Jack Brannigan showed some power tonight in Greensboro, as part of an 11-1 victory by the Pittsburgh Pirates High-A squad. Brannigan went 2-for-5, hitting...
Nick Gonzales keeps hitting.
The middle infielder, playing second base on Tuesday night for Indianapolis, went 2-for-4 with a walk. That extends his hitting streak...
The Pirates have Gold Glove third basemen in Ke'Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo. They've got another candidate in the system in power hitter Jack Brannigan.
Valentin Linarez had one of the biggest recorded velocity jumps in minor league baseball last year.
Baseball America tracked the year-over-year four-seam velocity gainers from...
At the start of the 2023 international signing period, the Pittsburgh Pirates added David Matoma as their first signing out of Uganda. The right-handed...
The Pittsburgh Pirates have added two more candidates to the official managerial interview list, interviewing Ken Macha and Jeff Banister today. Macha is the...
The Arizona Fall League begins play today, with seven Pirates' farmhands on the roster for the Mesa Solar Sox.� Players from the Los Angeles Angels, the Philadelphia Phillies, the Chicago Cubs, and the New York Mets will round out the Solar Sox' roster. � Pitchers Brian Leach, Aaron Pribanic, and Justin Wilson are all participating, and all are expected to pitch in relief, as other pitchers have the priority for starting roles.� Team USA's Justin De Fratus (Phillies) is also on the roster, so he must be planning to join the Solar Sox later in the week after the Pan Am tournament wraps up.
Behind the plate, look for C Tony Sanchez, who is trying to make up time after missing much of the regular season due to a fractured jaw.� Sanchez has also been asked by MLB to keep a blog of his experiences in the Arizona Fall League.� (He hasn't started it yet -- stay tuned.)� Phillies' pitcher Josh Zeid and Angels pitcher Ryan Brasier, both slated as starters for the Solar Sox, have also been asked to write blogs.
Altoona infielders Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer will be sharing some infield time with six other infielders, including Josh Vitters of the Cubs.� Their Curve teammate Andrew Lambo will be sharing outfield duties with four other outfielders, including Phillies' John Mayberry.
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Mexican Pacific League
Los Venados de Mazatlan is the hometown team of OF Rogelios Noris. He got in a little playing time last year as a rookie, and was a bit of a surprise, with some home runs and some very good pinch-hit appearances. The 21-year-old hit .236 with the West Virginia Power during the 2010 season.
Also listed on one Mazatlan roster (but not all) is LHP Jovany Lopez. Lopez is a 19 year old from Los Mochis, who has spent two seasons with the Pirates Venezuelan Summer League team.� This season, he made 18 relief appearances (27.2 innings) and had a 5-0 record with a 3.90 ERA.� He gave up 30 hits and 12 earned runs, but allowed only 5 walks and struck out 21.
Three former Pirates are also playing in the Mexican Pacific League:� Inf/Of Yurendell de Caster is with Los Algodoneros de Guasave, C Humberto Cota is on the roster of Los Naranjeros de Hermosillo, and OF Jeff Salazar will be in center field for Los Yaquis de Obregon.
As you may have already seen, Baseball America has been unveiling Top 20 prospects list for each of the minor leagues in recent weeks. After revealing the International League today, they have covered each of the leagues that include Pirates affiliates. Let's see how the Bucs fared overall.
Baseball America released their top 20 prospects from the 2010 International League (scouting reports for subscribers here). Pedro Alvarez, Brad Lincoln, and Jose Tabata...
Cubs' farmhand Chris Archer pitched an amazing 6 innings for Team USA as they continued their winning ways in the last pool game of the Pan American tournament with a win over Cuba.� Team USA will enter the semi-final round of the tournament with a perfect 9-0 record, while Cuba drops to 7-2.
Archer's 10 strikeouts kept the Cuban batters stymied for 6 innings.� They managed only 2 hits -- a double in the 2nd inning, and a single to lead off the top of the 4th.� Archer did not walk any batters, facing just 2 over the minimum.
