Of the seven total affiliates, six of them won their game on Friday in the Pirates system. It was actually impossible for them to get a clean sweep, as the two DSL teams played against each other.
With their win, backed by four hits by Josiah Sightler, the Bradenton Marauders jump to 10-games over .500 and are two wins away from completing the six game sweep against Daytona.
Greensboro won on an extra-innings walk-off single by Luke Brown, with Thomas Harrington pitching six strong innings to start the game.
Altoona got seven strong innings from Aaron Shortridge, along with three hits from Jackson Glenn. With the win, they are guaranteed at least a series split against Erie. Both Indianapolis and Greensboro are now tied 2-2 in their respective weekly series.
Anthony Murphy: Jared Jones, RHP Indianapolis (AAA)
There isn’t much left to say about Jones, who struck out seven in four innings of work on Friday. He came out of the bullpen after JC Flowers opened for him, and going into a brief break, it was probably to give Jones some added rest.
Jones showed some great resilience in his latest outing, after putting himself in a tough situation. After walking the first two batters of an inning, and then allowing a single, Jones had the bases loaded with no body out.
He dug deep, induced a double play – which scored a runner – before getting a strikeout to end the inning. We know the kind of stuff Jones has, so really it’s situations like this that really help him develop further.
Not an ideal situation to put yourself into, and that will hurt him at times, but it’s good to see a 21-year-old not buckle under pressure presented by Triple-A hitters.
Anthony Murphy: Thomas Harrington, RHP Greensboro (A+)
Watching Harrington pitch on Friday, one night after Bubba Chandler, you can see the difference in experience between the two. One pitched three years in college, the other is in his first year as a full-time pitcher.
Harrington has shown great command and control, being able to locate his fastball all over the zone on Friday. It’s almost been two completely different pitchers between his time in Bradenton and Greensboro.
While in Single-A, he really attacked the bottom of the zone with his fastball/sinker, inducing a lot of weak contact into the ground, and not really getting a lot of swing and miss.
Greensboro he’s blowing fastballs elevated in the zone past hitters. Showing a lot more traditional fastball/slider mix to generate swings and misses. He was throwing the slider off the same eye level as the fastball at times, which left the pitch up in the zone more, but he got away with it on Friday.
TIM WILLIAMS: Rodolfo Nolasco, RF, Bradenton (A)
Some of the best raw power in the system belongs to outfielder Rodolfo Nolasco, who homered twice on Thursday, giving him ten on the year. Nolasco is in his second season with the Marauders, showing improved numbers this time around. His walk rate has improved from 11.5% to 16.4%. His isolated power has jumped from .186 to .229. His strikeouts have dropped slightly from 34% to 32.4%. He’s one shy of his home run total last year in 83 fewer plate appearances.
The strikeout rate is a concern, as is the fact that Nolasco has a .234 average. That’s down from .239 last season. This type of three-true-outcomes approach doesn’t project well in the upper levels, where the swing and miss should be exploited, and there will be fewer bad pitches to drive up the walk rate or crush over the fence.
What I find interesting is that Nolasco went on a long stretch with just one walk during the month of June. From June 8th through June 22nd, he collected one walk. His OPS during this stretch was .546. Since then, his on-base percentage has been at .462, his average at .243, and his strikeout rate has dropped to 21.2%. This is a small sample size, influenced by those two homers. They do show a positive trend from an interesting power hitting prospect. If this continues, the 21-year-old could warrant a push to Greensboro.
Prospect Watch Player Archives
7/7: Bubba Chandler, Andre Jackson, Tsung Che-Cheng
7/6: Kyle Nicolas, Nick Dombkowski, Tyler Samaniego
7/5: Matt Gorski, Liover Peguero, Wilber Dotel
7/4: Esmerlyn Valdez, Joshua Loeschorn, Andres Silvera
7/3: Jared Jones, Derek Diamond, Josiah Sightler
7/2: Endy Rodriguez, Ryan Harbin, Jonathan Rivero
6/30: Owen Kellington, Alika Williams, Jackson Grounds
Yesterday’s Top Performers
- Josiah Sightler (A): 4-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, HR (3), 2B
- Jared Jones (AAA): 4 IP, H, ER, 2 BB, 7 K
- Matt Fraizer (AA): 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, 2B
- Tres Gonzalez (A+): 3-5, R, HR (4), RBI
- Alika Williams (AAA): 2-4, R, RBI, 2B
- Luke Brown (A+): 2-5, R, HR (4), 3 RBI
- Jackson Glenn (AA): 3-5, 2 R, RBI, BB, 2B
- Ryan Vilade (AAA): 2-4 2B, RBI
- Aaron Shortridge (AA): 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K
- Thomas Harrington (A+): 6 IP, 5 H, ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- Check out the rest of yesterday’s action here.
