Statcast Heroes: Martin Perez, Joey Bart, Nick Gonzales, Javier Rivas, Tyler Kennedy

It’s early in the season. That’s the disclaimer you’ll read below several times. Having said it for the first time, I’ll say that this has been my favorite article to put together. The scouting process requires a lot of information, and nothing is better than cold, hard data.

Each week in Statcast Heroes, I’ll be recapping the weekly leaders at each level of the Pittsburgh Pirates system. That includes the Major Leagues, Triple-A, and Single-A at the moment. The results give a quick glimpse at players who stand out in a given week, with the chance to identify players who wouldn’t normally be discussed. As for the players who are normally discussed, this allows for a deeper dive into why they’re performing well.

The weekly leaders are below, but first, a few players to highlight.

Martin Perez, LHP

I’ve been talking about Perez in this article since the first article back in Spring Training. He’s made three starts with the Pirates this year, combining for a 29.8% called and swinging strike rate. It’s a small sample, but that mark is the highest in his long career. His next best seasons was 2022 at 27.2%, which is the year he posted a 2.89 ERA and a 4.0 fWAR. His 8.5% swinging strike rate this year ranks second in his career to 2019, when he was a 1.9 WAR pitcher throwing in front of a bad defense. It is only three starts, but Perez was showing increased swing and miss all spring. He’s on track to be an average MLB starter or better, with the ability to eat innings and save the bullpen. This week, he had two starts with a high whiff rate, and the good results needed to lead to his current 1.89 ERA in 19 innings.

Joey Bart, C

Bart was the second overall pick in 2018, and has seen his value drop enough that the Pirates acquired him for last year’s eighth round pick, Austin Strickland. In just two games, Bart has gone 3-for-9 with a double and a home run. It’s an incredibly small sample size, but he’s a catcher with above-average defense and plus power. If he can put all of that together in Pittsburgh, he only adds to the growing mix of potential starting catchers.

Nick Gonzales, 2B

A huge credit to Gonzales for doing everything he should be doing. He’s batting .390/.457/.585 with a 15.2% strikeout rate that represents the best mark of his career. He’s consistently hitting the ball hard, although his two hardest hits this week went for outs. He’s putting himself in position to get another shot at Pittsburgh this year, with hopes of being starter quality with the increased power and the reduced swing and miss.

Ji Hwan Bae, CF

I didn’t include Bae or any of the rehab guys in the weekly leaders below. The exception was Bae’s game in Triple-A, which is an appropriate level for him. He homered in his one rehab game, with a 105.5 MPH exit velocity. When he’s ready for the majors, he should be a candidate to replace Alika Williams.

Javier Rivas, SS

I had Rivas as a sleeper last year. The infielder went to Bradenton and struck out 39.1% of the time. He’s a sleeper due to his large frame and raw power potential. What stood out in the first games of the year was that he was hitting the ball hard. He had a 113 MPH batted ball on Tuesday, which went for a lineout. He’s had some bad luck with his hard hit shots. The other thing that stands out is his 21.4% strikeout rate. This is a small sample, but hard hits and reduced swing and miss is a winning combo.

Tyler Kennedy, RHP

The Pirates drafted Kennedy in the 19th round last year out of Florida Southwestern State JC. He entered his 2024 debut on 4/6 in the 8th inning with the bases loaded and one out. Kennedy had some control problems, issuing two walks and a wild pitch to allow three runners to score. He then struck out two in a row to exit the inning. Kennedy returned for the ninth, hit a batter with one out, and allowed a two run homer. What stood out was that he was throwing hard, averaging 96 MPH with his fastball, and touching 97.9. His curveball looks promising, with a high spin rate and two whiffs on two swings. The stuff looks better than you’d expect from a 19th rounder. The results might be an indication that the JuCo player needs more experience.

Weekly Leaders

Every week, I’ll be recapping the leaders across four categories in both the majors and the minors. This week includes the short week in Single-A and the first full week of Triple-A action. All stats run 4/3/24-4/9/24, and can be found at Baseball Savant.