Team USA had only one hit over the first two innings -- a single by DH Brad Eldred (Rockies) to lead off the 2nd inning.�� Eldred reached second base, but was left stranded.� The USA got onto the scoreboard in the 3rd inning.� With one out, SS Brian Barden (Marlins) beat out a grounder to short for an infield single.� CF Mike Trout (Angels) singled up the middle, pushing Barden to second base.� After a pop out, 3B Mike Moustakas (Royals) doubled down the left field line.� Barden scored easily from second base, and Trout raced around from first to score also, giving the USA a 2-0 lead.
The USA threatened again in the 4th, when 1B Eric Hosmer (Royals) led off with a single, but was thrown out at second when he tried to stretch it.� If Hosmer had held at first, he might have been able to score on LF Todd Frazier's (Reds) double.� Frazier was subsequently tagged out at third base when RF Jamie Hoffmann (Dodgers) grounded right to the third baseman.
An error by the Cubans led to two unearned runs for Team USA in the 6th.� Moustakas opened the inning with a walk, and Eldred singled, moving Moustakas to second base.� The Cubans brought in a new pitcher, but that didn't help.� Hosmer reached base on an error by the Cuban first baseman, as Moustakas scored on the error.� Eldred rounded third and headed for the plate, but by that time, the Cubans had the ball back under control, and Eldred was out at the plate.� Hosmer ended up on third base, and moments later, he scored on a wild pitch.� Frazier kept the inning going with a single.� C Erik Kratz reached base on a fielder's choice, though Frazier was out at second base.� Kratz was also forced out at second base on the next play, ending the inning.
Nick Hill (Mariners) relieved Archer to begin the 7th inning.� He gave up a pair of 2-out singles, but got a strikeout to end the 7th inning.� He also struck out the first two batters he faced in the 8th, but then gave up a run on a single and a triple.�� Anthony Carter (White Sox) took over for Hill, and got a fly out to end the 8th.� Carter worked around a double in the 9th inning to keep the Cubans from scoring again.
Pirates' farmhand Chase d'Arnaud did not get into this game.� Kratz went 0-for-3 at the plate, and Eldred was 2-for-4.
Team USA now continues on to the semi-finals as the #1 seed.� They will play the Dominican Republic on Tuesday at 7:30 pm.� Cuba and Venezuela are the other two teams to reach the semi-final round.� Cuba has a 5-1 record in round two, the Dominicans have a 4-2 record, while Venezuela is fourth with a 3-3 record.
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Also on Monday:
Canada 14,� Puerto Rico� 6 -- The Canadians had a hit-fest at the expense of Puerto Rico, posting 14 hits and two 5-run innings.� Former Pirate farmhand RF Jamie Romak went 2-for-3 with 5 RBI -- he doubled and hit a 3-run homer in the 8th.� Three other Canadians also homered:� CF Adam Stern (Brewers), C Chris Robinson (Cubs), and 1B Scott Thorman (Royals).� Robinson had 5 hits and 3 RBI in the game. � Former Pirate 3B Ramon Vasquez had 2 hits for Puerto Rico, and former Indy Indian SS Luis Figueroa had one hit.� Pirate farmhand Tom Boleska pitched 1.1 inning and gave up only one hit.
Team Canada is done for this tournament, but they have qualified to play in next year's Pan Am tournament and also in the World Baseball Cup.
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Also on Tuesday:� the opening of the Arizona Fall League and two of the Caribbean Winter Leagues -- the Mexican Pacific and the Venezuelan Leagues.
The Pittsburgh Pirates started off the 2010 season with question marks at their corner outfield spots. Lastings Milledge started the season in left field,...
Some manager updates for today...
-The Pirates officially interviewed John Gibbons, making him the third manager candidate interviewed. Gibbons is the bench coach of the...
Here is a quick graph of all major league hitters with 300+ plate appearances in 2010. On-Base Percentage (OBP) is on the x-axis, with Isolated Power (ISO) on the y-axis. This covers the two most important aspects of hitting; reaching base successfully and maximizing the number of bases attained each time at the plate. The red square indicates league average (.325 OBP, .145 ISO). Each qualified Pirates hitter is labeled and indicated by a black and gold diamond. A few of the season’s best and worst MLB hitters are also labeled. Enjoy.
