Three early games on the schedule for Wednesday. The two earliest games ended on walk-off homers, with Bradenton and Greensboro both taking the losses. Indianapolis lost by one, but Altoona made up for it all with some nice pitching and strong offense.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Prospect Watch: Strong Starting Pitching and Dingerz Provide Some Highlights
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
INDIANAPOLIS VS IOWA
Final Score: Iowa 5, Indianapolis 4
Indianapolis Starter: Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 3.68)
Pitching Line: 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Nick Gonzales 0-for-3, 2 BB
- Canaan Smith-Njigba 0-for-1, HBP
- Endy Rodriguez 0-for-3, 2 BB, SB
- Ryan Vilade 0-for-4, BB
- Jared Triolo 0-for-5
- Cal Mitchell 1-for-2, 2B, RBI
Game Recap:
Osvaldo Bido allowed two earned runs over six innings on Wednesday afternoon. He gave up five hits and four walks, while striking out six batters. He threw 91 pitches, with 59 strikes. He now has a 3.57 ERA and 41 strikeouts over 35.1 innings this year.
Chase De Jong followed with two runs over his only inning of work. One of the runs was unearned, but that was due to his own error. Yerry De Los Santos and Cody Bolton each tossed a scoreless frame.
Indianapolis scored a run in the third inning on Aaron Shackelford’s fourth homer. Chavez Young had a sacrifice fly in the fourth for their second run. Cal Mitchell doubled in a run in the seventh for the Indians, then a bases loaded walk to Shackelford made it 5-4, which is where the game ended. Josh Bissonette grounded out following Shackelford, which ended the threat.
Canaan Smith-Njigba left the game early after a HBP, though he did run the bases first. He was replaced by Mitchell, whose double was his sixth of the season.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
ALTOONA @ BOWIE
Final Score: Altoona 11, Bowie 2
Altoona Starter: Sean Sullivan (0-0, 2.08)
Pitching Line: 6 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Liover Peguero 2-for-5, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
- Henry Davis 2-for-4, 2 BB
- Matt Gorski 2-for-4, 2 RBI
- Matt Fraizer 0-for-5
Game Recap:
Sean Sullivan almost completed his best start, until running into trouble with two outs in the sixth inning. He allowed two runs with two outs, while getting some help from an outfield assist by Fabricio Macias to end the inning. It was still a very nice overall outing, with two runs on two hits and three walks in sixth innings. He threw 76 pitches, with 45 going for strikes. Sullivan picked up six strikeouts. He now has a 2.28 ERA in 27.2 innings.
Cameron Junker tossed a scoreless seventh. Brad Case took the final two innings, working around a few base runners to throw shutout ball, while picking up four strikeouts.
Altoona scored three runs in the first, after Liover Peguero walked, then Lolo Sanchez and Henry Davis singled to load the bases. Matt Gorski and Jacob Gonzalez hit sacrifice flies, then Drew Maggi singled in a run.
There was no more scoring in the game until the sixth inning. Peguero hit his 11th double, which drove in two runs. Lolo Sanchez singled in a run. Gorski doubled in a run. A Gonzalez ground out added another run.
An error scored a run in the seventh. Drew Maggi doubled in a run in the eighth, then scored on a Macias single to make it 11-2.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
GREENSBORO @ ASHEVILLE
Final Score: Asheville 5, Greensboro 3
Greensboro Starter: Po-Yu Chen (0-3, 6.75)
Pitching Line: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Tsung-Che Cheng 1-for-3, 2B, RBI, BB, SB
- Jase Bowen 0-for-5
- Hudson Head 1-for-4
- Sammy Siani 0-for-4
- Maikol Escotto 2-for-4, 2B
Game Recap:
Po-Yu Chen has struggled in a few games this year, with some of his best results actually coming at home. Today’s game was his best start so far this season, and it came on the road. He went six innings, allowing one earned run on six hits, one walk and a career high eight strikeouts. He had seven games between the 2021-22 seasons with seven strikeouts. He cut a full run off of his ERA, going from 6.75 to a 5.74 mark.
Jaycob Deese followed with two shutout innings, sending the game into the ninth in a tie. Greensboro scored once in the ninth, then Eddy Yean tried for the save. He walked the first two batters he faced, then served up a three-run walk-off homer, taking the loss without recording an out.
Greensboro scored their first run in the fifth on a wild pitch. They scored again in the seventh on a Tsung-Che Cheng ground out. Jackson Glenn doubled in a run in the ninth.
