Our new Prospect Watch features daily updates on three players in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system. Looking for the nightly game recaps? Check out Pirates Prospects Live:
Yesterday’s Results: Keller Has Outstanding Start, Davis Hits First Dinger, But Pirates Still Lose
Today’s Action: The 2023 Potential of Nick Gonzales
Last year’s fourth round pick Michael Kennedy pitched yesterday in the Florida Complex League. Wilbur Miller saw him in action, and has a report on him today. While watching the Pirates lose in Miami, I was also following the start from Po-Yu Chen, and noticing the catching work from Wyatt Hendrie.
WILBUR MILLER: Michael Kennedy, LHP, FCL Pirates (Rk)
The Pirates selected lefty Michael Kennedy in round 4 of the 2022 draft, from the frozen tundra . . . well, okay, out of Troy, New York, which isn’t exactly a baseball hotbed. Kennedy signed for $1M, which was nearly double the slot. He’s not a big guy; MiLB.com lists him at 6’1”, but other sources say 5’11”. He came with the rep of being very advanced for a prep pitcher, especially one from a location like Troy. He was also very young, as he won’t turn 19 until November 30 of this year. He didn’t pitch last year after signing.
Kennedy’s made three starts this year for the FCL Pirates and, statistically speaking, it’s been almost the same start every time. He’s gone 3.1, 4.0 and 3.1 IP; allowed one, one and two hits; walked three, three and one; and fanned five, six and six. That works out to a 0.84 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, .114 opponents’ average, 5.9 BB/9 and 14.3 K/9. So, everything’s been great except the walks, which are high but not scary.
In the game on June 22, Kennedy had a lot of three-ball counts in the first two innings. He wasn’t all-over-the-place wild. He figures to be a finesse guy. He moves the ball around the plate and changes speeds a lot. When he was missing, it generally wasn’t by much. Despite the deep counts – which probably led to the exit after three and a third – he generally got through the at-bat, walking only one. And he picked that guy off, showing a good move. In fact, he had the runner leaning a bit on a throw before the one on which he got the guy. Kennedy allowed two hits, both triples by one of the Orioles’ better prospects. Both should have been caught, but center fielder Jhonson Pena, an infielder until this year, took some very creative routes.
Kennedy’s fastball sat at 87-88 mph, but he occasionally cranked it up to 90. At 18 and a half, he should get stronger, although not being a big guy he probably doesn’t have a great deal of projection. What he does have is a good change, which frequently was how he got past the three-ball counts. Or maybe I should say an effective change. At the rookie levels, any kind of change at all can work wonders, so it’ll be important to see how the pitch fares higher up. Kennedy was able to miss bats with the fastball, sometimes throwing it by hitters, which may be an indication that the change was keeping them honest. He also threw a curve that showed good break, but he didn’t go to it a lot. For him, much will depend on whether he can throw his secondary stuff for strikes. If he’s using it to get ahead in the count, it should make his fastball more effective.
I’m guessing the Pirates will be hoping to get Kennedy’s innings up and his per-inning pitch counts down a bit. If that happens, he could move up to Bradenton, where the hitters will be a better test.
TIM WILLIAMS: Po-Yu Chen, RHP, Greensboro (A+)
Po-Yu Chen had his best outing of the 2023 season last night. The right-hander from Taiwan went seven innings, giving up a run on six hits, with two walks and three strikeout. The Pirates originally signed Chen for $1.25 million in 2019, making him one of their biggest international signings of all time, especially on the pitching side.
Chen showed some of his potential last year, flashing solid command of a four pitch mix at a young age. That mix includes two breaking pitches that grade as plus, along with a fringe-average fastball that can be hit around for a big inning. When Chen is staying ahead of hitters, they have little chance. Even when he falls behind, he has the pitches to get back in the count.
Last night he was helped by three double plays. The final one came in the seventh inning, with runners on first and second and no outs. Chen got a grounder to short for the easy 6-4-3 double play to ease the situation. In the next at-bat, he recorded his third strikeout, literally taking the bat out of the opponent’s hands.
Po Yu Chen is literally taking the bat out of the opponents hands tonight for Greensboro. 7 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K pic.twitter.com/xTRzzargym
— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsP2) June 23, 2023
Prior to last night’s start, Chen had a 3.08 ERA in 38 innings over the last month. That included a 26.8% strikeout rate and a 7% walk rate. Check out this story from Anthony Murphy before the season on Chen’s stuff.
TIM WILLIAMS: Wyatt Hendrie, C, Greensboro (A+)
Wyatt Hendrie picked up two hits last night for Greensboro. The recently promoted catcher is hitting for a .742 OPS. Hendrie isn’t known for his offense, but is one of the best defensive catchers in the system. The only catcher who might be better than him is Dylan Shockley, one level up.
Aside from the two hits, Hendrie had his defensive skills on display last night. There were a lot of great frames throughout Po-Yu Chen’s start. That’s less of a skill these days, with automated balls and strikes in the future for baseball. The Pirates believe there is still a positive mental aspect to good framing.
What’s interesting about Hendrie in Greensboro is that he’s being run on like crazy. He has given up 36 stolen bases in 47 attempts, for a 23% caught stealing rate. That’s a big drop from the 35% rate in Bradenton in each of the last two years. Even with that 35% rate, he was run on a lot last year, giving up 55 stolen bases. He’s at 47 this year between the two levels, with a combined 27% caught stealing rate.
Prospect Watch Archives
6/22: Braxton Ashcraft, Jase Bowen, Maikol Escotto
6/21: Termarr Johnson, Connor Scott, Enmanuel Terrero
6/20: Cal Mitchell, Travis MacGregor, Alessandro Ercolani
6/19: Henry Davis, Bubba Chandler, Julian Bosnic
6/18: Jared Jones, Matt Gorski, Tony Blanco Jr.
6/17: Liover Peguero, Dominic Perachi, Carlos Mateo
6/16: Kyle Nicolas, Anthony Solometo, Jack Brannigan
The Prospect Watch runs every day at noon, featuring three players from the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system.