Top Exit Velocities

The Pirates got 70% of their top hard hit balls this week from Jack Suwinski and Joey Bart. Matt Gorski, Nick Gonzales, and Joshua Palacios stood out in Triple-A. Down in Single-A, Jack Herman, Javier Rivas, and Shalin Polanco were hitting the ball hard.

MLB

1. Joey Bart – 110.7 MPH (Double, 4/6)
2. Oneil Cruz – 110.7 MPH (Forceout, 4/9)
3. Jack Suwinski – 110.5 MPH (Groundout, 4/9)
4. Jack Suwinski – 110.2 MPH (Single, 4/8)
5. Joey Bart – 110.0 MPH (Groundout, 4/8)
6. Jack Suwinski – 109.6 MPH (Single, 4/7)
7. Jack Suwinski – 109.1 MPH (Home Run, 4/3)
8. Joey Bart – 109.0 MPH (Home Run, 4.6)
9. Michael A. Taylor – 108.9 MPH (Single, 4/3)
10. Edward Olivares – 108.6 MPH (Home Run, 4/9)

Triple-A

1. Matt Gorski – 110.2 MPH (Home Run, 4/6)
2. Joshua Palacios – 110.1 MPH (Forceout, 4/4)
3. Matt Gorski – 109.0 MPH (Lineout, 4/6)
4. Nick Gonzales – 105.7 MPH (Forceout, 4/7)
5. Ji Hwan Bae – 105.5 (Home Run, 4/9)
6. Billy McKinney – 105.2 MPH (Double, 4/4)
7. Gilberto Celestino – 104.8 MPH (Single, 4/6)
8. Nick Gonzales – 104.6 MPH (Groundout, 4/5)
9. Joshua Palacios – 104.6 MPH (Forceout, 4/6)
10. Carter Bins – 104.3 MPH (Single, 4/4)

Single-A

1. Javier Rivas – 113.0 MPH (Lineout, 4/9)
2. Jack Herman – 108.6 MPH (Double, 4/7)
3. Jack Herman – 108.5 MPH (Double, 4/6)
4. Shalin Polanco – 106.7 MPH (Lineout, 4/5)
5. Javier Rivas – 106.3 MPH (Single, 4/5)
6. Shalin Poloanco – 105.4 MPH (Groundout, 4/7)
7. Juan Jerez – 103.8 MPH (Double, 4/7)
8. Esmerlyn Valdez – 103.4 MPH (Single, 4/7)
9. Shalin Polanco – 102.0 MPH (Single, 4/5)
10. Garret Forrester – 101.9 MPH (Single, 4/6)

Top Distances

It was a short week, but as you scroll through the results below, you really see the drop off in power down to Single-A. The furthest hit ball at that level wouldn’t crack the top ten in the majors. The longest shot this week came from Matt Gorski in Triple-A.

MLB

1. Bryan Reynolds – 412 (4/8)
2. Jared Triolo – 411 (4/5)
3. Joey Bart – 410 (4/6)
4. Edward Olivares – 407 (4/9)
5. Jack Suwinski – 402 (4/3)
6. Connor Joe – 400 (4/4)
7. Edward Olivares – 395 (4/9)
8. Oneil Cruz – 394 (4/7)
9. Connor Joe – 390 (4/8)
10. Ke’Bryan Hayes – 390 (4/9)

Triple-A

1. Matt Gorski – 419 (4/6)
2. Ji Hwan Bae – 418 (4/9)
3. Billy McKinney – 395 (4/6)
4. Billy McKinney – 385 (4/6)
5. Jake Lamb – 380 (4/5)
6. Malcom Nunez – 377 (4/4)
7. Matt Gorski – 377 (4/6)
8. Jake Lamb – 368 (4/9)
9. Joshua Palacios – 367 (4/5)
10. Billy McKinney – 362 (4/6)

Single-A

1. Javier Rivas – 385 (4/9)
2. Jack Herman – 322 (4/6)
3. Braylon Bishop – 305 (4/9)
4. Jesus Castillo – 303 (4/9)
5. Garret Forrester – 298 (4/7)
6. Jesus Castillo – 293 (4/9)
7. Javier Rivas – 290 (4/9)
8. Jack Herman – 288 (4/7)
9. Shalin Polanco – 281 (4/5)
10. Jesus Castillo – 276 (4/7)

Top Pitch Velocities

This list is pretty boring until you get to Single-A. Pittsburgh had Aroldis Chapman, with a few hard throws from Jared Jones. Indianapolis had all Paul Skenes. Bradenton saw Khristian Curtis, Carlos Jimenez, and Tyler Kennedy throwing hard, giving some different names to watch.

