As the minor league season gets into the late stages, most of the teams in the Pirates’ system are playing well. Even West Virginia, which had a miserable 23-47 first half, is 25-19 and in first place in the second half. Bradenton is a game over .500 in the second half after going 29-41 in the first half.
TRENDING UP
Jose Tabata, OF (AAA): Maybe he’s starting to work his way back. In the past week Tabata went 12-25 (.480). He also had four walks and only three Ks, but only one of the hits, a double, went for extra bases.
Yamaico Navarro, UT (AAA): Navarro hasn’t had any exciting streaks since the Pirates sent him to AAA, but he’s been a steady part of the Indianapolis offense and has gotten better over the course of the season. He hit 296/416/549 in July and is 5-17 so far in August. His plate discipline has been very good: 26 walks and 30 Ks. On the season he has an .844 OPS.
Jeff Locke, LHP (AAA): Locke has thrown 14.1 shutout innings in his last two starts while fanning 14 and allowing only seven hits. In a dozen starts since May, his ERA is 2.28 and he’s fanned 66 in 71 innings.
Adalberto Santos, OF (AA): Since he returned from injury, Santos has picked up where he left off. In his last nine games he’s 15-36 (.417) with two doubles and two triples. On the year he’s got four more walks than strikeouts.
Phil Irwin, RHP (AA): In his last seven starts, Irwin’s ERA is 0.96. In 47 innings he’s allowed only 33 hits and four walks. He’s fanned 42.
Dan Gamache, 2B (Low A): The always-entertaining West Virginia Power nearly always have somebody hot, usually either Gregory Polanco or Alen Hanson. Their hottest hitter over the last week, though, has been Gamache, who’s gone 12-26 (.462) with four doubles and a triple.
Nick Kingham, RHP (Low A): Kingham has had a rough season, but in his last four starts his ERA is 0.41. He’s allowed only 14 hits and three walks, and fanned 21 in 22 innings.
Adrian Sampson, RHP (Short Season A): Sampson started off a little slowly, but in his last two games he’s allowed only an unearned run and four hits in ten innings, while fanning nine.
Eric Wood, 3B (Rookie): Wood was a bit of a mystery when the Pirates drafted him in the 6th round, but he’s starting to make the decision look good. In the last ten games he’s hit 452/528/742, with a double, triple and two HRs. He has only 13 Ks to go with 11 walks.
TRENDING DOWN
Tony Sanchez, C (AAA): Sanchez suddenly started showing the power the Pirates expected after his promotion to AAA, but lately he hasn’t been hitting. In his last ten games he’s gone hitless seven times and is just 5-32 (.156). The one good sign is that he’s fanned only five times while walking five, so it’s not like he’s been overwhelmed.
Justin Wilson, LHP (AAA): In his last six starts, Wilson has walked 22 in 25.2 IP. He hasn’t gone over five innings in any of those starts. He’s unlikely to get called up if the control meltdowns continue.
Matt Curry, 1B (AA): Curry’s had some hot streaks this year, but he hasn’t been able to keep hitting with any consistency. In his last ten games he’s gone 5-38 (.132) with one walk and twelve Ks. In August, he’s 2-17 (.118) with eight Ks.
