P2Daily: Previewing This Week’s Pirates Minor League Opponents

It’s a big week of big arms on the minor league side of things.

The Indianapolis Indians kick things off by visiting the Memphis Redbirds of NL Central foe the St. Louis Cardinals. Memphis currently boasts the #3 offense in OPS with a pitching staff that sits around middle of the pack in team ERA. The Redbirds carry five of the Cardinals Top 15 prospects per Pipeline. Matthew Liberatore and Ivan Herrera populate the Top 100 for both Pipeline and Baseball America. In addition to those two, 2020 Compensatory pick of the Cardinals Alec Burleson cracks the Top 100 of Baseball America.

Altoona Curve will be reprieved after two straight weeks of facing highly rated and loaded rosters. This week they take on the Binghamton Rumble Ponies who’ve seen a loss of prospects due to promotions (Brett Baty) but still have Pipeline Top 100 prospect in Ronny Mauricio. Mauricio has seen his stock drop a bit as he’s shown a lot of power but struggles to carry an OBP north of 300.

This would’ve been a great week for Greensboro Grasshoppers to be streamed, but alas, we can’t always get what we want. The Grasshoppers welcome the Jersey Shore BlueClaws to town who will bring with them two consensus Top 100 Prep right handers — 2020 and 2021 first round draft picks of the Philadelphia Phillies Andrew Painter and Mick Abel. As a whole the BlueClaws’ roster consists of six of the Phillies’ Top 15 prospects per Pipeline. Assuming no promotions prior to game time, this will be a great test for some of the second half breakouts such as Endy Rodriguez and Dariel Lopez.

Last we have the Bradenton Marauders who have the lightest opponent in terms of overall rostered prospects. They will also be facing a St. Louis Cardinal affiliate in the Palm Beach Cardinals. They rank dead last in OPS but rank near the top in team ERA. Among said pitching staff is 2020 Competitive Balance Prep pick Tink Hence who broke into the Baseball America Top 100 with their most recent update.

Triple-A: Indianapolis Indians

Opponent: MEMPHIS (CARDINALS)

Opponent Stats

Team OPS: .787 OPS
Rank: 3/20
Team ERA: 4.69
ERA Rank: 12/20

Top Prospects

Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking

MATTHEW LIBERATORE | LHP | 2
- Pipeline Top 100: #42
- Baseball America Top 100: #79
IVAN HERRERA | C | 3
- Pipeline Top 100: #79
- Baseball America Top 100: #93
ALEC BURLESON | OF | 8
- Baseball America Top 100: #72
LUKEN BAKER | 1B | 11
CONNOR THOMAS | LHP | 14
DELVIN PEREZ | SS | 18
FREDDY PACHECO | RHP | 22
JAKE WALSH | RHP | 23
MOISES GOMEZ | OF | 24
RYAN LOUTOS | RHP | 28

DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE

Opponent: BINGHAMTON (METS)

Opponent Stats

Team OPS: .733 OPS
Rank: 6/12
Team ERA: 5.47
ERA Rank: 12/12

Top Prospects

Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking

RONNY MAURICIO | SS | 3
- Pipeline Top 100: #49
CARLOS CORTES | 2B/OF | 15
HAYDEN SENGER | C | 20
NICK MEYER | C | 27
BRIAN METOYER | RHP | 30

HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS

Opponent: JERSEY SHORE (PHILLIES)

Opponent Stats

Team OPS: .631 OPS
Rank: 12/12
Team ERA: 4.21
ERA Rank: 7/12

Top Prospects

Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking

ANDREW PAINTER | RHP | 1
- Pipeline Top 100: #50
- Baseball America Top 100: #33
MICK ABEL | RHP | 2
- Pipeline Top 100: #52
- Baseball America Top 100: #66
ETHAN WILSON | OF | 5
LUIS GARCIA | SS | 6
CASEY MARTIN | SS | 12
KENDALL SIMMONS | 3B/2B | 14
CRISTIAN HERNANDEZ | RHP | 23
DOMINIC PIPKIN | RHP | 27
CHRISTIAN MCGOWAN | RHP | 29
DREW BAKER | RHP | 30