What gives with Pirate management? Davis is now playing right field instead of catching, which I have read he is improving at. So are the Pirates thinking of making him an outfielder? Why? Endy has more ability to switch positions as he has caught, played outfield and second base. Why are they trying to put a round peg into a square hole? This makes no sense to me.
I think if all goes as planned for the future, they will both be catchers on the Pirates roster. On the days when Endy catches, they are hoping Henry can play the outfield maybe once a week. The days when Henry is catching, Endy will play somewhere else. I like the plan, especially if it works.
Because Endy is a better catcher now and will likely remain so in the future.
Feels like Canaan hasn’t played in a week. Maybe John knows…
“Human Windmills” – that’s calling it! With what seems to be a newfound interest by this Pirates franchise in limiting the number of strikeouts by batters, have you ever considered adding the number of K’s in the Top Performer lines?
Thanks for pointing out the year Will Kobos is having at A+; about time to let him try AA again? A big improvement on limiting his number of Walks so far this year.
Starting to believe that Tsung-Che Cheng could be the best fielding and hitting MI prospect in the Pirate minor league system right now. Excellent numbers at Bradenton last year and at GBO so far this year. Hits for both average and surprising power for a kid who is only 5’7″, BB/K numbers are excellent, steals bases well, and his fielding numbers at SS and 2B are better than excellent. Valued by Fangraphs as our 34th Best Prospect, 35+, after the 2022 season.
Thinking the same on Cheng, I’d like to see him in Altoona before long.
I know he is young, but he has played above his age for years on the International scene. You know, the field does not change dimensions. If you are a standout fielder at SS in your mid-teens, chances are you will continue to be a standout fielder as you age up.