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Morning Report: Plenty of Pitchers Performing Above Average Throughout the System

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In yesterday’s Morning Report, I took a look at the above average hitters from each of the four affiliates. I used the league average OPS as my guide and compared the current season to last year at the same exact time. I ended up doing the same thing with pitchers on May 22nd last year, so I’ll do the same comparison today. I used two categories for pitchers, looking at both ERA and WHIP, while using 20 innings pitched as the minimum to be included.

Here is a copy and paste of last year’s list of above average pitchers, followed by the 2017 results.

2016 Results

In the International League, the average ERA is 3.49, and the average WHIP is 1.30. For Indianapolis, Chad Kuhl leads the league at 0.99 in ERA, followed by Curtis Partch 1.66, Jameson Taillon 1.82, Tyler Glasnow 2.05, Jorge Rondon 2.08, Wilfredo Boscan 2.48 and Steven Brault at 2.70. For WHIP, Kuhl and Taillon are tied at 0.81, followed by Partch 1.02, Boscan 1.08, Glasnow 1.16, Rondon 1.20 and Guido Knudson at 1.20.

In the Eastern League, the average ERA is 3.71, and the average WHIP is 1.33. For Altoona, Frank Duncan leads with a 1.31 ERA, followed by Jhondaniel Medina at 1.74, Jared Lakind 2.57, Josh Smith 2.59 and Tyler Eppler at 2.74. For WHIP, Duncan leads at 1.06, followed by Eppler 1.07, Medina 1.11, and Smith at 1.23.

In the Florida State League, the average ERA is 3.36, and the average WHIP is 1.26. For Bradenton, Edgar Santana  leads with an 0.81 ERA. He’s followed by Brandon Waddell at 0.93, Miguel Rosario 1.77, Nick Neumann 2.25, Alex McRae 2.44 and Henry Hirsch 2.84. For WHIP, Waddell leads at 0.52, followed by Santana 0.67, Rosario 1.08, Neumann 1.10 and Austin Coley 1.16. Luis Heredia missed out on qualifying by one out. He has an 0.46 ERA and an 0.76 WHIP for Bradenton.

In the South Atlantic League, the average ERA is 3.80, and the average WHIP is 1.31. For West Virginia, Mitch Keller has a 1.40 ERA, Tanner Anderson is at 1.93, followed by Dario Agrazal 3.00, Seth McGarry 3.10 and Logan Sendelbach at 3.32. For WHIP, Keller leads at 0.69, followed by Anderson 0.89, Agrazal 1.13, Sendelbach 1.20 and JT Brubaker 1.30.

*I didn’t  plan on commenting on these results but I couldn’t help but notice that nine of the players are no longer around.

2017 Results

In the International League, the average ERA is 3.88 and the average WHIP is 1.34, both up from last year. Out of the 11 pitchers with at least 20 innings on Indianapolis, Edgar Santana leads with an 0.36 ERA (that’s not a misprint). Also with an ERA below the league average, we have Brett McKinney 2.25, Steven Brault 2.54, Dovydas Neverauskas 2.57, Tyler Eppler 2.76, Clay Holmes 3.08 and Drew Hutchison 3.74. Under the league WHIP, we have Santana at 0.67, McKinney 1.00, Eppler 1.12, Brault 1.15, Neverauskas 1.19 and Hutchison at 1.25.

In the Eastern League, the average ERA is 4.01 and the average WHIP is 1.36, both up from last year. Out of the ten players with 20 innings, eight are below league average ERA. They are Buddy Borden 0.87, Miguel Rosario 1.21, Tate Scioneaux 1.32, Montana DuRapau 1.69, Sean Keselica 1.90, Austin Coley 3.06, Alex McRae 3.48 and Tanner Anderson at 3.73. For WHIP, only Anderson didn’t make it from that group. In order, they are Scioneaux 0.80, DuRapau 0.93, Keselica 0.94, Borden 1.02, Rosario 1.16, Coley 1.25 and McRae at 1.30.

In the Florida State League, the average ERA is 3.64 and the average WHIP is 1.31, both up from last year. Out of the nine players with 20 innings, Pedro Vasquez leads with a 2.38 ERA. He’s followed by Dario Agrazal 2.49, Mitch Keller 2.93 and Yunior Montero at 3.43. For WHIP, Keller leads at 0.93, Agrazal is next at 1.03, followed by Vasquez 1.17, Montero 1.19 and Taylor Hearn at 1.22.

