The Pirates Prospect Watch has been running on Pirates Prospects for parts of 15 seasons, making its debut in late August 2010 as the “Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect Watch“. Today, there are more sites covering the minor league system. Some of those sites have interesting nightly takes on the happenings in the farm system. Some of those sites are completely unoriginal, using the name “Pirates Prospect Watch” under the category “Pirates Prospects” in an attempt to attack this site in the Google SEO rankings. It makes you wonder who has the incentive to try and eliminate me and this site from this scene? Or, at least, I wonder that some days, as I continue to track the Pirates and their farm system as my full-time job.
What I like about the nightly Prospect Watch is that anything can happen. It’s all up to the individual. We are all just spectators, no matter what site recaps the performances, and no matter what the article title is called. The authentic always win in the end.
For example, on Saturday night, Thomas Harrington threw four perfect innings for Altoona, striking out five. In his first two outings for Altoona, Harrington has seven no-hit innings, allowing just one walk, and striking out nine. I don’t think Harrington is the type to ask for permission to use his skills to completely decimate opposing Double-A lineups. He just goes out there and does his thing.
Indianapolis won their Saturday game 16-10. Henry Davis homered twice off a reliever who was tagged for ten runs. Matt Gorski was a triple shy of the cycle, with three hard-hit extra base knocks. It is within Davis to homer off any pitcher in the minors, and it’s within Gorski to have these types of days at the plate more frequently. The nightly recap shows how often they each tap into their plus power during the game.
There are always some bad moments. The A-ball pitchers didn’t have their best nights. I like LHP Hunter Barco as a top ten prospect, with RHP Patrick Reilly and RHP Khristian Curtis as top 30 guys. Barco allowed three runs in five innings, which wasn’t a horrible start. Reilly and Curtis both struggled, and that just makes me look forward to how they will rebound the next time out.
Then, there are the players we can dream upon. RHP Zander Mueth pitched 3.2 shutout innings in the FCL. At this point, Mueth would probably pitch in Bradenton all of next season, followed by a chance for Double-A in the 2026 season, if all goes well. When you see a pitcher performing well in his first year out of high school, it provides hope that the Pirates continue to scout pitching talent well at all levels. And in your mind, you can see the chain of prospects for the big league team getting longer as the years may progress.
The difficult thing for any minor league player is doing their own thing with confidence. If you try to blatantly copy someone else’s style, or you take cheap shortcuts, you’re essentially building yourself an artificial ceiling. The authentic players have a ceiling, but no one can really stop them from making the Major Leagues. They are going to produce to their authentic skills, and they’re going to do it so often that it can’t be ignored.
So, we watch the nightly recap to see if any of these players did it again. If we keep seeing the same results from the same player over and over, it builds a trend, which is ultimately the authentic talent level of the player. Authenticity can’t be replicated. And that’s what the Major Leagues are all about.
PIRATES PROSPECT WATCH
INDIANAPOLIS won 16-10, scoring 10 runs off a reliever in innings 6-8.
- CF-LF Ji Hwan Bae: 4-for-6, HR, 2B, 3 RBI
- DH Henry Davis: 2-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBI, BB
- 1B-CF Matt Gorski: 3-for-4, 2B, 3B, HR, SB, 5 RBI
- SS Andres Alvarez: 3-for-4
- 3B Malcom Nunez: 2-for-5
ALTOONA lost 4-0.
- RHP Thomas Harrington: 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K
- LHP Anthony Solometo: 3.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 0 K, 2 HR
- RF Jase Bowen: 1-for-4, 2B
- DH Seth Beer: 1-for-4, 2B
- CF Tres Gonzales: 1-for-2, 2B, BB
GREENSBORO lost game one 3-0, getting one hit across seven innings.
- LHP Hunter Barco: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 0 HR
- RHP Elijah Birdsong: 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K
- CF Hudson Head: 1-for-3
- SS Termarr Johnson: 0-for-2, BB
GREENSBORO lost game two 7-5.
- RHP Patrick Reilly: 3.2 IP, 3 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 2 HR
- RF Luke Brown: 1-for-3, HR, 2 RBI
- DH Termarr Johnson: 2-for-3, 2 2B, BB
- 3B Charles McAdoo: 1-for-3, 3B, BB, 3 RBI
- SS Jack Brannigan: 1-for-3, BB
BRADENTON lost 10-9 in ten innings.
- RHP Khristian Curtis: 4.0 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K
- 1B Axiel Plaz: 1-for-4, HR, 2 RBI
- SS Keiner Delgado: 1-for-4, BB, 2 SB
- C Omar Alfonzo: 1-for-4, 2B, BB
- LF Braylon Bishop: 2-for-3, 3B, 2 BB, 3 RBI
FCL PIRATES won 6-4.
- RHP Zander Mueth: 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K
- DH Tony Blanco Jr.: 3-for-4
- CF Jhonson Pena: 3-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI
- 3B Yerry De Los Santos: 1-for-4
- SS Jhonny Severino: 1-for-2, 2 BB
STATCAST HEROES
Matt Gorski fell a single shy of the cycle. His home run was a monster, traveling 478 feet at 114.3 MPH. His double (105.2 MPH) and triple (104.3 MPH) also exceeded triple digit exit velocities. STATS
Axiel Plaz was recently called up from the FCL, and has two homers in his first two games with Bradenton. His homer on Saturday traveled 454 feet at 112.5 MPH. STATS
TOMORROW’S SCHEDULE
- Triple-A: Indianapolis, 12:35 PM – TBD
- Triple-A: Indianapolis, Game Two – TBD
- Double-A: Altoona, 1:05 PM – RHP Braxton Ashcraft (1-2, 4.18)
- High-A: Greensboro, 2:00 PM – TBD
- Single-A: Bradenton, 12:00 PM – LHP Connor Oliver (0-0, 5.87)
- Rookie: FCL Pirates OFF
