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Prospect Watch: Will Matthiessen and Jase Bowen Each Drive in Five Runs in Greensboro Loss

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Tuesday was the Fourth of July, and we saw plenty of offensive fireworks between the four full season teams, as they averaged 7.5 runs each per game.

Lonnie White Jr. made his Bradenton debut, among even more transactions throughout the day and picked up his first hit, as well as a pair of walks and even an outfield assist. It was a little more on the rougher side of things for Yordany De Los Santos, as he struck out three times.

With both of the Dominican teams getting rained out, four of the five teams in the system that did play won, with Altoona being the lone loss.

Indianapolis, Greensboro, and Bradenton all will look to get one step closer to series victories, while Altoona will look to get in the win column this week.

-Anthony Murphy

Anthony Murphy: Matt Gorski, OF Altoona (AA)

Tuesday might have been the quintessential game that sums up Matt Gorski as a player. There is no doubting his raw skill set, but he just can’t hit enough to really start making progress in the right direction.

He went down and hit a breaking ball fading away from him to right center for a home run, a brilliant display of power, before hitting another one later on in the game, giving him 12 now on the season.

Gorski might have some of the best raw power in the system, and he was able to flash it in the first inning going the other way.

Defensively, after a ball dropped in front of him in center field he picked it up and fired it to third to throw out the runner trying to advance.

But then he also struck out twice in the game as well.

The skill is there, and he’s cutting back on the strikeouts in his second run at Double-A, but he’s also seen his walk rate drop as well and turns 26 in December.

TIM WILLIAMS: Liover Peguero, SS, Indianapolis (AAA)

A week ago, with an off day on a Tuesday, Liover Peguero drove over to Pittsburgh to take in a game at PNC Park. I haven’t talked with Peguero about this, but I have it on good authority that Peguero moved up closer from his original seat. An usher actually recognized him as a minor leaguer with the organization, and let him through to sit behind the plate. He was videoed reaching into the dugout and talking with Andrew McCutchen before the game, and interviewed by Robby Incmikoski in his new seat during the game. What stood out to me in watching that interview was how he was looking ahead to his future on that field — almost the personification of the childhood dream that we watch play out each night.

This is a player who was hitting .295/.367/.545 during the month of June with the Double-A Altoona Curve, prior to catching a big league game on a day off. He had five home runs in 21 games that month, and his hitting started long before that. I saw him in early May and he looked good, despite getting one hit in three games. That was a home run off a swingman reliever who shut the offense down for the next four innings after the homer. His approach was comfortable, and it has not surprised me that Peguero hasn’t stopped hitting since that home run. That hitting led up to the Pirates game last Tuesday. He returned to Altoona and hit two home runs the very next night. After the two homer night a week ago, he went 1-for-22 with two walks to follow that up in his next five games. The Pirates promoted him to the next level anyway.

The whole situation with Peguero highlights the humanity in this industry. Peguero is 22-years-old. He’s already spent three days in the majors, last year, and played one game. That wouldn’t make him feel like a Major Leaguer, but would give him a glimpse that the majors are only subtly different than Double-A — in a way the individuals control. Despite Peguero being in Double-A, in Pittsburgh he’s recognized as a professional baseball player, only slightly different than the ones on the field. I don’t think that slight difference is understood. Peguero is a similar hitter as Nick Gonzales from a skill standpoint. They’re both fueled by quick hand/eye coordination that allows them to quickly get the bat around and make contact with the most difficult pitches thrown in the world. They can sit back and wait on breaking stuff, while still being aggressive on fastballs in a way that most hitters couldn’t. They have the ability of a dual-attack at the plate, like a pitcher with two strong pitches trying to develop a third for consistency.

Peguero ultimately has the ability to get himself back to Pittsburgh, without buying a ticket for the game or being promoted by an usher. When he gets comfortable with his ability — in a way that Nick Gonzales seems to be doing now, and also in a way that I think is progressing with Cal Mitchell — Peguero will find Miguel Perez telling him he’s been promoted to the next level. Gonzales, Davis, and even Mitchell have shown that the Pirates will give a player a chance when they’re showing positive signs and an opportunity in the majors is available.

WILBUR MILLER: Wilber Dotel, RHP, Bradenton (A)

The Pirates signed Dotel in October 2020. He was not a big bonus guy, but he had good size and some projection. He threw as hard as 95 mph then, but now he’s sometimes up to 97-98 and sits above 94. He throws a lot of sliders and, according to StatCast (which I don’t trust a whole lot) also throws an occasional cutter and curve. The slider doesn’t have a high spin rate, but it gets swings and misses at a decent rate, as do his four-seamer and sinker (again, assuming these are really two different pitches).

When Dotel has trouble, it’s almost always his control. Opponents don’t elevate the ball against him much; in his three seasons so far, his opponents’ slugging average has been .259, .261 and .295. His mechanics don’t seem very consistent, which may account for the control issues as well as the fact that his velocity can vary a lot within each game.

Dotel got very good results in the DSL in 2021 and FCL in 2022. At Bradenton this year, he had a very rough time in his first couple games, then went on the injured list for about six weeks. In his last three outings, though, he’s allowed just two runs and six hits over 14 innings. His last game, against Clearwater, which is by far the FSL’s best hitting team, he had a pretty characteristic outing: five shutout innings, one hit and four walks. Dotel is worth watching and could profile as a late-inning reliever if moving to the bullpen helped him keep his velocity in the upper-90s.

Yesterday’s Top Performers

  • Miguel Andujar (AAA): 3-for-5, HR (9), 2B, 5 RBI
  • Jack Brannigan (A): 4-for-5, 3 R, RBI, BB, 3 2B
  • Matt Gorski (AA): 2-for-5, 2 HR (12), 3 RBI, 2 Run, OF Assist
  • Josiah Sightler (A): 3-for-4, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 2B
  • Ernie Ordonez (A+): 2-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI
  • Po-Yu Chen (A+): 7 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
  • Jase Bowen (A+): 2-for-4, 2 R, 2B
  • Check out yesterday’s full minor league results here.

Daily Video Rundown

Nick Gonzales has taken no time in adjusting to major league pitching, showing a very impressive ability to work the count in his favor in order to get a good pitch to hit. He picked up three hits on Tuesday, including two doubles.

This was an impressive piece of hitting by Gorski, who went down and hit the breaking ball where it was thrown to him, and sending it over the right center field fence for a home run. Gorski had himself quite the day, as highlighted above.

Anthony Murphy
Anthony Murphy
Anthony began writing over 10 years ago, starting a personal blog to cover the 2011 MLB draft, where the Pirates selected first overall. After bouncing around many websites covering hockey, he refocused his attention to baseball, his first love when it comes to sports. He eventually found himself here at Pirates Prospects in late 2021, where he covers the team’s four full season minor league affiliates.

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