One day after Gerrit Cole made his AA debut, Luis Heredia makes his debut for State College. The seventh best prospect in the Pirates system in the latest Pirates Prospects rankings, Heredia is 16 months younger than anyone else on the team roster. A story on the big test he faces as a 17 year old in the NYPL can be read here. It also includes a recap of the first start of the season for Kyle McPherson, who also pitches today. Indianapolis has an early afternoon start time today with Rudy Owens on the mound, looking for his 14th straight quality start to begin the season. A full recap of yesterday’s games can be found here.
Triple-A: Indianapolis (43-29) @ Gwinnett (37-37) 12:05pm
Probable starter: Rudy Owens (5-2 2.34)
Yesterday’s Result: Indianapolis 10 Gwinnett 2 (Game story here)
Rudy Owens will make his 14th start of the season today. He has pitched a total of 84.2 innings, with 75 hits allowed, ten homers, 13 walks and he has 58 strikeouts. Rudy has an 0.80 GO/AO ratio and a .237 BAA. He is second in the International League in ERA and innings pitched, and ranks sixth in WHIP(1.04). In his last start, Owens went six innings, allowing two runs on nine hits. In six road starts this year, he has a 2.54 ERA in 39 innings.
Double-A: Altoona (32-36) VS New Britain (35-33) 7:00pm
Probable starter: Kyle McPherson (1-0 1.80)
Yesterday’s Result: Altoona 9 New Britain 4 (Game story here)
Kyle McPherson will make his second start since returning from shoulder soreness, which kept him out of action until last Saturday. In his first start, he went five innings, allowing one run on four hits, one walk and he struck out five batters. Kyle split last season between Altoona and Bradenton, pitching 161 total innings, giving up 137 hits, 11 homers, 27 walks and he struck out 142 batters.
High-A: Bradenton (29-41) VS Charlotte (29-38) 6:30pm
Probable starter: Tyler Waldron (4-3 5.32)
Yesterday’s Result: Bradenton 2 St Lucie 6
Tyler Waldron will make his 12th start of the season tonight. He also pitched twice in relief at the beginning of the year. Tyler has thrown a total of 64.1 innings, allowing 83 hits, eight homers, 15 walks and he has 46 strikeouts. In his last start on June 10, he allowed a season high 11 hits, and nine runs, in 3.2 innings. That start followed a four inning outing that saw him give up seven runs on nine hits.
Low-A: West Virginia (23-47) VS Lexington (39-30) 7:05pm
Probable starter: Zack Dodson (1-5 6.12)
Yesterday’s Result: West Virginia was off
West Virginia returns from their All-Star break tonight. They finished their first half in last place, 22.5 games behind division winner Greensboro. When the Power resume play on Thursday night, the team records will reset to 0-0 for the second half title run. Team leaders: Alen Hanson .316 average. Gregory Polanco/Hanson 10 homers. Willy Garcia 45 RBI’s. Pitchers: Matt Benedict 4 wins, 76.1 IP, 1.24 WHIP. Nick Kingham 56 K.
Short Season A: State College (1-2) VS Williamsport (2-1) 7:05pm
Probable Starter: Luis Heredia (0-0 0.00)
Yesterday’s Result: State College 1 Wiliamsport 13
Luis Heredia will make his first start of the season tonight. He pitched last year for the GCL Pirates, going 1-2 4.75 in 12 games. Luis threw a total of 30.1 innings, allowing 28 hits, three homers, 19 walks and he struck out 23 batters. It was his first year in pro ball, playing almost the entire season as a 16 year old. The Pirates signed him in August of 2010, just after his 16th birthday for a $2.6mil bonus.
Rookie: GCL Pirates (2-1) VS GCL Tigers (2-1) 12:00pm
Yesterday’s Result: Pirates 11 Tigers 4
DSL: Pirates1 (10-6) VS Red Sox (10-6) 10:30am
Yesterday’s Result: Pirates 2 Yankees 0
DSL: Pirates2 (9-7) VS Mets1 (7-9) 10:30am
Yesterday’s Result: Pirates 2 Cubs 1