Friday night’s minor league action featured first overall pick Paul Skenes back on the mound, a lot of offense from Greensboro, solid starting pitching in Bradenton, and the unfortunate end to the incredible DSL Pirates Gold season.
Player of the Day
PAUL SKENES, RHP, ALTOONA
After not making it out of the first inning the last time around, 2023 first overall pick Paul Skenes returned to the mound for Altoona with a much improved result. He threw two shutout innings, allowing one hit, no walks, and striking out three. Skenes didn’t have a bad outing in his debut last time, getting hurt by a lot of soft hits that found holes in the infield. He also didn’t attack the zone as much, ending with 17 strikes in 33 pitches. On Friday, he threw 25 pitches, with 18 for strikes.
Ten More
MALCOM NUNEZ, 3B, INDIANAPOLIS
Nunez picked up two hits and knocked in two runs on Friday night. He’s batting .241/.308/.379 in 65 plate appearances since returning to Indianapolis.
CARTER BINS, C, ALTOONA
Bins went 2-for-4 with his third homer of the year, a three run shot in the sixth inning. This was his second game catching Paul Skenes, and the second time with a big hit. Last time, he delivered a walk off single.
MATT GORSKI, DH, ALTOONA
Gorski went 2-for-2 with two walks and two doubles. He’s got 16 doubles on the year. Gorski showed some power in the month of August, batting .238/.310/.492 with four homers in 63 at-bats.
TRES GONZALEZ, LF, GREENSBORO
Gonzalez picked up three hits on Friday. The outfielder had an amazingly consistent month of August, batting .292/.407/.427 with three homers in 119 plate appearances. He only had three games out of 25 where he didn’t reach base safely, and only one other game without a hit. Gonzalez has a .414 OBP since the start of July.
JACK BRANNIGAN, SS, GREENSBORO
Brannigan has added some power from Greensboro, batting .280/.366/.613 in the month of August. He went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk on Friday. During the month of August, he homered nine times and doubled four times.
HUDSON HEAD, RF, GREENSBORO
Head recently returned to Greensboro after missing a few months with an injury. On Friday night he went 3-for-5 with a double.
VALENTIN LINAREZ, RHP, GREENSBORO
Linarez was one of the most impressive relievers I saw while in Greensboro a few weeks ago. He allowed four runs in his last appearance, but got back to scoreless ball with a perfect inning and two strikeouts on Friday. Even with the four runs, he finished August with a 3.95 ERA in 13.2 innings, and a 24:5 K/BB.
HUNTER BARCO, LHP, BRADENTON
Barco pitched four shutout innings, allowing one hit and striking out seven. The 2022 second rounder is making his way back from Tommy John, and Friday’s appearance was his longest and best of the year.
WILBER DOTEL, RHP, BRADENTON
Dotel has been a nice surprise in Bradenton this year. The right-hander out of the Dominican Republic has a 2.89 ERA in 74.2 innings for Bradenton. In his latest start on Friday, he threw five innings, allowing one run on two hits, with a walk and six strikeouts.
CARLSON CARO, 3B, DSL PIRATES GOLD
Caro went 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs for the DSL Pirates Gold. The Pirates lost the deciding game of the DSL finals to the Dodgers by a score of 9-5. The Gold team was 41-12 during the regular season, and finished the regular season with a 15-game winning streak.
Yesterday’s Home Runs
- Carter Bins, C, Altoona (3)
- Rodolfo Nolasco, LF, Bradenton (17)
- Deivis Nadal, PH, Bradenton (8)
- Charles McAdoo, LF, Bradenton (3)
Yesterday’s Minor League Results
INDIANAPOLIS (59-69) AT Buffalo
Score: Buffalo 8, Indianapolis 5
Indianapolis Starter: John O’Reilly, RHP (5.08)
–Line: 3.2 IP, 6 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, 1 HR
Player of the Game: Malcom Nunez, 3B (2-for-4, 2 RBI)
Attendance: 8,224
Notable Performers
- Jared Triolo, 1B (1-for-3, BB, 2B)
- Canaan Smith-Njigba, RF (1-for-3, BB, 2B)
- Aaron Shackelford, DH (1-for-3, BB, 2B)
ALTOONA (58-63) AT Erie
Score: Altoona 6, Erie 3
Altoona Starter: Paul Skenes, RHP (13.50)
–Line: 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 0 HR
Player of the Game: Carter Bins, C (2-for-4, HR [3], 4 RBI)
Attendance: 6,767
Notable Performers
- Matt Gorski, DH (2-for-2, 2 2B, 2 BB)
- Matt Fraizer, CF (1-for-5, 2 OF Assists)
- Joe Perez, 3B (2-for-3, BB)
- Sean Sullivan, RHP (5.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 0 HR)
GREENSBORO (64-57) VS Hickory
Score: Hickory 10, Greensboro 8
Greensboro Starter: Po Yu Chen, RHP (4.28)
–Line: 3.0 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 2 HR
Player of the Game: Jack Brannigan, SS (2-for-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI)
Attendance: 6,227
Notable Performers
- Tres Gonzalez, LF (3-for-6, 2 RBI)
- Jase Bowen, CF (2-for-4, BB)
- Hudson Head, RF (3-for-5, 2B)
- Eddy Yean, RHP (2.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K)
- Julian Bosnic, LHP (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K)
- Valentin Linarez, RHP (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K)
BRADENTON (69-52) VS Palm Beach
Game One Score: Bradenton 2, Palm Beach 1
Bradenton Starter: Hunter Barco, LHP (4.50)
–Line: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 0 HR
Player of the Game: Rodolfo Nolasco, LF (1-for-2, BB, HR [17])
Attendance: 729
Notable Performers
- Lonnie White Jr., CF (2-for-3, 2B)
- Deivis Nadal, PH (1-for-1, HR [8])
Score: Bradenton 4, Palm Beach 2
Bradenton Starter: Wilber Dotel, RHP (2.89)
–Line: 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 HR
Player of the Game: Dotel
Attendance: 729
Notable Performers
- Charles McAdoo, LF (1-for-3, HR [4], 2 RBI)
DSL PIRATES GOLD (41-12) AT DSL LAD Bautista
Score: Dodgers 9, Pirates 5
Pirates Gold Starter: Victor Cabreja, LHP (3.86)
–Line: 4.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR
Player of the Game: Carlson Caro, 3B (3-for-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI)
