The Pittsburgh Pirates promoted two of their 2023 draft picks to Double-A Altoona on Friday. Infielder Charles McAdoo and left-handed reliever Jaden Woods were both promoted from Greensboro, after having great starts at the High-A level.
McAdoo, drafted in the 13th round out of San Jose State last year, has been one of the best hitters in the minor league system. He hit for a .336/.415/.561 line in 258 plate appearances for Greensboro, adding nine home runs. McAdoo has been hitting since he arrived in pro ball. He had a .302/.412/.510 line in his pro debut with Bradenton last year, which included a six-hit, two homer game in his fourth pro game.
With hits in 44 of his 60 games this year, including multiple hits in 23 games, McAdoo has been the most consistent hitter in the Pirates system. He didn’t ease up in June, batting .339/.435/.610 with three homers before his promotion. He’s been playing third base this year, while also playing first, second, and corner outfield in the past.
Woods was drafted in the seventh round out of Georgia last year, and pitched exclusively as a reliever in High-A. The lefty had a 2.13 ERA in 25.1 innings, with a 31:11 K/BB ratio. This followed a debut in Bradenton last year where he had a 3.14 ERA in 14.1 innings, with a 21:3 K/BB ratio.
During his time tracked by Statcast last year, Woods threw a sinker/changeup/slider combo. The sinker averaged 90.6 MPH, and he could throw the pitches for strikes, without hard contact. The changeup led to a 40.9% whiff rate, sitting 85.9 MPH. The slider averaged 78.5 MPH and had a 36.4% whiff rate.
Both players will get a better test of their abilities in Double-A. McAdoo’s hitting consistency will be tested against more advanced pitchers. The secondary stuff from Woods will be tested against more patient hitters. Right now they’re both standing out as early positives from the middle rounds of the 2023 draft.
Rehab Updates
**RHP Mike Burrows was sent on a rehab assignment to Bradenton. The right-hander made his return on June 17th with 1.1 innings in the FCL. He had been out since April 8th of last year with Tommy John.
**C Abrahan Gutierrez was sent on a rehab assignment to the FCL. Gutierrez was batting .300/.344/.383 in 60 at-bats this year at the Double-A level, but has been out since April 27th.
**C Joey Bart and UTIL Ji-Hwan Bae both started rehab assignments with Indianapolis last night. Bart played the full game as the designated hitter, while Bae played a shortened game in the field.
**RHP Brennan Malone was previously rehabbing in the FCL from his Indianapolis assignment, but now has been assigned to the rookie level full-time.
Bullpen Game
I’m all for the Pirates doing bullpen games, even with the 10-3 loss to the Rays on Friday night. I think the Pirates have been a bit spoiled so far with the first three bullpen games they’ve played.
The first two bullpen games from Luis Ortiz featured the right-hander looking like a starter. Another game featured four shutout innings from Josh Fleming. It can be easy to favor bullpen games when the long-man looks like a top starter.
On Friday, Luis Ortiz didn’t have it.
The Rays are an advanced team on both sides of the ball. They can quickly adjust to a pitcher, and once that happens, it’s difficult for the pitcher to adjust back. The Rays adjusted to Ortiz, with a run in the third and two more in the fourth.
While the Pirates got lengthy results from Ortiz in previous outings, Friday’s game was one where they should have pulled him and gone to the next option. Fleming hasn’t pitched since going four innings last Sunday. He was only used for one out on Friday, but he would have been the best option after the fourth inning.
Instead, the Pirates gave Ortiz four innings, and he pitched until giving up a three run homer in the sixth inning — to the same guy who homered off him in the third inning. In total, Ortiz allowed six runs in four innings, while Fleming was only used to close out the sixth inning for Ortiz.
From there, the Pirates turned to Daulton Jefferies for the final three innings, already down 7-2. Jefferies pitched two scoreless, before the Rays caught on and added three more runs in his final inning of work.
Typical games with starters require some forgiveness to see if the starter can rebound and give more innings. The Pirates took the same approach with Ortiz last night, giving him a chance to rebound from a rough early start. Bullpen games are more cold, and less forgiving. If a player doesn’t have it on that night, he gets pulled early for someone else who might have it.
We don’t know if Fleming might have had better results than Ortiz. He might have kept the game closer for the offense to have a better shot at catching up. The move the Pirates should have made was turning to Fleming earlier, and using him longer. Instead, Ortiz was given the chance to confirm that Friday wasn’t his night, and that Josh Lowe had his number.
I’ll be interested to see how Jared Jones and Paul Skenes perform this weekend against the Rays. It will be a big test for the two rookie pitchers.
Pirates Prospect Watch
Bubba Chandler had the best start of his pro career on Friday night, striking out ten batters in seven shutout innings. Termarr Johnson hit his seventh homer of the season for Greensboro. Read more about the performance of the top two prospects in the minor league system in the latest Pirates Prospect Watch.
Pirates Prospect Watch: Bubba Chandler Strikes Out Ten in Career-Best Start