Cheng hit his sixth double, walked and stole his tenth base. Maikol Escotto had a single, double and two runs. Glenn and Eli Wilson each had two hits.
Greensboro had one walk and ten strikeouts, while going 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
BRADENTON @ CLEARWATER
Final Score: Clearwater 5, Bradenton 4
Bradenton Starter: Owen Kellington (0-1, 3.66)
Pitching Line: 3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Jesus Castillo 2-for-3, RBI, 2 BB, SB
- Termarr Johnson 1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
- Javier Rivas 0-for-3, BB
- Shalin Polanco 1-for-4, 2B
- Enmanuel Terrero 0-for-3, BB
Game Recap:
Owen Kellington had quite a day for strikeouts, even if it wasn’t a strong game for overall results. He went three innings, allowing three runs on four hits, two walks and seven strikeouts. That tied his career high for strikeouts in a game. He threw 64 pitches, with 40 going for strikes. He now has a 4.37 ERA this year over 22.2 innings, with 35 strikeouts.
Joshua Loeschern walked three batters in the fourth, without getting out of the inning. Darvin Garcia followed by retiring all seven batters he faced, stranding three inherited runners, while striking out four batters. Julian Bosnic followed with scoreless seventh and eighth innings.
Bradenton tied the game 4-4 in the top of the ninth, but Yunior Thibo served up a walk-off homer in the ninth
The Marauders were down 4-0 through six innings. They got a run in the seventh on a solo homer by Nick Cimillo. Termarr Johnson doubled in two runs in the eighth, though he got thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. Jesus Castillo tied it in the ninth with an RBI single.
Castillo reached base four times on two singles and two walks, while also stealing his sixth base. Deivis Nadal stole his ninth base. Shalin Polanco hit his fifth double.
DSL/FCL
The schedules for the Dominican Summer League and Florida Complex League have been released.
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.
Wheres our resident sean sullivan hype man at these days?
Held Charlton Heston Kjerstad and Colby John Mayo to a walk and a single last night!
Liover Peguero LETS GO
They need to get Davis up to the bigs, playing DH, First, Right, a little catcher- whatever. Just get him in the lineup.
Hey! Triolo! You trying to make me look bad??
Everyone starting to breathe a little easier on Termarr Johnson? OPS up to .678, strikeouts seem to be lessening. Perhaps that injury just really threw him off for a bit right at a time when everyone was ramping up for live action.
18 yo kid figuring it out after getting punched in the mouth by the best competition he’s ever seen.
Almost half of his contact have been line drives and last night’s double was struck just short of 110mph.
I agree with this totally. Dude probably just started wearing deodorant. Or still has acne. Give him time. Or some Stridex pads.
Still don’t disagree with Wilbur about his concern seeing TJ swing through hittable pitches, but I suppose I fall on the side that says the concern is mostly relative to expectations and scouts generally suck at that aspect of the job.
I always wonder once one scout raves about whatever plus tool a draft eligible player has do they all just follow suit to some extent. I can’t imagine there being that many kids he faced in high school that got drafted. I also usually default to people like Wilbur who watch a lot more than me.
Verrrrry much agree with you on both points.
Elite dudes like Termarr make their money during the summer on the showcase circuit where the talent is immensely better than what they face in high school, but it’s still an exceptionally small sample either way.
There was an interview with him the other week where he talked about going to get his car inspected alone for the first time. Hes got time
For me he does. I am buying his t-shirt/jersey when he makes it to the Bigs. Not if they give him like #64 at first because you know he will get his favorite number. It’s crazy in SC you don’t have to inspect your car. Just pay a tax yearly which decreases as your car ages. Amazing how many cars cruise by without hoods or several windows that are plastic.
I mentioned it a few times but it’s worth repeating. The Pirates told the media he would get into game action soon and then a week later he was with Bradenton. I don’t know how many extended spring training games he played, but it couldn’t have been more than 2-3. He was basically in early spring training mode when he joined Bradenton and that turned out to be a bad idea. It was just the offense either, the early defense was bad too.
playing devils advocate here, so bear with me, but isn’t a prospect of Tremarr’s caliber and age really doing pretty much all of the things in spring training minus the games most of the offseason for development? I don’t see why 3 weeks down should have much effect.
As Anthony recently wrote, it’s time to start paying attention to Aaron shackelford . Also Eddie Yean updates never seem to be promising , I hope he figures it out
All the bullpens in the system are springing leaks. BC’s bungling in the MiL R5 has seriously depleted pitching depth and they’ve done a poor job of drafting and developing Ps.