Every month during the minor league season, we announce our picks for the pitcher of the month and the player of the month. Those articles will be up soon, but I wanted to quickly look back on the winners from one year ago today. Within each article, we also pick the best hitter/pitcher from each affiliate, so each article has four players mentioned for the first three months, then the seven stateside affiliates over the final two months of the season.
Last April, the Pitcher of the Month was Brandon Waddell. He had an incredible month for Bradenton, which quickly got him promoted to Altoona in his first full season of pro ball. He wasn’t close to as dominant with Altoona, but he had some starts that were very encouraging for his future. Unfortunately for Waddell, he has been injured for three weeks, though he could return this week if everything checks out for him.
The other pitchers were some pretty good names. Jameson Taillon for Indianapolis, Tyler Eppler for Altoona and Mitch Keller for West Virginia. The monthly winners aren’t always top prospects from each level, but it worked out well for the pitchers last April. It has also worked out well for all three of these pitchers since last April.
On the hitting side, Josh Bell was the Player of the Month, and just like his Indianapolis teammate at the time, Bell has seen plenty of Major League time since the end of last April. The other top players last April were Erich Weiss for Altoona, Kevin Newman for Bradenton and Tito Polo for West Virginia.
While Newman didn’t have the best month of April this year, you could still say he has progressed nicely since last year. Don’t forget that he suffered an eye injury on a hit-by-pitch at the end of last May, so he dealt with a somewhat significant injury that slowed his progress and development. Weiss is a level higher than this time last year, but he is receiving sporadic playing time this season and he’s struggling at the plate. Polo was traded away for Ivan Nova, and he has missed some time this season with a minor injury. He hit really well after April last year as well, earning a mid-season promotion to Bradenton before the trade.
Of the eight players on our April lists, all are one level higher than last April. The top prospects performed well, as Taillon, Bell and Newman were all highly rated, while everyone else was considered a top 50 prospect.
**It’s rare that all four full-season affiliates for the Pirates are home at the same time, so today could be a first for Pirates Prospects if the weather cooperates. We plan to have live coverage for all four teams today. If for some reason today doesn’t work out, then we can try again tomorrow. Altoona goes on the road on Thursday, so it’s just a brief aligning of the stars. I say “could be a first” not because of the weather, but because I don’t remember it happening before. We had four teams covered on the same day earlier this year, but one of those teams was the Pirates. So basically, the Prospect Watch tonight and tomorrow could be packed with live coverage.
**Andrew McCutchen homered in the first inning last night. That was his 487th extra-base hit, giving him sole possession of tenth place in that category in Pirates history. He now sits between Ralph Kiner in 11th place and Arky Vaughan in ninth place with 491 extra-base hits. You could say that’s pretty good company.
If McCutchen were to homer today (no pressure), he would actually pass Ralph Kiner in total bases. He is just three behind him for 13th place. McCutchen is not being kind to Kiner’s place on the all-time list. In Kiner’s defense, he had 549 fewer plate appearances with the Pirates than McCutchen has right now. He also had 172 more walks, which are very tough to pick up extra-base hits or total bases on.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 4-3 to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night. The Pirates will send Tyler Glasnow to the mound tonight for his fifth start. He faced the Reds in his season opener and allowed five runs over 1.2 innings. Cincinnati will counter with veteran right-hander Scott Feldman, who has a 3.25 ERA in 27.2 innings this season.
In the minors, Tyler Eppler makes his fifth start today. He went five innings in his last outing, giving up four runs. In his three previous starts combined, he allowed two runs. JT Brubaker was scheduled to go for Altoona yesterday, but they were rained out, so he will try again today. Bradenton’s starter Gage Hinsz allowed one run over six innings in his last start. West Virginia’s Cam Vieaux leads all Pirates with a 1.61 ERA.
MLB: Pittsburgh (11-14) @ Reds (12-13) 7:10 PM
Probable starter: Tyler Glasnow (7.98 ERA, 13:17 BB/SO, 14.2 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (7-15) vs Toledo (12-10) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Tyler Eppler (2.45 ERA, 2:15 BB/SO, 22.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (13-9) vs Richmond (9-12) 6:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: JT Brubaker (5.09 ERA, 8:16 BB/SO, 23.0 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (14-11) vs St Lucie (10-15) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Gage Hinsz (7.41 ERA, 8:10 BB/SO, 17.0 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (11-14) vs Hickory (9-15) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Cam Vieaux (1.61 ERA, 4:10 BB/SO, 22.1 IP)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is a home run from an unlikely source. Alex McRae homered for Altoona on Sunday.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
5/1: Pirates recall Elias Diaz. Option John Bormann to Bradenton.
5/1: Pirates release Greg Williams, Holden Helmink and Julian Villamar.
4/30: Pirates option Danny Ortiz to Indianapolis. John Bormann promoted to Pittsburgh.
4/30: Pirates release Trace Tam Sing.
4/29: Pirates place David Freese on disabled list. Danny Ortiz promoted to Pittsburgh.
4/29: Justin Maffei added to Indianapolis roster.
4/28: Luis Heredia assigned to Altoona. Pirates release John Kuchno
4/28: Jackson Williams added to Altoona roster. Zane Chavez assigned to Morgantown.
4/28: Brett McKinney added to Indianapolis roster.
4/27: Eury Perez added to Indianapolis roster.
4/27: Jess Amedee placed on the disabled list. Trace Tam Sing added to Bradenton roster.
4/26: Pirates recall Gift Ngoepe. Dovydas Neverauskas optioned to Indianapolis.
4/25: Hector Garcia placed on disabled list. Mike Wallace added to West Virginia roster.
4/25: Jerrick Suiter added to Bradenton roster. Trace Tam Sing assigned to Extended Spring Training.
4/25: Antonio Bastardo placed on disabled list. Pirates recall Johnny Barbato.
4/24: Adam Frazier placed on disabled list. Pirates recall Dovydas Neverauskas.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Three former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, all of them pitchers and they lasted a total of 13 games between them. Jose Ascanio pitched ten games, split between 2009 and 2011. Clay Carroll pitched two games for the 1978 Pirates and Freddy Sale pitched for Pittsburgh on June 30,1924. With the Pirates losing 7-3 to the Cardinals that day, Sale came on for the eight inning and gave up two singles to the first two hitters. Two batters later, he got an out and a double play without allowing a run and his big league career was over.
Clay Carroll was in his 15th and final season in the majors when he joined the Pirates. His career in the big leagues began back when the Braves were still in Milwaukee. The Pirates knew him well, as he faced them plenty of times over the years, including three times in the NLCS while with the Reds (1970, 72 and 75). In 731 career games, he had 96 wins and 143 saves.
The Pittsburgh Pirates played their first game in franchise history 135 years ago today. That day, the Alleghenys defeated the Cincinnati Red Stockings on the first day of baseball in the American Association. It was a league that lasted ten years total and for the first five, Pittsburgh was a member, before moving to the National League for the 1887 season. The first batter in team history was Ed Swartwood, who led the league in runs and doubles in 1882 and became the first Pirates/Alleghenys player to lead the league in average (.357) the next season.
