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Bednar Bounces Back

P2Daily

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David Bednar looked fired up tonight.

The Pittsburgh Pirates closer entered the 5-2 game in the ninth inning and delivered three 97 MPH fastballs to Nick Castellanos. All three went for strikes, with the last two swinging. The intensity of Bednar’s pitching stood out, in his first appearance since blowing his third save of the season. Bednar got a pop out on a 98.2 MPH fastball, and despite throwing mostly fastballs, he ended the game on a pop out on a curveball, picking up his first save of the season.

That’s the type of response you want to see from a struggling player.

Bailey Falter set the table tonight with five innings of one run ball. The lefty allowed four hits and no walks, striking out three. I wrote last time about how Falter either looks lights out, or like a complete disaster. It’s usually a 60/40 split in favor of him being lights out the majority of the time. In three starts this year, he’s been outstanding in two, horrible in one, and has a 4.20 ERA through 15 innings.

The game was close for most of the contest, which made the pitching from Falter all the more impressive. The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the second on a bases loaded walk by Henry Davis. They added a second run in the fourth on a Connor Joe RBI single. Davis scored in the seventh on a wild pitch, and added an insurance run in the eighth with an RBI double. Bryan Reynolds added another insurance run with a single to bring in Davis.

The bullpen combined for one run allowed, which came when Aroldis Chapman issued a bases-loaded walk after entering the game with two runners on base and one out in the eighth.

It was good to see Bednar return to form, and good to see Falter in the form that leads to elite numbers.

PIRATES PROSPECT WATCH

The nightly Pirates Prospect Watch is now its own article. I’ll be doing the weekly recap every Monday, as there are no games played. The daily Prospect Watch will look at one player who stands out that day, along with the recaps you’d normally see in this article.

The return to the daily Prospect Watch begins with Paul Skenes striking out eight batters in his latest Triple-A start.

STATCAST HEROES

David Bednar looked fired up, not just throwing hard, but throwing with conviction. But also, throwing hard. He averaged 97.3 MPH on his fastball, getting two whiffs on five swings, and four more called strikes. STATS

The minor league Statcast Heroes can be found in the nightly Pirates Prospect Watch.

DAILY VIDEO RUNDOWN

This was a great diving stop by Bryan Reynolds.

Henry Davis rips one down the line to give the Pirates an insurance run.

There were a lot of strikeouts from Paul Skenes tonight.

Omar Alfonzo got all of this one for Bradenton.

Shalin Polanco followed with a homer of his own.

Jack Herman prevents a home run.

This is an outstanding stop and flip to second by Jesus Castillo, who also had his fourth stolen base of the season.

Esmerlyn Valdez just looks like a dude.

ROSTER MOVES

**Indianapolis placed outfielder Joshua Palacios on the 7-day IL, retro April 11th.

**Bradenton placed outfielder Braylon Bishop on the 7-day IL, replacing him with Rule 5 pick P.J. Hilson.

TODAY: PIRATES (10-4) AT PHILLIES (7-7)

Game Time: 4:05 PM EDT
Watch: SportsNet-PIT
Listen: KDKA-FM 93.7

Pirates Starter: Marco Gonzales, LHP (0-0, 2.45)
Phillies Starter: Spencer Turnbull, RHP (1-0, 0.00)

In the Minors…

  • Indianapolis plays a double-header at Toledo, starting at 2:35 PM EST. RHP Quinn Priester will be starting game one, entering with a 2.79 ERA after two starts. LHP Cam Alldred will start game two, with a 3.86 ERA.
  • Altoona plays a double-header at home, starting at 3:00 PM. RHP Bubba Chandler will finally take the mound, after being delayed for two days. RHP Sean Sullivan will get the game two start.
  • Greensboro takes on Winston-Salem on the road at 7:00 PM. RHP J.P. Massey will make his second start of the season.
  • Bradenton sends LHP Michael Kennedy to the mound at Lakeland at 6:00 PM. Kennedy is the fourth round pick from the 2022 draft, taken out of the prep ranks and given an over-slot bonus.

PIRATES PROSPECTS DAILY

This article is post number 24,000 that has been published in the going on 16-year history at Pirates Prospects. It’s likely that there were a few published posts lost along the way, but the official count when I press publish goes to twenty-four thousand. That’s pretty cool.

I’ve written over a third of those articles, with a lot of columns. My latest column looks at the improvements shown by the Pirates early in the season.

Williams: The Improvements That Have Fueled This Encouraging Pirates Start

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THIS WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS

Last week’s premium article drop looked at the top 50 prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates system. This week looks at five hitters who can grade inside the top 30, plus a look at the path from rookie ball to the majors.

**Williams: The Path From Rookie Ball to the Major Leagues

In this subscriber-exclusive column, I give my view of the journey from Rookie Ball to the Major Leagues, and the elements that every player deals with along the way.

**Jack Brannigan is the Next Gold Glove Quality Third Baseman in the Pirates System

The Pirates have Gold Glove third basemen in Ke’Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo. They’ve got another candidate in the system in power hitter Jack Brannigan.

**Mitch Jebb Brings Elite Speed and Swing Decisions to Greensboro

With so many three-true-outcome approaches in pro ball, 2023 second round pick Mitch Jebb brings a refreshing style of contact, speed, and hustle.

**Jase Bowen Has a Power/Speed/Defense Combo to Dream Upon

Following a 20-20 season in Greensboro, and with the ability to play center field or first base, Jase Bowen is a prospect with a lot of upside to dream upon.

**Tres Gonzales Brings Advanced Hitting Approach to Altoona

One of the most advanced hitters I watched last year was Tres Gonzales. His approach isn’t flashy, but he gets the job done with contact, on-base skills, and a bit of power.

**Rodolfo Nolasco Has Huge Power and Huge Swing and Miss

Some of the best raw power in the system belongs to Rodolfo Nolasco. He showed that with 20 homers in Single-A in 2023. He’ll need to improve the swing and miss to repeat at the higher levels.

SONG OF THE DAY

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Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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