Daily Video Rundown
.@jared_jones_17 shined in relief.
After JC Flowers opened the game, Jared Jones pitched the next four innings, striking out seven batters in that span. In 19.1 Triple-A innings so far for Jones, he has picked up 24 strikeouts.
Alika ties it up!
He now has 4️⃣ multi-hit games in July.
When the Pirates acquired him from the Tampa Bay Rays, no one thought that we’d see the offensive contributions from Alika Williams like we’ve seen so far. He picked up another multi-hit game on Friday for Indianapolis.
LUKE BROWN WALK-OFF!!! pic.twitter.com/W53oHXXHIw
— Greensboro Grasshoppers (@GSOHoppers) July 8, 2023
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the 10th, trailing by one, Luke Brown came up big, winning it with a walk-off single. It was one of three hits on the night, including his second home run of the season.
Saturday July 8th Minor League Results
By Wilbur Miller
INDIANAPOLIS (40-44) VS Memphis
Game Time: 7:05 pm ET
Indianapolis Starter: Kent Emanuel (6-3, 6.08 ERA)
–Line: 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Player of the Game: Aaron Shackelford 2-for-3, HR (11), SF, 2 RBI
Final Score: Memphis 8, Indianapolis 7
In a recurring theme for the Pirates at all levels, the Indianapolis bullpen blew a late lead and the Indians lost to Memphis, 8-7.
Indy took a five-run lead in the second. Liover Peguero hit a two-run triple, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Aaron Shackelford. Later in the inning, Chris Owings hit a two-run home run, his sixth longball in AAA. Starter Kent Emanuel gave up most of that, allowing three runs in the third and another in the fifth.
John O’Reilly gave up the tying run in the sixth, but Shackelford hit his 11th home run of the year in the bottom half to put Indy up, 6-5. Travis MacGregor threw a scoreless seventh and eighth, despite allowing four hits, to hold the lead. In the ninth, though, Juan Minaya got torched for three runs. Miguel Andujar drove in a run in the bottom of the ninth to make it a one-run game, but that was it. Andujar finished with three hits for Indy and Shackelford had two.
ALTOONA (38-40) VS Erie
Game Time: 6 pm ET
Altoona Starter: Omar Cruz
–Line: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Player of the Game: Jackson Glenn 2-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI
Final Score: Altoona 4, Erie 2
In contrast to everybody else in the system, Altoona got good results from a bullpen game and beat Erie, 4-2. Omar Cruz went the first two and two-thirds, allowing one run, then Justin Meis went three and a third, giving up a solo shot as his only hit allowed.
The last three innings went one apiece to Grant Ford, Tyler Samaniego and Oliver Garcia. Each allowed one hit and no runs.
The offense did enough, led by two newcomers to the level. Jackson Glenn drove in three of the four runs, with an RBI double in the fourth and a two-run single in the sixth. The other run scored on an error in the second. Tsung-Che Cheng is starting to get on track after a slow start in AA. He had two hits and a walk, scored twice and stole two bases. He already has six, in six tries, in AA. Matt Fraizer also had two hits for Altoona.
GREENSBORO (39-38) VS Aberdeen
Game Time: 6:30 pm ET
Greensboro Starter: Valentin Linarez
–Line: 2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Player of the Game: Tres Gonzales, CF (2-for-4, BB)
Final Score: Aberdeen 16, Greensboro 1
Greensboro’s pitching problems continued in a 16-1 rout by Aberdeen. The Hoppers used six pitchers and one position player, Brendan Dixon. The only one who didn’t allow a run was Dixon. Collectively, they gave up 16 hits and a dozen walks. The six pitchers threw 188 pitches, only 104 for strikes. Greensboro now ranks ninth in the 12-team league in ERA.
The offense managed just six singles. Tres Gonzales and Maikol Escotto each had two.
BRADENTON (44-34) AT Daytona
Game Time: 6:35 pm ET
Bradenton Starter: Wilber Dotel
–Line: 5 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 5 BB, 4 K
Player of the Game: Termarr Johnson 1-for-2, HR (8), 2 BB
Final Score: Daytona 4, Bradenton 3
The system-wide bullpen problems continued. Bradenton got five scoreless innings from Wilber Dotel, but the bullpen couldn’t hold an eighth-inning lead. The Marauders lost to Daytona, 4-3, on a walkoff walk in the ninth.
