This is the final week of the minor league first half, and only two affiliates are within arms reach: Altoona Curve (2.0 games back) and Greensboro Grasshoppers (3.0 games back). Greensboro has a tough battle ahead, as they face a Winston-Salem Dash team that is in a heated South Division battle, while the Curve face the Southwest Division’s worst team by record with a relatively depleted roster from promotions.
Triple-A: Indianapolis Indians
The biggest Indianapolis Indians news of the week is obviously the fact that 2020 second rounder Jared Jones has been promoted, as reported by John Dreker. As mentioned in previous previews, the Columbus Clippers squad has lost a lot of it’s prospect punch due to promotions, but it still carries a lot of intrigue with top 100 draw. Catching prospect Bo Naylor was recently promoted, and with Mike Zunino being designated for assignment, he’s likely there to stay if he holds his own. Gavin Williams is the Cleveland Guardians top prospect, and he’s likely not going anywhere with the state of the Guardians rotation. Which itself has two starters who very recently graduated.
Opponent: COLUMBUS (GUARDIANS)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .777 OPS
Rank: 14/20
Team ERA: 5.32
ERA Rank: 13/20
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- GAVIN WILLIAMS | RHP | 1
- MLB Pipeline’s Top 100: #17
- Baseball America’s Top 100: #10
- GEORGE VALERA | OF | 2
- MLB Pipeline’s Top 100: #38
- Baseball America’s Top 100: #85
- BRAYAN ROCCHIO | SS/2B | 5
- MLB Pipeline’s Top 100: #58
- Baseball America’s Top 100: #36
- CODY MORRIS | RHP | 12
- JOEY CANTILLO | LHP | 15
- JHONKENSY NOEL | OF/3B/1B | 16
- HUNTER GADDIS | RHP | 24
- NIC ENRIGHT | RHP | 25
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
Not to be outshined or left thin by Jared Jones’ promotion, the Altoona Curve also recently welcomed one of the more promising arms in Anthony Solometo. Just as with the Columbus Clippers, the Baltimore Orioles’ affiliate Bowie Baysox have seen quite a few of their higher end prospects — as well as two of their top thirty this week — move along already. That being said, Coby Mayo hasn’t slowed down at all, and is having a huge bounce back year that’s seen him rejoin Top 100 lists. Bowie will be welcoming a new outfielder this week, and one who may ring a bell, Jud Fabian. He was a top 5-10 candidate at the onset of the 2021 draft coverage, but a poor junior season at University of Florida led him to return for his senior season after falling to the Boston Red Sox in the second round. There was also reporting that he essentially really wanted to go to Baltimore, which also aided in his decision to return to the Gators. He’s been really good and hitting the snot out of the ball, so it’s another high end bat on top of Coby Mayo to look out for against the Curve’s pitching.
Opponent: BOWIE (ORIOLES)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .739 OPS
Rank: 5/12
Team ERA: 4.29
ERA Rank: 6/12
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- COBY MAYO | 3B | 8
- MLB Pipeline’s Top 100: #96
- Baseball America’s Top 100: #96
- CADE POVICH | LHP | 11
- JUD FABIAN | OF | 15
- CHAYCE MCDERMOTT | RHP | 17
- JOHN RHODES | OF | 19
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
Greensboro takes on the Winston-Salem Dash, who are more of a good team than they are exciting. The Chicago White Sox farm system has been depleted, and their top prospect Colson Montgomery has spent the entirety of the 2023 season on the injured list so far. The biggest draw for the Grasshoppers is going to be that the first half division race is still within reach, and they currently have four of the Pirates top 30 prospects in their rotation with Baseball America’s recent update: Bubba Chander (#7), Thomas Harrington (#11), Braxton Ashcraft (#15), and Po-Yu Chen (#25).
Opponent: WINSTON-SALEM (WHITE SOX)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .733 OPS
Rank: 6/12
Team ERA: 5.20
ERA Rank: 11/12
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- JONATHAN CANNON | RHP | 10
- KOHL SIMAS | RHP | 15
- JARED KELLEY | RHP | 16
- WILFRED VERAS | 1B/3B | 17
- WES KATH | 3B | 18
- TERRELL TATUM | OF | 24
- LOIDEL CHAPELLI | 2B | 25
SINGLE-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
The Detroit Tigers farm system is currently very top heavy, which means the Low A affiliate Lakeland Flying Tigers roster is thin. The division race has long been out of question for the Bradenton Marauders, but if you’ve been paying attention, some of the young bats have been taking off lately. Lakeland is last in team ERA and tied for last in team OPS, so, if you want to tune in… Actually you can’t, cause the Marauders are on the road. Which is funny cause a season ago, we could never watch Greensboro since they didn’t have a home stream. Bradenton has a home stream, but seem to only visit clubs without one. So, keep an eye on those box scores, because we could see some big weeks. Tigers first overall pick in 2021 Jackson Jobe recently made his 2023 debut after lumbar spine inflammation, so there is a small chance he may move up from throwing the the Tigers’ FCL affiliate. Jobe fell off top 100 lists, as he was generally on the back end and hasn’t been able to stay healthy yet.
Opponent: LAKELAND (TIGERS)
Opponent Stats
Team OPS: .674 OPS
Rank: 9/10
Team ERA: 5.64
ERA Rank: 10/10
Top Prospects
Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking
- PEYTON GRAHAM | SS | 6
- CRISTIAN SANTANA | SS/2B | 9
- MANUEL SEQUERA (7-Day IL) | INF | 16
- LUKE GOLD | 2B/3B | 18
- ABEL BASTIDAS | SS | 19
- ELVIS ALVARADO (Rehab) | RHP | 23
PIRATES PROSPECTS DAILY
By Tim Williams
There was a lot of Henry Davis yesterday on the site:
Anthony Murphy gave his expectations: What to Expect From Henry Davis in Pittsburgh
Our Roundtable of expectations: The Book on Henry Davis
Our new Prospect Watch had a look at his skills in right field: Prospect Watch: Henry Davis, Bubba Chandler, Julian Bosnic
The game report looked at his first MLB hit: P2Live: Davis Doubles in First At-Bat, But Lifeless Pirates Routed for Seventh Straight Loss
Then there was the move to call him up: Pirates Add Henry Davis to Roster; Option Mark Mathias and DFA Eli Villalobos
In non Henry Davis news, two Bradenton Marauders won weekly Florida State League awards.
**Shalin Polanco and Alessandro Ercolani Take Home Florida State League Awards
Song of the Day
Jeff Reed with the pick.
