The Bradenton Marauders have won ten games in a row for the first time in franchise history, after sweeping all six games last week against the St. Lucie Mets. The Marauders players show up with a strong presence in this week’s recap of the top hitters in the system.
Six of the top hitters in the system and five of the top pitchers played for Bradenton this week. When you include the FCL Pirates results, the top five hitting results by OPS came from Bradenton. Maybe there was something in the 90-degree air.
Below is a recap of the top hitters and pitchers in the Pittsburgh Pirates system from the last week, as well as Monday’s FCL Pirates recap.
THE HITTERS
Ji Hwan Bae, UTIL, Indianapolis – Bae is getting on base with Indianapolis at nearly a .500 rate through his first 95 plate appearances. The high on-base skills continued this week, when the utility player hit .300/.417/.550 in 24 plate appearances, with one homer and a triple. He’s the top depth option who could be called up if the Pirates need help.
Canaan Smith-Njigba, OF, Indianapolis – Smith-Njigba excels at getting on base, but doesn’t hit for a lot of power. On the season, he has a .256/.376/.372 line, which doesn’t project as a guy who could upgrade over the power bats of Jack Suwinski or Edward Olivares. This week, CSN hit .267/.353/.467, getting a power boost with his first homer of the year.
Lonnie White Jr., OF, Greensboro – The good for Lonnie White is that he’s hitting the ball hard and getting on base at a high rate. The concern is that he’s showing three-outcome tendency at the plate. This week he hit .118, but got on base at a .375 rate, with a .471 slugging thanks to two homers. He now has six homers on the year, but is hitting .177/.293/.456, with a 37% strikeout rate.
Charles McAdoo, 3B, Greensboro – McAdoo had a nice power week for Greensboro, hitting his fifth home run, along with two doubles. This led him to a .273/.304/.500 line. On the season, he’s batting .301/.378/.524, and is looking like one of the best all-around hitters the Pirates have in High-A.
P.J. Hilson, OF, Greensboro – The Pirates added Hilson as a minor league Rule 5 pick. He’s a guy who brings speed and defense to the lower levels. This week he was promoted to High-A Greensboro, where he batted .286/.375/.429 with a triple.
Omar Alfonzo, C/1B, Bradenton – Alfonzo was the best hitter in the system this week, batting .500/.609/.778 with a homer and two doubles as Bradenton swept all six games. Alfonzo is batting .272/.391/.413 this season, showing an ability to get on base at a high rate, with some power that can play behind the plate with his defensive skills, or at first base.
Solomon Maguire, OF, Bradenton – Maguire has some of the best power in the lower levels, and hit two homers last week. He batted .333/.375/.933, also showing better results at getting on base and avoiding strikeouts. His power hasn’t shown up prior to this week, and he’s struggled reaching base. Perhaps this will spark similar progress going forward.
Garret Forrester, C/3B/1B, Bradenton – Forrester excels at getting on base, due to advanced swing decisions. He hit .300/.462/.500 this week, adding two doubles. The Pirates have the high-contact corner infielder working behind the plate this year, which is a position he hasn’t played much since high school. He’s batting .262/.421/.381 this season.
Jeral Toledo, INF, Bradenton – Toledo hit .333/.429/.500 this past week, with some clutch hits that directly led to Bradenton wins. This was a standout week for Toledo, who is batting .210/.342/.290 on the season.
Esmerlyn Valdez, OF/1B, Bradenton – Valdez has been a breakout as one of the best hitters in Bradenton. He’s hitting .268/.381/.454 this season, showing power from the corner spots with four homers and six doubles. Two of those home runs came last week, with Valdez batting .222/.364/.556.
Keiner Delgado, INF, Bradenton – The Pirates added Delgado in the JT Brubaker trade. This was his first week in High-A, and he showed some power, batting .273/.273/.636 with two homers and two doubles. Delgado did have some swing and miss, striking out about a third of the time. He hit well in the FCL last year, and should get a chance to show what he can do in a full season at Single-A.
Carlos Caro, INF, FCL Pirates – Caro made his debut in the DSL last year, batting .310/.440/.504 with five homers. He was one of the best hitters at that level, and is looking like one of the best this year in his move up to the FCL. This past week he batted .429/.500/.500 with a double. He’s only played five games so far, but is reaching base at a .500 rate in his hot start to the season, with one home run so far.
Yordany De Los Santos, SS, FCL Pirates – I liked De Los Santos last year as a sleeper, but he struggled in Single-A with a high strikeout rate and a .578 OPS. He was sent down to the FCL this year, where the 19-year-old is now hitting .261/.346/.522. He hit two home runs this past week, putting up a .980 OPS that ranked fourth in the system.
