After the reminder yesterday that the short-season teams are about to get their schedules started, I figured I’d take a look at the players from last year’s short-season teams, and where they are this season. It will give you a sense of what to expect from these teams, as far as player movement in the following season. Every year won’t be the same, but you can see examples of how many players from the GCL move up to full-season ball, plus the difference between Bristol and Morgantown.
Morgantown
Starting at the top, Morgantown used a total of 45 players, with three of them being rehab players. For this article, I’m going to leave out all of the rehab players because the GCL team could see a lot of them, so that would skew the numbers.
Nine of the players have been released from the remaining 42 (technically Nick Hibbing retired).
Edgar Santana and Brandon Waddell are at Altoona. I wouldn’t expect two players from the 2016 Morgantown roster to be in Altoona at this time next year.
Kevin Kramer, Kevin Newman, Tate Scioneaux and JT Brubaker are all in Bradenton. That’s a normal amount I’d say. Only two of them skipped West Virginia (Kramer and Newman), while the other two were in-season promotions.
Sixteen players make up the 25-man roster for West Virginia and that too seems like an average number. You’ll get the occasional players held back each year for the Power, plus some players coming up from the other two lower levels.
The other 11 players are all in Extended Spring Training.
Bristol
Bristol used 36 players last year.
One player is in Bradenton, catcher Tomas Morales, who made the surprising jump and has held his own as a backup.
Nine players are on West Virginia. Just a note that there is some overlap, so the entire West Virginia roster right now isn’t made up of just Bristol and Morgantown players, even though it looks like it adds up to 25 between them.
Twelve players have been released and one has been traded (Trey Supak).
The other 13 players are in Extended Spring Training.
GCL Pirates
The GCL Pirates used 38 non-rehab players last year.
Only two players are in full-season ball, Ke’Bryan Hayes and Seth McGarry. That number could be zero next year unless they give a push to a player like Hayes, or an unexpected player like McGarry shows up. He was there to get stretched out, going from a college reliever to a pro starter.
Eight players have been released and Richard Mitchell was part of the Jim Benedict/Trevor Williams trade.
The other 27 players will be headed to one of these three teams, though there still could be some players released in these final days as the Pirates combine the draft picks and Extended Spring Training players to fill out the rosters.
PLAYOFF PUSH
Bradenton is 5-5 in their last ten games. They are in first place in their division, two games ahead. The first half of the FSL season ends on June 22nd. Their magic number is three.
West Virginia has been eliminated from the first half pennant race. The second half begins on June 23rd.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates lost 11-2 to the Mets on Wednesday night. Juan Nicasio gets the start tonight, his 12th of the season. He gave up one run on three hits and two walks, with seven strikeouts, against the Mets in his last start. The Mets will counter with Bartolo Colon, who has a 3.08 ERA in 73 innings this season, with 48 strikeouts and a 1.22 WHIP. He did not face the Pirates the last time these two teams met. In his last start, he allowed one run over seven innings against the Brewers.
In the minors, Clay Holmes makes his second start after being skipped in the rotation to cut back on his innings. He has already thrown 62 innings this season after pitching 36.1 total in 2015, his first season back from Tommy John surgery. Holmes had his worst outing since April on Saturday, allowing seven runs in 4.1 innings.
Yeudy Garcia gets the start today for Bradenton, trying to continue his streak of starts without allowing more than three runs. He’s made 11 starts this season without surpassing that mark, plus one extended relief outing. He is 13th in the Florida State League in ERA and 11th in strikeouts.
MLB: Pittsburgh (33-32) @ Mets (35-29) 7:10 PM
Probable starter: Juan Nicasio (5.34 ERA, 25:60 BB/SO, 59.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (35-30) vs Pawtucket (33-32) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Wilfredo Boscan (3.80 ERA, 4:32 BB/SO, 42.2 IP)
AA: Altoona (34-30) vs New Hampshire (29-35) 7:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Clay Holmes (5.66 ERA, 4:5 BB/SO, 3.2 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (35-29) vs Ft Myers (31-34) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Yeudy Garcia (2.77 ERA, 26:60 BB/SO, 52.0 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (34-31) @ Charleston (39-26) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Dario Agrazal (4.58 ERA, 9:35 BB/SO, 59.0 IP)
DSL: Pirates (3-7) vs Rangers1 (7-2) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is Austin Meadows setting the Altoona record with a 22-game hit streak. Of course it was an extra-base hit because that’s what he does. He has 25 extra-base hits in his last 31 games.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
6/15: Pirates sign Will Craig, Matt Anderson and nine other draft picks.
