Michael Kennedy is starting to heat up in Bradenton.
The left-handed pitcher was drafted in the fourth round in 2022 and given a seven figure bonus out of the high school ranks. He started for the Marauders on Saturday night, allowing one run in five innings, with no walks and six strikeouts. Kennedy only allowed four hits, and picked up 13 whiffs on the night.
This past week, I wrote about what makes Kennedy a player to watch, after his most recent outing. The 19-year-old was coming off a start similar to this, where he allowed one run in five innings, with no walks and eight strikeouts. Seeing the same results this week is encouraging. On the season, Kennedy has a 3.71 ERA in 17 innings, with a 22:3 K/BB ratio.
Check out the Statcast Heroes section to read more about Kennedy’s stuff tonight.
PIRATES PROSPECT WATCH
INDIANAPOLIS was postponed due to wet grounds.
ALTOONA lost 5-4
- RHP Po-Yu Chen allowed two runs in 4.2 innings of work. He gave up two hits, walked three, and struck out three.
- RF Jase Bowen hit his first homer of the season in the eighth inning. Bowen went 2-for-3 with a walk on the night.
- 3B-SS Kervin Pichardo went 2-for-3 with a walk.
- LF-1B Aaron Shackelford went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
- 1B Abrahan Gutierrez went 1-for-2 with a double.
GREENSBORO lost 6-5
- RHP Wilber Dotel pitched five innings, allowing two runs on five hits. He struck out six and walked one. Both runs came on solo homers, and were the first runs of the season allowed by Dotel in 15.1 innings. I wrote about Dotel today in the Saturday Sleepers series.
- RHP Brandan Bidios pitched two shutout innings, allowing one hit, no walks, and striking out three.
- 3B Charles McAdoo went 1-for-4 with a three run homer in the fifth inning. It was his second homer of the season.
- LF Sammy Siani went 2-for-5, stealing two bases.
- SS Termarr Johnson went 0-for-3, walking twice and striking out three times. He stole his third base of the season.
BRADENTON lost 3-2 in 10 innings, after Michael Kennedy pitched five strong frames.
- 1B Esmerlyn Valdez went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.
- DH Omar Alfonzo went 1-for-4 with a double. I wrote about Valdez and Alfonzo as sleepers to watch.
- LHP Magdiel Cotto pitched two shutout innings. I wrote about Cotto in this week’s article drop.
- LF Solomon Maguire went 1-for-3.
- LHP Hunter Furtado pitched two shutout innings, allowing two hits, one walk, and striking out three.
STATCAST HEROES
Michael Kennedy isn’t a hard thrower, with a four-seam that sat 90 MPH, touching 92.3 tonight. The slider led to the best results tonight. Kennedy had three whiffs on nine swings, and eight called strikes on the slider for a 52% called and swinging strike rate. He also had three whiffs on the changeup on eight swings. STATS
TOMORROW’S SCHEDULE
- Triple-A: Indianapolis, 1:05 PM – Double Header (Starters TBD)
- Double-A: Altoona, 1:00 PM – LHP Anthony Solometo (0-1, 4.66)
- READ: The History of Anthony Solometo’s Funky Delivery
- High-A: Greensboro, 3:05 PM – RHP Alessandro Ercolani (1-1, 1.38)
- READ: Alessandro Ercolani is a Big Talent From a Small Cpuntry
- Single-A: Bradenton, 12:00 PM – RHP Khristian Curtis (0-1, 7.20)
- READ: Khristian Curtis Features Big Stuff From a Six Pitch Mix