Richard Ramirez, C, FCL Pirates – Ramirez hit .400/.571/.400 this week, ranking with the 5th best OPS in the system. All five were in Bradenton across the two levels. Ramirez spent the last two seasons in the DSL, batting .252/.361/.476 last season.
THE PITCHERS
Cam Alldred, LHP, Indianapolis – With Paul Skenes and Quinn Priester getting called up to the new six-man rotation, Alldred is going to be a fixture in the Triple-A rotation. This week he allowed two runs, one earned, in five innings, while striking out five. With this opportunity, he could put himself in position to be a depth option in the bullpen later in the season, if the Pirates need left-handed innings.
Braxton Ashcraft, RHP, Altoona – Ashcraft has struggled to start the year, but had his best start with Altoona this past week. He threw five shutout innings, allowing two hits, two walks, and striking out five. His upper-90s fastball and plus slider could work in the majors this year as a reliever, but the Pirates should continue giving him innings as a starter for now.
Po-Yu Chen, RHP, Altoona – Chen isn’t a power pitcher, working more with a finesse approach from good control and above-average secondary stuff. That worked well for him this week, allowing one run in six innings, with a walk and three strikeouts. This was his second start in a row with 5+ innings and one earned run.
Thomas Harrington, RHP, Altoona/Bradenton – Harrington is one of the top ten prospects in the system, and was dealing with a shoulder issue to start the year. He combined for six shutout innings in his return this week, throwing three in a rehab start with Bradenton, followed by three more in his Double-A debut. He struck out seven, allowing one hit and walking two.
Hunter Barco, LHP, Greensboro – Barco is emerging as one of the best lower level stories this year. He’s got a 1.65 ERA after throwing five shutout innings last week, with one hit, no walks, and three strikeouts. Barco is older for this level, but is getting his first full season in pro ball after returning from Tommy John at the start of his career.
Peyton Stumbo, RHP, Bradenton – Stumbo has been working in long relief for Bradenton, with last year’s 20th rounder putting up a 1.96 ERA this season. This past week he threw four shutout frames, striking out eight in the process. He works with a 92 MPH fastball that gets a high amount of swing and miss.
Carlson Reed, RHP, Bradenton – The Pirates have been converting Reed to the rotation, after he was a reliever with West Virginia University last year. He allowed two runs in five innings this week, striking out seven and walking three. Control is his biggest issue, but he’s got three above-average pitches that have led to a lot of swing and miss this year.
Antwone Kelly, RHP, Bradenton – Kelly has the best velocity of any starter in Bradenton, sitting around 96-97, and touching 98. He has dealt with issues controlling his pitches. He didn’t have those issues this week, allowing two runs in five innings, with one walk and six strikeouts.
Hung-Leng Chang, RHP, Bradenton – Chang is older for the level at age 22, but is showing good control and has an 0.84 ERA in 21.1 innings this year. He threw five shutout innings in his latest start, allowing four hits, no walks, and striking out four.
Inmer Lobo, LHP, FCL Pirates – The Pirates got Lobo for Hoy Park, reaching down to the DSL for the return of the struggling MLB utility player. Lobo is pitching well in his move to the FCL this year, with a 2.84 ERA and 13 strikeouts in his first 6.1 innings. He’s been working exclusively as a long reliever.
FCL PIRATES MONDAY RECAP
The FCL Pirates won 14-5 in a seven inning game, adding ten runs in the final two innings.
SS Yerry De Los Santos went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs. 3B Jhonny Severino went 2-for-5 with a double at the top of the lineup. DH Axiel Plaz went 1-for-3 with a double and four RBIs. 1B Luke Scherrer went 1-for-4 with two RBIs, three runs, and a stolen base. There were six hitters who recorded multiple hits. Aside from Severino and De Los Santos, that multi-hit list includes C Richard Ramirez (2-for-4, 2 RBI), 2B Carlos Caro (2-for-4, BB), CF Eduardo Oviedo (3-for-4, 2B), and LF Braylon Bishop (2-for-3, BB).
RHP Dioris Martinez pitched 2.1 innings, allowing three runs and one earned, with one hit and two walks. Martinez struck out four. LHP Inmer Lobo was the best pitcher of the day, throwing two shutout frames with one hit, no walks, and five strikeouts. RHP David Matoma threw a shutout inning, with one hit, no walks, and one strikeout.
TUESDAY’S SCHEDULE
- Triple-A: Indianapolis, 6:05 PM – LHP Cam Alldred (1-3, 6.92)
- Double-A: Altoona, 11:05 AM – RHP Braxton Ashcraft (1-2, 5.33)
- High-A: Greensboro, 6:00 PM – TBD
- Single-A: Bradenton, 6:30 PM – TBD
- Rookie: FCL Pirates, 12:00 PM – TBD
