Welcome back to our weekly Pirates minor league roundup, where we recap the top performances and noteworthy happenings within the Pirates organization. As always, every Monday we bring you the highlights from the past week, focusing on standout batters and pitchers making strides in the Pirates’ minor league system.
Last week’s top players were Aaron Shackelford and Caleb Smith. This week, we look at top performances from Henry Davis and JP Massey, as they were the top qualified players (minimum 20 plate appearances/three innings pitched) for the week.
BATTER OF THE WEEK: Henry Davis
This is the second time that Henry Davis has been named as the Batter of the Week. He also had another strong week in between in which he didn’t have enough plate appearances to qualify. Davis led the system with .368/.478/.790 slash line in 23 plate appearances. He connected on two doubles and two homers, while drawing three walks, against two strikeouts.
Davis played the outfield twice this week, after playing it just once this year before this past week. He is hitting like he should be promoted to Indianapolis, but if the plan is to keep him at catcher most of the time, he is exactly where he should be. He’s batting .308/.452/.648 through 25 games. That gives him the best OPS in the league.
BATTING AROUND THE SYSTEM
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS
Nick Gonzales – Gonzales hit .318/.400/.500 in 25 plate appearances this past week. He had seven hits, including two doubles and a triple. He’s hitting .279/.358/.452 over 27 games this year. That’s a nice slash line, but it comes with a 35% strikeout rate, which would not translate well to the majors, so he still needs some time.
Cal Mitchell – Mitchell hit .412/.542/.647 in 24 plate appearances, with a double, homer, four walks and two HBP. He got off to a slow start this year, which was only interrupted by one five-hit game in the middle. He now has a 1.051 OPS in May, after posting a .533 OPS in April.
Malcom Nunez -Nunez is basically in the same spot as Mitchell, just without the five-hit game to break up the struggling. This is his first big week. He hit .316/.381/.474 in 21 plate appearances. He’s hitting .213/.276/.312 over 32 games to start the year. He’s only 22 years old, so there is time.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA
Andres Alvarez – Alvarez was just outside the top ten for OPS, but that small difference was made up by having a better overall week with more plate appearances than the last cut. He hit .300/.440/.400 in 25 plate appearances, with two doubles and four walks. He had a strong off-season in Colombia that has not carried over as he repeats Altoona. The 26-year-old has a .584 OPS through 29 games.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO
Hudson Head – Head hit .278/.350/.500 in 20 plate appearances last week. He had a double, homer and two walks. He’s hitting .260/.333/.480 in 27 games this year, showing a slightly lower OBP than last year in Greensboro, though his slugging is 93 points higher.
Sammy Siani – Siani had one of the highest OPS for the week, but he had just two hits. It helped that they were both homers, plus he walked six times in 20 plate appearances. His OPS through 23 games is 263 points higher than last year at Greensboro.
SINGLE-A: BRADENTON
Jesus Castillo – Castillo had a big first week of the season, then slumped a bit since then until this past week. He hit .350/.435/.550 in 23 plate appearances. The 19-year-old, who won the FCL batting title last year, is hitting .250/.420/.308 in 31 games this season.
Rodolfo Nolasco – Nolasco has been hitting since he joined Bradenton three weeks into the season. He hit .350/.458/.600 in 24 plate appearances last week. He had two doubles, a homer and four walks. He has a .998 OPS in 16 games, with a 30% strikeout rate that is a nice improvement on last year’s number with Bradenton.
Javier Rivas – Rivas hit .375/.423/.542 in 26 plate appearances last week, with seven singles, a double and a homer. He’s hitting .232/.277/.304 in 29 games this year. His 37.5% strikeout rate needs to improve.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK: JP Massey
Massey was my pick this spring as a sleeper prospect who could turn into a legit prospect. That pick was made due to glowing reports from Spring Training. His control hasn’t been a strong point so far this year, so he might remain a sleeper unless he can have plenty of starts like the one he had this week.
He tossed five shutout innings on two hits, two walks and nine strikeouts. He has a 3.47 ERA through 23.1 innings, with 35 strikeouts. The velocity/off-speed pitches are all there for future success, he just needs better control consistently.
PITCHING THROUGH THE SYSTEM
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS
Osvaldo Bido – Bido had an impressive relief performance after following an opener. He went five scoreless innings on four hits, no walks and four strikeouts. You never know what you might get with him. At his best, he’s a strong middle relief option/spot starter at the big league level. He can have bad outings as well due to his control. He’s got the pitch-mix of a starter, along with nice mid-90s velocity, but he’s already 27 years old, so it’s difficult to project much more.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA
Cameron Junker – Junker made three relief appearances last week, resulting in four shutout innings. He had some control issues, but managed to keep the runs off of the board. He has a 2.19 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 12.1 innings this year.
Travis MacGregor – MacGregor had a start and a relief appearance, combining for 4.1 scoreless innings. He had control issues this week as well, yet got out of them thanks to three double plays. He has a 1.74 ERA, a 1.40 WHIP and 25 strikeouts in 23.1 innings.
Juan Minaya – Minaya tossed 3.2 scoreless over three appearances. He’s a former big leaguer in Double-A, so his 0.57 ERA should come with some caution that he’s just a veteran dominating younger hitters.
Aaron Shortridge – You could make a case for Shortridge as the Pitcher of the Week. It was a coin flip between him and Massey. I actually went with Game Score as the decider, with Massey picking up a 70 GS, compared to 66 for Shortridge, with Masey’s strikeouts providing the difference. Either way, it was a strong start for Shortridge, who went six shutout innings on four hits, one walk and three strikeouts. He now has a 3.98 ERA in 31.2 innings, with 21 strikeouts and a 1.26 WHIP.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO
Will Kobos – Kobos has been dominant all season. His 3.1 scoreless with seven strikeouts this week now has him at 16.1 scoreless innings on four hits, 20 strikeouts and an 0.55 WHIP. Get this man to Altoona by tomorrow.
Dante Mendoza – Mendoza has basically been quiet since joining the system in the Moroff/Luplow deal with the Cleveland Indians. He had a nice week that just went by, throwing 4.1 scoreless with seven strikeouts. However, that brought him down to a 4.86 ERA and a 1.68 WHIP for the season.
SINGLE-A: BRADENTON
Carlos Lomeli – Lomeli had two shutout appearances that resulted in four scoreless innings. He has a 2.45 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP in 14.2 innings. The caveat here is that he’s 24 years old in Low-A.
Dominic Perachi – Perachi allowed a run over five innings on three hits, a walk and nine strikeouts. He has a 2.61 ERA in 20.2 innings, with 27 strikeouts and a 1.45 WHIP. He did not pitch last year after being drafted in the 11th round.