MLB

1. Aroldis Chapman – 101.2 MPH
2. Aroldis Chapman – 100.9 MPH
3. Aroldis Chapman – 100.6 MPH
4. Aroldis Chapman – 100.6 MPH
5. Aroldis Chapman – 99.5 MPH
6. Aroldis Chapman – 99.5 MPH
7. Aroldis Chapman – 99.5 MPH
8. Aroldis Chapman – 99.5 MPH
9. Jared Jones – 99.5 MPH
10. Jared Jones – 99.5 MPH

Triple-A

1. Paul Skenes – 101.3 MPH
2. Paul Skenes – 101.1 MPH
3. Paul Skenes – 100.7 MPH
4. Paul Skenes – 100.7 MPH
5. Paul Skenes – 100.6 MPH
6. Paul Skenes – 100.5 MPH
7. Paul Skenes – 100.4 MPH
8. Paul Skenes – 100.4 MPH
9. Paul Skenes – 100.2 MPH
10. Paul Skenes – 100.1 MPH

Single-A

1. Tyler Kennedy – 97.9 MPH
2. Khristian Curtis – 97.5 MPH
3. Tyler Kennedy – 97.5 MPH
4. Tyler Kennedy – 97.5 MPH
5. Carlos Jimenez – 97.3 MPH
6. Tyler Kennedy – 97.3 MPH
7. Khristian Curtis – 97.2 MPH
8. Carlos Jimenez – 97.2 MPH
9. Khristian Curtis – 97.1 MPH
10. Tyler Kennedy – 97.1 MPH

Swing and Miss

The highlight this week was a 21 whiff performance by Jared Jones. In the majors, Mitch Keller and Martin Perez each had two starts with a high whiff total. In Triple-A, Michael Plassmeyer did the same. The most surprising start was Bailey Falter with nine whiffs in six shutout innings.

MLB

1. Jared Jones – 21 (4/5)
2. Mitch Keller – 13 (4/8)
3. Mitch Keller – 10 (4/3)
4. Martin Perez – 10 (4/9)
5. Bailey Falter – 9 (4/6)
6. Martin Perez 8 (4/4)
7. Marco Gonzales – 8 (4/7)
8. Josh Fleming – 6 (4/3)
9. Jose Hernandez – 6 (4/7)
10. Hunter Stratton – 4 (4/5)

Triple-A

1. Michael Plassmeyer – 11 (4/9)
2. Michael Plassmeyer – 10 (4/4)
3. Paul Skenes – 9 (4/5)
4. Quinn Priester – 8 (4/6)
5. Cam Alldred – 6 (4/7)
6. Kade McClure – 4 (4/4)
7. Wily Peralta – 4 (4/4)
8. Geronimo Franzua – 4 (4/6)
9. Brent Honeywell – 4 (4/6)
10. Chris Gau – 4 (4/9)

Single-A

1. Antwone Kelly – 8 (4/5)
2. Carlson Reed – 7 (4/5)
3. Michael Kennedy – 6 (4/6)
4. Landon Tomkins – 6 (4/7)
5. Peyton Stumbo – 5 (4/6)
6. Hunter Furtado – 5 (4/6)
7. Luigi Hernandez – 5 (4/9)
8. Khristian Curtis – 4 (4/7)
9. Carlos Jimenez – 4 (4/9)
10. Tyler Kennedy – 3 (4/6)
11. Garrett McMillan – 3 (4/6)
12. Joaquin Tejada – 3 (4/9)

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