P2Daily: Previewing This Week’s Pirates Minor League Opponents

It’s another interesting week on the minor league side complete with an instance I’m not sure I’ve seen previously.

Indianapolis Indians are in the midst of what is likely a too little too late situation. In the month of August they’ve gone 16-9 but still sit 11.5 games back as detailed in Anthony’s Minor League Playoff Push Update. This week they’ll take on the Louisville Bats who they took five of seven from to kick off August. The Bats sole Top 100 representative was acquired at the trade deadline from the Minnesota Twins.

The Altoona Curve once again follow-up a series with the Bowie Baysox by facing the Akron Rubberducks. I scrubbed Top 100 prospect Daniel Espino as he still has yet to begin a rehab assignment, but that doesn’t leave the the Akron squad shy of Cleveland Guardians talent. Top 100 pitching prospect Gavin Williams headlines the club. The Rubberducks have one of the best pitching staffs in the Eastern League which will be a good test for rising phenom Endy Rodridguez.

Now for the instance I’m not sure I’ve come across since doing these lists. The Greensboro Grasshoppers will be facing a Chicago White Sox affiliate that doesn’t have a single Top 30 representative on MLB Pipeline. Any of the intriguing prospects that were in High -A have since been promoted to Double-A where the Birmingham Barons currently have 14 of the White Sox Pipeline Top 30. Winston-Salem is 2-8 in their last ten games so if the Grasshoppers wanted to make a run in their last two weeks, this would be a good place to start.

In what’s looking to be the best chance of seeing a Pirates affiliate make the playoffs, the Bradenton Marauders welcome the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels to town. The Minnesota Twins affiliate won the first half of the Florida State League, but find themselves near the bottom of the second half standings. Brooks Lee was jumped straight over Low-A so he won’t be in town this week. Quickly rising Top 100 prospect Emmanuel Rodriguez will be though. The 2019 International Free Agent signing currently boasts a 1.043 OPS through 47 games with Fort Myers. They have four of the Twins Top 15 prospects.

Triple-A: Indianapolis Indians

Opponent: LOUISVILLE (REDS)

Opponent Stats

Team OPS: .718 OPS
Rank: 17/20
Team ERA: 4.92
ERA Rank: 16/20

Top Prospects

Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking

BRANDON WILLIAMSON | LHP | 6
SPENCER STEER | INF | 7
- Baseball America Top 100: #98
LEVI STOUDT | RHP | 24

DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE

Opponent: AKRON (GUARDIANS)

Opponent Stats

Team OPS: .703 OPS
Rank: 10/12
Team ERA: 3.85
ERA Rank: 3/12

Top Prospects

Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking

GAVIN WILLIAMS | RHP | 3
- Pipeline Top 100: #56
- Baseball America Top 100: #35
TANNER BIBEE | RHP | 8
ANGEL MARTINEZ | SS/2B | 12
JHONKENSY NOEL | OF/3B/1B | 17
JOSE TENA | SS/2B | 18
TANNER BURNS | RHP | 19
JOEY CANTILLO | LHP | 25
BRYAN LAVASTIDA | C | 26

HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS

Opponent: WINSTON-SALEM (WHITE SOX)

Opponent Stats

Team OPS: .722 OPS
Rank: 9/12
Team ERA: 5.03
ERA Rank: 9/12

Top Prospects

Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking

NONE

SINGLE-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS

Opponent: FORT MYERS (TWINS)

Opponent Stats

Team OPS: .714 OPS
Rank: 2/10
Team ERA: 3.47
ERA Rank: 1/10

Top Prospects

Player | Position | Pipeline Ranking

EMMANUEL RODRIGUEZ | OF | 3
- Pipeline Top 100: #97
- Baseball America Top 100: #83
MARCO RAYA | RHP | 7
MISAEL URBINA | OF | 8
TANNER SCHOBEL | SS | 13
NOAH MILLER | SS | 16