Pirates Prospect Watch: Paul Skenes Goes Two Perfect, Live Greensboro Reports

GREENSBORO, NC – Today was my final day in Greensboro, covering the High-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Grasshoppers won 12-5. Paul Skenes made his second start for Bradenton, while Roansy Contreras pitched four innings of relief for Indianapolis.

Player of the Day

JACK BRANNIGAN, SS, GREENSBORO

Brannigan kicked off the Greensboro scoring in a 12-5 victory with a grand slam in the first inning. It was his tenth homer of the year in 95 at-bats with High-A, after seven in Bradenton earlier in the year. Watch the shortstop watch the ball clear the left field wall.

JACK BRANNIGAN GRAND SLAM🔥🔥

Hoppers: 4 | Hot Rods: 0 pic.twitter.com/C5FPD2qQON

— Greensboro Grasshoppers (@GSOHoppers) August 20, 2023

Ten More to Follow

PO-YU CHEN, RHP, GREENSBORO

Chen made his second start of the week, and had a rough second inning. He gave up three runs on four hits, all of them coming in the second. The final hit was a 76 MPH curveball that he left up for a hard hit single to left. After a mound visit, he returned with a few high 90s fastballs, one of which was flown out to right. Chen recorded two strikeouts in the third inning. He worked back from a 3-1 count for the first strikeout, getting two frames from Shawn Ross on low-90s fastballs on the outside to right-handers. Chen finished the inning with two curveballs for strikes, followed by an 84 MPH inside splitter for a swinging strike.

JOSHUA LOESCHORN, RHP, GREENSBORO

Loeschorn followed Chen, throwing three shutout innings with one hit and two strikeouts. His fastball sat 89-91, with late cut on the sinker. The slider was his best pitch, sitting 77-80 with good sweeping action. His changeup was 82-86, and paired well with his slider against lefties. He got strikeouts on a 90 MPH fastball and an 80 MPH slider, both swinging.

JULIAN BOSNIC, LHP, GREENSBORO

Bosnic featured a lot of separation between his pitches. His fastball was upper 80s. His changeup was around 80 MPH. The curveball was his best pitch, working in the low 70s, including one pitch that came in at 69. Bosnic pitched a scoreless first, but gave up two runs in the second. Bosnic loaded the bases in the second with two outs. After a mound visit, he left a curveball up that Sammy Siani missed in right field on a dive attempt.

JASE BOWEN, 1B, GREENSBORO

Bowen picked up three hits, getting two of them on first pitch swings. He played first base today, showing ups and downs. The good was a nice stretch and scoop on a low throw. The bad was a ball that ate him up at first base, followed by a toss that went past Bosnic covering the bag.

LUKE BROWN, CF, GREENSBORO

There are cheap homers to right field in Greensboro, and then there’s what Luke Brown did, homering into the parking deck across the street. The center fielder went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, including this solo shot below.

Luke Brown HOMER💣

Hoppers: 7 | Hot Rods: 3 pic.twitter.com/JBOXn9k7A7

— Greensboro Grasshoppers (@GSOHoppers) August 20, 2023

ROANSY CONTRERAS, RHP, INDIANAPOLIS

Contreras pitched four innings, allowing two runs on two hits, with two walks and two strikeouts. Both of the runs came on solo homers. The right-hander entered the game in the second inning, after left-hander Braeden Ogle started with an inning of work.

SEAN SULLIVAN, RHP, ALTOONA

Sullivan allowed three runs on four hits in five innings in his latest start for Altoona. He walked two and struck out six. Sullivan has a 2.08 ERA in 17.1 innings this month.

PAUL SKENES, RHP, BRADENTON

Skenes made his second start with Bradenton, throwing two perfect innings with two strikeouts. Check out some of the stuff in the video below:

Paul Skenes? Yeah, he's legit.

The top @Pirates prospect spun two no-hit frames for the @The_Marauders: https://t.co/09LbKMfS0I pic.twitter.com/heAM9930Zw

— Minor League Baseball (@MiLB) August 20, 2023

LUIS PERALTA, LHP, BRADENTON

Peralta followed Skenes, throwing three shutout innings. He allowed five hits and one walk, striking out four. Peralta has a 1.69 ERA in 10.2 innings this year, with a 15:5 K/BB ratio.

JALEN WOODS, LHP, BRADENTON

The Pirates drafted Woods in the seventh round out of Georgia. He threw two shutout innings in relief, and now has seven shutout innings in his first four pro appearances. He’s given up one hit, one walk, and has struck out ten.

Sunday’s Home Runs

• Jackson Glenn, 3B, Altoona (5)
• Joe Perez, RF, Altoona (3)
• Chavez Young, CF, Altoona (2)
• Jack Brannigan, SS, Greensboro (10)
• Luke Brown, CF, Greensboro (4)

Sunday’s Minor League Results

INDIANAPOLIS (55-63) AT St. Paul

Score: St. Paul 7, Indianapolis 6
Indianapolis Starter: Braeden Ogle, LHP (6.75)
–Line: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 0 HR
Player of the Game: Vinny Capra, 3B (3-for-5, 2B)
Attendance: 7,833

Notable Performers

• Roansy Contreras, RHP (4.0 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR)
• Aaron Shackelford, DH (2-for-3, BB, 2B)
• Nick Gonzales (2-for-4, BB, 2B)

ALTOONA (52-59) AT Bowie

Score: Bowie 7, Altoona 6
Altoona Starter: Sean Sullivan, RHP (4.14)
–Line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, 1 HR
Player of the Game: Chavez Young, CF (1-for-5, HR [2], 3 RBI)
Attendance: 4,388

Notable Performers

• Joe Perez, RF (1-for-5, BB, HR [3])
• Jackson Glenn, 3B (1-for-6, HR [5])

GREENSBORO (53-47) AT Greenville

Score: Greensboro 12, Bowling Green 5
Greensboro Starter: Po-Yu Chen, RHP (3.86)
–Line: 3.0 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Player of the Game: Luke Brown, CF (2-for-3, HR [4], 4 RBI)
Attendance: 4,336

Notable Performers

• Joshua Loeschorn, RHP (3.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K)
• Jack Brannigan, SS (1-for-4, HR [10], 4 RBI)
• Jase Bowen, 1B (3-for-4, 2B)
• Francisco Acuna, 3B (2-for-4, 2B)
• Tres Gonzalez, LF (1-for-2, 2 BB)

BRADENTON (64-49) VS Lakeland

Score: Lakeland 6, Bradenton 0
Bradenton Starter: Paul Skenes, RHP (0.00)
–Line: 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 0 HR
Player of the Game: Rodolfo Nolasco, LF (1-for-2, 2 BB)
Attendance: 774

Notable Performers

• Luis Peralta, LHP (3.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 4 K)
• Jalen Woods, LHP (2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K)