Tsung-Che Cheng had a day for Altoona. The shortstop went 3-for-3 at the plate with his first home run of the 2024 season.
Batting fifth in the lineup, Cheng singled on a line drive in the second inning. In the fourth, with runners at first and second, he singled on a soft bunt to the third baseman, loading the bases. He drew a walk in the fifth inning to load the bases with two outs. In the seventh inning, Cheng took care of business, launching a two run homer with two outs, tying the score at 4-4.
Altoona ended up giving up six more runs, unanswered. Cheng didn’t see another plate appearance after hitting the home run. It was a great individual performance, and continues an impressive start to the season for Cheng. He’s got a .500 OBP through 32 plate appearances, with ten walks and five strikeouts on the year.
I wrote about Cheng prior to the season, profiling his advanced hitting skills, his high aptitude in competitive play, why his nickname is “Z”, and his affinity for “Fast Car” by Luke Combs. The top ten prospect was the player of the day on Tuesday in the Pirates system, with an honorary nod to RHP Carlos Jimenez in Bradenton.
PIRATES PROSPECT WATCH
INDIANAPOLIS won 10-6, led by several big performances on offense.
- 2B Nick Gonzales had a four hit game, with his ninth double of the season and his first triple. I wrote today about how Gonzales is cutting down on strikeouts, while still having some swing and miss. He’s been more aggressive with his swing frequency, and does well attacking fastballs. Tonight, he picked up three hits against fastballs. More encouraging, he singled off an 87 MPH slider with 33 inches of vertical break. Gonzales didn’t strike out tonight.
- CF Ji Hwan Bae went 2-for-4 with a double and a walk in his first game in Indianapolis since being activated off the MLB IL and optioned down to the level.
- DH Canaan Smith-Njigba had a 3-for-3 day, with a double and a walk. In 36 plate appearances, CSN has an impressive .429 OBP, although today was just his second extra base hit of the season.
- 3B Malcom Nunez went 1-for-4 with his fourth double of the season. I wrote today about the power from the 23-year-old corner infielder in Triple-A.
- 1B Billy McKinney went 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
ALTOONA lost 10-4 to Bowie, on a 3-for-3 day by Tsung-Che Cheng, who hit his first homer of the year.
- RHP Po-Yu Chen allowed four runs on seven hits in 4.1 innings. He struck out two and walked one.
- CF Jase Bowen went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
- 1B Aaron Shackelford went 1-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts.
- C Abrahan Gutierrez went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
- RF Tres Gonzales went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts.
GREENSBORO lost 5-4 in ten innings at home to Hickory.
- RHP Alessandro Ercolani allowed two runs on four hits in four innings during his second start at the High-A level. The 19-year-old walked one and struck out three. I wrote about Ercolani today, breaking down the early stuff shown from the San Marino pitcher.
- CF Hudson Head went 1-for-2 with his third home run of the season. He also drew a walk.
- LF Lonnie White Jr. had a quiet day at the plate, going 1-for-5 with a strikeout. On the field, he threw out a runner at second base.
- DH Josiah Sightler went 1-for-2 with a double, a walk, and an RBI.
- RF Rodolfo Nolasco went 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.
BRADENTON lost 5-2 at home.
- RHP Carlos Jimenez got the start, and looked great. Jimenez threw three shutout innings, allowing two hits, walking one, and striking out five. He picked up 12 whiffs on 28 swings across 53 pitches. Seven came from his four-seam fastball, which was not only in the zone 47% of the time, but generating chases at a 44% rate on swings out of the zone. The fastball averaged 95.6 MPH, topping out at 97.5. His changeup, one of the best in the system, led to three whiffs and two called strikes on ten pitches. He added two whiffs on five swings against his curveball.
- LHP Magdiel Cotto pitched two perfect innings with three strikeouts. Last year’s 11th round pick has a 1.13 ERA this year in eight innings with eight strikeouts. He picked up seven whiffs on 13 swings across 20 pitches. Three came from the 93.4 MPH sinker, which got up to 95.2 and led to a lot of chase. He added two whiffs each with his changeup and slider.
- CF Shalin Polanco went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.
- SS Andres Alvarez went 1-for-4 with a double and three strikeouts.
- RF Jack Herman went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
STATCAST HEROES
Matt Gorski had the two hardest hit balls of the night, but only one went for a hit. I feel like Gorski would rank pretty high early in the season in 100+ MPH outs. STATS
Just like with Gorski above, Javier Rivas probably ranks very high in 100+ MPH outs. His 105.8 MPH shot tonight was a fly out that traveled 388 feet. This was the third at-bat over the last week that has led to 103+ MPH without a hit. STATS
TOMORROW’S SCHEDULE
- Indianapolis sends LHP Cam Alldred to the mound at 12:05 PM EST.
- Altoona has an earlier game, with LHP Nick Dombkowski on the mound at 11:05 AM.
- Greensboro goes slightly earlier, sending LHP Hunter Barco to the hill at 11:00 AM. I wrote about Barco today, after he’s thrown seven shutout innings in his first two starts.
- Bradenton rounds out the morning games with RHP Hung-Leng Cheng on the mound at 11:00 AM.
