The Milwaukee Brewers aren’t a big swing and miss team. Prior to Tuesday night’s game against the Pirates, they ranked 22nd in baseball in swinging strikes, at 10% of their total pitches. Yet, the Pittsburgh Pirates have sent Jared Jones and Bailey Falter to the mound to decimate the Brewers offense over the last two games.
Jones had 25 whiffs on Monday in his latest in an early campaign for Rookie of the Year. One day later, Falter whiffed 14 across seven innings, allowing one run with eight strikeouts. This continued an impressive run this season for Falter, who now has a 3.33 ERA in 27 innings. Or, as David Todd has been noting on Twitter, Falter has a 1.67 ERA this year after his first five batters of the season.
Falter got early help from a leadoff homer by Andrew McCutchen. That would be almost all of the help he would receive. Connor Joe added the eventual winning run with an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Falter continued pitching lights out, until the eighth. He allowed a solo homer to lead off the eighth inning, before Colin Holderman came in to pitch through the inning with two strikeouts. The Pirates turned to David Bednar in the ninth, who pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout for the save in a close 2-1 victory.
I wrote recently about the good and bad from Falter. So far this year, there has been far more good than bad.
STATCAST HEROES
Falter’s 14 whiffs ranked second on the Pirates in the last week, only to the 25 from Jones yesterday. STATS
The minor league Statcast Heroes can be found in the nightly Pirates Prospect Watch.
DAILY VIDEO RUNDOWN
Andrew McCutchen led things off with a home run for the second day in a row. This one was his 100th home run at PNC Park.
💯 home runs at PNC Park for Cutch! pic.twitter.com/nibSzOutcz
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 23, 2024
This was a great compilation of every strikeout from Jared Jones.
Here is every Jared Jones strikeout of this season so far. Enjoy. pic.twitter.com/zIG6TvBi1u
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 23, 2024
Yasmani Grandal picks up a double for Indianapolis.
A double to double our lead ✌️ pic.twitter.com/2pLmB83thm
— Indianapolis Indians (@indyindians) April 23, 2024
Brad Case tossed three shutout innings in relief for Altoona tonight, showing some nasty movement from his new sidearm delivery.
. @brad_queso finishes off a third inning of scoreless relief with his third strikeout! pic.twitter.com/tYZPyfJiQ3
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) April 24, 2024
The only run in Bradenton came from a sacrifice fly from Esmerlyn Valdez.
Sacrifice fly from Esmerlyn Valdez plates the first run tonight! pic.twitter.com/fKRp4rILHE
— Bradenton Marauders (@The_Marauders) April 24, 2024
PROSPECT WATCH
Nick Gonzales extended his hitting streak to 13 games, going 2-for-5 in an Indianapolis loss. Read about his game and all of the other action in the nightly Pirates Prospect Watch.
ROSTER MOVES
- The Pirates traded Triple-A infielder Sergio Alcantara to the Arizona Diamondbacks for cash considerations.
- OF Lonnie White Jr. was placed on the 7-day IL in Greensboro, retro 4/20.
- LHP Inmer Lobo was added to the Bradenton roster, after a 1.16 ERA in 38.2 innings in the DSL over the last two seasons.
TODAY: PIRATES (13-11) VS BREWERS (14-8)
Game Time: 6:40 PM EDT
Watch: SportsNet-PIT
Listen: KDKA-FM 93.7
Pirates Starter: Quinn Priester, RHP (0-1, 8.31)
Brewers Starter: Bryse Wilson, RHP (2-0, 3.29)
In the Minors…
- RHP Paul Skenes makes his next start for Indianapolis at 12:05 PM EST at Omaha.
- RHP Bubba Chandler remains paired up with Skenes, and will start for Altoona at 11:00 AM.
- Greensboro will start LHP Hunter Barco at 7:05 PM. Barco has a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings this season. I wrote about Barco last week, before his latest impressive outing.
- Bradenton sends RHP Hung-Leng Chang to the mound at 6:30 PM. Chang has a 1.17 ERA in two starts this year.
PIRATES PROSPECTS DAILY
Tuesday is article drop day, featuring all of the site’s weekly premium player features. Check out the contents of this week’s drop below.
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THIS WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS
This week’s premium article drop for Patreon subscribers looks at players in Single-A with the Bradenton Marauders. Like every other level, this group is highlighted by interesting pitchers. There are also some hitters to follow on the position player side, which I broke down in my premium column.
**Williams: Pirates Prospects Sleepers to Follow in Single-A
Michael Kennedy was an over-slot prep pick in the fourth round of the 2022 draft. The lefty is in his first full-season league in pro ball, and showed promise this past weekend with an eight strikeout performance.
**Michael Kennedy Shows Path to Big Leagues With Eight Strikeout Performance
Khristian Curtis has a six pitch mix, despite not having a lot of time on the mound in his pitching career. The Pirates gave him an over-slot bonus as a 12th rounder last year, giving them the chance to develop his arsenal.
**Khristian Curtis Features Big Stuff From a Six Pitch Mix
Carlson Reed is showing promise in his early results with Bradenton. The West Virginia draftee has a 2.45 ERA in his first three starts this year, after being taken in the fourth round last year.
**West Virginia Pitcher Carlson Reed is Off to a Great Start With the Pirates
Relievers aren’t usually prospects in the lower levels, but Magdiel Cotto is a lefty who can get his fastball up to 95. The Pirates went over-slot on him in the 11th round last year, and he’s showing good results as a reliever in the 2024 season.
**Magdiel Cotto is an Over-Slot Lefty With a Fastball That Gets Up to 95
The Pirates traded for Connor Oliver at the start of the season, getting something in return for Colin Selby. This marks his sixth different organization since the start of 2020, with hopes that the Pirates can develop the lefty into an MLB option.
**Connor Oliver Remains on the Move With Trade to Pirates
SONG OF THE DAY
