It’s still too early in the season to make any real judgments about a player breaking out, or another player struggling. It’s nice to see all of the success on the mound early on with Tyler Glasnow, Jameson Taillon, Mitch Keller, Brandon Waddell, Tyler Eppler and JT Brubaker all having strong starts. That being said, things can change in a hurry at this point. So with that huge asterisk in place, here are two players from each team. One has performed above expectations early, one below. Some teams will have multiple players in each category, but I stuck to one player for each category unless two players grouped well together. Thanks to the magic of MiLB.tv, I’ve watched all four teams multiples times already, so these are just some early observations.
Indianapolis
The surprise player is sort of cheating because Jameson Taillon has such a high upside. I just didn’t expect him to pitch as well as he did his first time back. He allowed one run over six innings and looked like a much better pitcher than before his Tommy John surgery. I went into watching him pitch with much lower expectations and I don’t think anyone would have worried if he pitched half as good as he did, because the most important thing was that he was on the mound again.
For the disappointing player, it has to be Mel Rojas Jr. He has played just three games and has six at-bats, meaning he is the last man on the bench. So much potential and he even created some excitement over the winter by showing off all of those tools early on, before fading at the end of the Dominican league. He reaches minor league free agency at the end of the year and if the early signs are any indication, he will be going elsewhere if he’s going to keep playing.
Altoona
The early surprise I mentioned the other day, and it’s how good Anderson Feliz is doing. I didn’t expect him to be an everyday player, but he’s playing multiple positions and hitting .348/.423/.522 in 23 at-bats. I may have had some expectations for him if he came up in the Pirates’ organization, because I would have known the specifics on how many injuries he had and how much time it cost him. Throw in the fact that he’s only 23 years old and he certainly doesn’t fit the minor league filler profile.
The downside would be the big expectations for the outfield of Harold Ramirez, Austin Meadows and Barrett Barnes. It was assumed awhile ago that those three would make up the Altoona outfield and give them an interesting group of prospects. Meadows had the freak eye injury he is working his way back from still, while Barnes and Ramirez have struggled at the plate. Ramirez has a .458 OPS and Barnes is 1-for-16 so far.
Bradenton
The good would have to be the pitching of Brandon Waddell, who skipped over Low-A ball this year and he’s started his season with 11 shutout innings. He’s allowed five hits and one walk, while striking out seven batters. He was considered a polished college pitcher when they drafted him in the fifth round last year, so it’s good to see him living up to that in High-A ball.
The bad would be Yeudy Garcia, who hasn’t found his stride yet. In his debut, he tied his career high for hits allowed. In his second game, he ran up his pitch count and had to be removed after three innings. His velocity and command are both off early, so that is something to watch.
West Virginia
The good here is similar to the Taillon one and I’m going to cheat by including two players. We obviously like Mitch Keller and Ke’Bryan Hayes, going by their prospect rankings, but based on past experiences, I don’t expect them to be stars in the South Atlantic League this year. Keller is up to ten shutout innings, with five hits, no walks and 13 strikeouts. Hayes is hitting .355 with four doubles. They both look really good so far, exceeding early expectations.
The bad would have been different two days ago, which shows you how early it is. Casey Hughston just had two big games and now his stats look much better. So I’m going with Mitchell Tolman, who is hitting .156/.250/.219 through 32 at-bats. Unlike Hayes, I expect Tolman to have a big season at this level because he’s a college player with a solid approach at the plate. His numbers will probably be fine by the end of the season, but he’s digging himself as early hole.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates won 5-0 over the Brewers on Saturday night. Juan Nicasio will go to the mound today, making his third start. He allowed one run over six innings in his debut and then came back with four runs over three innings earlier this week. The Brewers will counter with righty Zach Davies, making his season debut.
In Indianapolis, Steven Brault makes his second start of the season. He lasted just four innings in his first game, leaving early due to a high pitch count. JT Brubaker has allowed one run over 11 innings in his first two starts. He gets his third start tomorrow for West Virginia. Alex McRae also makes his third start for Bradenton, while David Whitehead tries to improve on a very poor debut in the Pirates’ system earlier this week. He gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks in four innings on Tuesday.
MLB: Pittsburgh (6-6) vs Brewers (5-6) 1:35 PM
Probable starter: Juan Nicasio (5.00 ERA, 5:11 BB/SO, 9.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (4-3) vs Columbus (3-5) 1:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Steven Brault (4.50 ERA, 2:3 BB/SO, 4.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (3-6) @ Richmond (4-6) 12:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: David Whitehead (11.25 ERA, 3:6 BB/SO, 4.0 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (3-7) vs Lakeland (5-5) 1:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Alex McRae (3.60 ERA, 5:5 BB/SO, 10.0 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (8-2) vs Lexington (5-5) 2:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: JT Brubaker (0.82 ERA, 5:12 BB/SO, 11.0 IP)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is the first home run of the season from Josh Bell, a two-run shot from Friday night.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
4/16: Trevor Williams placed on disabled list. Jhondaniel Medina promoted to Indianapolis.
4/15: John Kuchno promoted to Indianapolis. Frank Duncan added to Altoona roster.
4/14: Cory Luebke placed on disabled list. Pirates recall Rob Scahill.
4/14: Pirates sign Justin Masterson.
4/14: Chad Kuhl assigned to Indianapolis.
4/13: Michael Morse designated for assignment. Pirates select contract of A.J. Schugel.
4/13: Pedro Florimon sent outright to Indianapolis.
4/13: West Virginia places Cesilio Pimentel on disabled list. Eric Karch added to roster.
4/11: Pirates release John Holdzkom.
4/6: Tampa Bay Rays claim Jake Goebbert off waivers from Pirates.
4/2: Pirates designate Pedro Florimon, John Holdzkom and Jake Goebbert for assignment.
4/2: Pirates place Jung-ho Kang, Jared Hughes and Elias Diaz on the disabled list retroactive to March 25.
4/2: Pirates release Jose Batista and Jandy Vasquez.
4/1: Pirates release Gerardo Navarro, Christopher De Leon and Enyel Vallejo.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Just one former Pittsburgh Pirates player born on this date, 1931 pitcher Bob Osborn, so we concentrate on a big day in team history that occurred on this date in 1955. At the time it didn’t seem like a big day and the Pirates lost 10-3 to the Dodgers in game one of a doubleheader, but it ended up being the beginning of a historic career. Batting third and playing right field was Roberto Clemente, making his Major League debut. He went 1-for-4, scoring a run and collecting his first hit off Johnny Podres. Clemente had an infield single in his first career at-bat, then scored on a triple from Frank Thomas one batter later. In game two that day, Clemente batted lead-off and played center field. He had two hits in the second game and scored another run.
The Pirates have opened some seasons on this date worth noting. The Pirates shutout the Cardinals on Opening Day in 1902 by a 1-0 score. They would win the NL title that year and finish with a 103-36 record, best in franchise history.
Twenty-one years later, the Pirates opened up for the second time on April 17th. This time they beat the Cubs by a 3-2 score. Pirates had three Hall of Famers in the lineup, Max Carey, Pie Traynor and Rabbit Maranville.
The 1934 Pirates lost to Dizzy Dean on Opening Day. What’s interesting about that day is the 1-5 in the Pirates’ lineup. Lloyd Waner, Freddie Lindstrom, Paul Waner, Pie Traynor and Arky Vaughan are all in the Hall of Fame.