Dotel had what, for him, has been a fairly typical start. He gave up only two hits over five innings, but he did walk five and he threw only 41 of 81 pitches for strikes. The relievers walked another six in just three and a third.
Bradenton took a 2-0 lead on solo home runs. Termarr Johnson hit his eighth in the first inning and Enmanuel Terrero his sixth in the sixth. Daytona tied the game in the bottom of the sixth when Darvin Garcia, replacing Dotel, was only able to retire two of the six batters he faced. He was charged with two runs, one scoring after Julian Bosnic came in.
The Marauders took the lead back on an RBI double by Josiah Sightler in the top of the eighth. Elijah Birdsong gave up the tying run in the bottom half. In the ninth, Birdsong gave up two hits and an intentional walk to load the bases, then walked in the winning run.
FCL PIRATES (17-7)
Game Time: 10 am ET
FCL Pirates Starter: Andres Silvera
–Line: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K
Player of the Game: Esmerlyn Valdez 3-for-5, 2B, BB, 2 runs, 3 RBI
Final Score: Pirates 14, Orioles 3
The FCL Pirates ran up the score again on the Orioles, this time 14-3. The Pirates now lead the league in scoring by a comfortable margin.
Everybody got involved in the onslaught in one way or another. The team had 15 hits, ten walks and six steals. The only players without hits were Axiel Plaz and Luis Tejeda, and they each walked twice. Javier Rivas, Esmerlyn Valdez and Juan Jerez each had two singles and a double. Jerez added three steals and Valdez drove in three runs. All three have their OPS figures over 1.000.
Of the other players, Jhonson Pena had a single, a triple and a walk, and Eybert Escalona had a single and a double.
Andres Silvera made his third appearance since coming off the injured list. He threw two hitless innings, striking out three. Jose Garces was the only pitcher to have trouble, giving up three runs in the third inning. Cristopher Cruz threw two scoreless innings, Kevison Hernandez one and two-thirds, and Joaquin Tejada one and one-third. Eliecer Romero threw a scoreless ninth.
DSL PIRATES BLACK (9-14)
Game Time: 11 am ET
DSL Pirates Black Starter: Bladimir Pichardo
–Line: 3 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K
Player of the Game: Carlos Caro 2-for-2, 3B, BB, 3 RBI
Final Score: Pirates Black 7, Cubs Blue 1
The Black team got a two-hitter from five pitchers and beat the Cubs Blue, 7-1.
Bladimir Pichardo gave up a hit, a walk and a run over three innings. Janderson Linares followed and loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth on two walks and a hit batsman. Dermis Ordonez got the last out, then threw two more shutout innings. In the seventh, Jarlen De La Paz loaded the bases the same way Linares had, with two walks and a hit batsman, only this time with one out. Brandison Polanco replaced him and got a double play grounder to end it, so he got credit for two-thirds of an inning while facing one batter.
The offense had only four hits, but benefited from nine walks, three hit batsmen and an error. A sacrifice fly produced a run in the first, then four walks and a hit batsman, with a double play thrown in, forced in one in the second. The Pirates added three in the fifth on a two-run triple by Antonio Pimentel, followed by a passed ball. The last two scored on a two-run triple by Carlos Caro in the sixth.
Caro had two hits, and also reached on a walk and hit batsman. Pimentel had the triple and two walks.
DSL PIRATES GOLD (15-8)
Game Time: 11 am ET
DSL Pirates Gold Starter: Jonathan Salazar
–Line: 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K
Player of the Game: Tony Blanco, Jr. 1-for-3, HR (2), BB
Final Score: Pirates Gold 4, Tigers 2 3
The Gold team got a walkoff walk in the bottom of the seventh to beat the Tigers 2, 4-3.
Jonathan Salazar came off the injured list to make his first appearance of the year. He pitched a scoreless first, in fact he fanned the side. Lefty Inmer Lobo, whom the Pirates acquired for Hoy Park, made his first appearance of the season, allowing an unearned run in the second.
The offense got a pair of runs in the fourth thanks mainly to four walks, one of them with the bases loaded. In the fifth, Tony Blanco, Jr., hit his second home run of the season, a solo shot.
Victor Cabreja kept the Tigers off the board for four innings, but he left with two out and two on in the top of the seventh. Greiber Mendez replaced him and let both runners score before getting the third out.
In the bottom of the inning, an error and three walks gave the Pirates the winning run.
The Pirates had only five hits, nobody with more than one, but they drew eight walks. Juan Machado had a single, two walks and an RBI. Blanco had the homer and a walk.
Check back after the game for the recap.
