Although he wasn’t directly involved in it, the Starling Marte trade opened up the door for the Pittsburgh Pirates to sign international free agent Solomon Maguire out of Australia.
It’s been a tough road for Maguire since signing the deal, due to injuries and the inconsistencies that comes with being in and out of the lineup.
After playing against some older competition in Winter Ball this offseason, he came into camp among a very crowded outfield picture for the Bradenton/Complex League teams. Unfortunately, Maguire began the season on the injured list, yet again, just now getting activated and playing in the FCL for the first time on Thursday.
Maguire took the saying ‘hit the ground running’ quite literally on Thursday, reaching base three times — two walks and a double — scoring three runs and stealing two bases. He did that without playing the entire game.
With Brennan Malone unable to stay healthy, benefiting from the Marte trade has been shifted to Liover Peguero, who is starting to turn it up in Double-A this year. Maguire falls into that trade indirectly, and while he’s already missed some time to an injury, has already shown a flash of what the Pirates saw when they signed him.
It’s crazy to think that he just turned 20-years-old back in March of this year.
The Pirates find themselves in a surprising competition for the top of the division this year, and a big part in that has been being among the league leaders in stolen bases, among other things as well.
As you peek throughout their system you can see players that can continue that work all over, with Maguire being one of them.
Prospect Notes
– The 2020 draft gave us Jared Jones, with 2021 brought in Anthony Solometo, Bubba Chandler and Owen Kellington.
Could they have done it three years in a row with third round pick Michael Kennedy?
He made his second start in the FCL on Thursday, ran into a little control issues (three walks) but also struck out six across four one-hit innings pitched.
Kennedy has allowed two hits (one run) while striking out 11 in 7.1 innings pitched this season.
He gives the Pirates a little added left-handed pitching depth in the system, as behind Solometo there isn’t much there until Hunter Barco returns.
Daily Video Rundown
For the second time this season, @liover_peguero has opened the game with a BANG! His eighth home run of the season gives us the early lead!
LISTEN: https://t.co/aioWvW3Svf
WATCH: https://t.co/6GP894jPtF pic.twitter.com/eQcW4iWPDn— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) June 15, 2023
Speaking of Peguero, he leads off the game with his eighth home run of the season.
This guy Henry Davis can swing it.
Eight game hitting streak to start his time in Triple-A seems pretty good for Henry Davis.
.@MAndujarPapa extended his hitting streak to 18 games in a BIG way.
Miguel Andujar comes up with yet another big hit for Indianapolis.
PIRATES PROSPECTS DAILY
By Tim Williams
Looking for our nightly recaps, from the majors all the way to the Dominican Summer League? Check out Pirates Prospects Live.
**P2Live: Pirate Pitching Falters as Cub Curse Continues
Every day at noon, we release our Prospect Watch, which features three players in the system each day. Yesterday’s featured Shalin Polanco, an outfielder in the lower levels with a lot of raw power potential.
**Prospect Watch: Shalin Polanco, Abrahan Gutierrez, Will Matthiessen
The Pirates recalled Yerry De Los Santos with Colin Holderman going to the bullpen. The pitching depth, both starting and late innings, needs a boost.
**Pirates Recall Yerry De Los Santos; Colin Holderman Heads to the Injured List
In the latest mock draft from MLB Pipeline, the Pirates are taking Dylan Crews.
**Dylan Crews Goes to Pirates in Latest Mock Draft
Missed yesterday? Anthony Murphy wrote about the recent promotion of Anthony Solometo.
**Anthony Solometo Promotion A Win For 2021 Draft Class
SONG OF THE DAY
On the album version of “Drain You”, found on the Nevermind album by Nirvana, there’s a subtle scream in the middle of the song. It almost sounds like a howl, growing to match the crescendo of the song. By the end of this growing rage, you can tell a scream is taking place.
If you go back and watch some of the earlier live shows, this scream isn’t present. I don’t know the history of when the scream was added, but if you watch anything after 1992, you’ll get a version of the scream that matches the album version — subtle and slowly growing.
In 1994, playing in Paris, Kurt Cobain’s guitar broke during this song. You can see it happen prior to the big crescendo moment. He frustratingly throws his guitar on the ground, grabs the microphone gingerly with two fingers as he drags it along to the back of the stage with his head down.
And then, the scream.
This scream wasn’t the album version. It didn’t start slow. It was the exact opposite of the album scream, starting with full rage and fading away. You can hear the frustration in Cobain’s voice. Rather than the album effect, which alerts you to the scream with a growing understanding of the anger you are hearing, in this version the anger is very explicit. And understood. A big part of what made Kurt Cobain great is that he was able to deliver a timeless performance even when things were breaking down.
I share all of this because I’m going to pick up my new laptop today. While I drive to Best Buy this afternoon, I’ll be thinking about how many times I’ve screamed like Kurt Cobain in the last year, trying to write articles with the equivalent of a broken guitar.