6/15: Pirates release Nick Buckner.
6/15: Trey Haley sent outright to Indianapolis.
6/15: Dovydas Neverauskas promoted to Indianapolis. John Kuchno placed on disabled list.
6/14: Pirates place Gerrit Cole on the disabled list. Recall Jameson Taillon.
6/14: Kevin Newman and Wyatt Mathisen activated from disabled list. Trace Tam Sing assigned to GCL Pirates.
6/14: Miguel Rosario promoted to Altoona.
6/4: Pirates release Robert Zarate.
6/13: Sam Street activated from Temporary Inactive List. JT Brubaker assigned to GCL Pirates.
6/11: Pirates acquire Erik Kratz from Angels for cash considerations. Trey Haley designated for assignment.
6/11: Clay Holmes added to Altoona roster. David Whitehead placed on disabled list.
6/11: Pirates place Francisco Cervelli on disabled list.
6/11: Pirates option Kyle Lobstein and Cole Figueroa to Indianapolis. recall Rob Scahill and Arquimedes Caminero.
6/10: Mitch Keller added to West Virginia roster. Logan Sendelbach assigned to GCL Pirates.
6/10: Alex McRae promoted to Altoona.
6/9: Pirates option Jameson Taillon to Indianapolis. Kyle Lobstein recalled from Indianapolis.
6/9: Frank Duncan promoted to Indianapolis.
6/8: Pirates recall Jameson Taillon. Curtis Partch optioned to Indianapolis.
6/8: JT Brubaker promoted to Bradenton. Julio Vivas added to West Virginia roster.
6/6: Clay Holmes assigned to Extended Spring Training. David Whitehead added to Altoona roster.
6/4: Pirates released Nate Irving, Edgar Figueroa, Eric Thomas and Eliezer Ramirez.
6/4: Pirates option Rob Scahill and Wilfredo Boscan to Indianapolis. Recall Curtis Partch and Cory Luebke.
6/4: Ryan Vogelsong transferred from 15-day disabled list to 60-day DL.
6/4: Guido Knudson added to Indianapolis roster.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Seven former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including one who is among the best at his position in franchise history. Starting with the oldest players first, they are 1885 shortstop Marr Phillips and 1912 pinch-runner Ralph Capron, who has an interesting story. He was a college football and baseball star, who was known for his tremendous speed. His career with the Pirates lasted one game and just barely at that. After replacing Alex McCarthy as a pinch-runner at first base with two outs in the ninth, Capron remained glued to first base while the last out was made. He went to the minors right after that and returned with the Phillies the next year, pinch-running once and getting one at-bat in his only other Major League game. In 1920, he played pro football.
Other players born on this date include 1917-19 first baseman Fritz Mollwitz and 1942-46 infielder Pete Coscarart, who was part of the return from the Dodgers in the unpopular Arky Vaughan trade. Also, 1954-56 pitcher Max Surkont, 2008 infielder Chris Gomez and first baseman Kevin Young, who played for the Pirates from 1992-95 and then again from 1997 until 2003. Young ranks 11th in team history in homers, 17th in doubles and 17th in RBIs. He is currently a coach for the Pirates. You can read more on Young and all of the other players in the link above.
On this date in 1969, the Pirates and Cubs squared off in a back-and-forth affair that ended with a 9-8 victory for the Bucs and Steve Blass picking up his first career save. This game included seven Hall of Fame players, and an eighth HOF’er if you include Cubs’ manager Leo Durocher. Chicago had Ernie Banks, Billy Williams and Ron Santo in the middle of their lineup, while the Pirates had Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente, Bill Mazeroski and starting pitcher Jim Bunning.
The Cubs took an early 2-0 lead, only to see the Pirates score six runs to take the lead. The Cubs chipped away to take a 7-6 lead late. That led to a three-run eighth from the Pirates and the eventual 9-8 win. Al Oliver hit a two-run homer in the eighth. You can view the boxscore here.