In the South Atlantic League, the average ERA is 3.88 and the average WHIP is 1.29, which is up slightly for ERA and down slightly for WHIP. Cam Vieaux leads for ERA at 1.38, and he’s followed by Matt Frawley at 1.93, Eduardo Vera 2.27, Jordan Jess 2.29, Matt Anderson 3.23, Oddy Nunez 3.68, Blake Cederlind 3.75, Dylan Prohoroff 3.80. For WHIP, Frawley leads at 0.81, followed by Vera 0.88, Jess 0.97, Vieaux 1.08, Prohoroff 1.13, Nunez 1.19, Anderson 1.23 and James Marvel at 1.26.

PLAYOFF PUSH

Bradenton leads their division by 3.5 games with 26 games remaining in the first half.

West Virginia trails their division leader by four games, with 27 games left in the first half. They are in fifth place.

PIRATES GAME GRAPH


Source: FanGraphs

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the Philadelphia Phillies by a 1-0 score on Sunday afternoon. The Pirates now travel to Atlanta for a four-game series. Gerrit Cole gets the start tonight, his tenth of the season. He has a 3.90 ERA in five road starts this season. Cole allowed three runs over six innings to the Braves back on April 9th. Atlanta will counter with 25-year-old right-hander Mike Foltynewicz, who has a 4.10 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP in 41.2 innings.

In the minors, Taylor Hearn gets the start for Bradenton. He has 47 strikeouts in only 37.2 innings, which ranks him eighth in the FSL in strikeouts, though he’s just seven behind the leader. With their win yesterday, West Virginia now has a .500 record, putting all four affiliates at .500 or better. Oddy Nunez goes for the Power tonight. He had his pitch count raised to 70 in his last start, after being capped at four innings or 60 pitches prior to that game. Indianapolis has off today. Cole Tucker currently has a 27-game on base streak.

MLB: Pittsburgh (20-24) @ Braves (18-23) 7:35 PM
Probable starter: Gerrit Cole (2.84 ERA, 12:50 BB/SO, 57.0 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (24-18) @ Lehigh Valley (29-14) 7:05 PM 5/23 (season preview)
Probable starter: Nick Kingham (3.18 ERA, 3:4 BB/SO, 5.2 IP)

AA: Altoona (24-16) vs Akron (17-21) 6:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Austin Coley (3.06 ERA, 11:24 BB/SO, 35.1 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (27-17) vs St Lucie (20-24) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Taylor Hearn (4.30 ERA, 14:47 BB/SO, 37.2 IP)

Low-A: West Virginia (21-21) @ Augusta (13-28) 7:05 PM  (season preview)
Probable starter: Oddy Nunez (3.68 ERA, 6:26 BB/SO, 29.1 IP)

HIGHLIGHTS

Here is Clark Eagan’s grand slam from Saturday night.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

5/20: Jhan Marinez added to Pirates roster. Josh Lindblom placed on disabled list.

5/19: Pirates claim Jhan Marinez off waivers.

5/19: Stephen Alemais placed on disabled list.  Cam Vieaux activated from West Virginia disabled list.

5/19: Jin-De Jhang added to Altoona roster. Zane Chavez placed on disabled list.

5/17: Gregory Polanco placed on disabled list. Danny Ortiz recalled from Indianapolis.

5/16: Pirates sign Haicheng Gong.

5/16: JT Brubaker activated from Altoona disabled list. Chris Diaz assigned to Morgantown.

5/15: Nick Kingham promoted to Indianapolis.

5/15: Casey Sadler and Pedro Vasquez assigned to Bradenton. Sam Street assigned to Extended Spring Training.

5/15: James Marvel placed on West Virginia disabled list. Chris Harvey assigned to West Virginia.

5/14: Cam Vieaux placed on West Virginia disabled list. Adrian Valerio added to West Virginia roster.

5/14: Barrett Barnes added to Indianapolis roster. Anderson Feliz assigned to Morgantown.

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

Five former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including closer Jose Mesa (2004-05) and reliever Julian Taveras (2003). Also born on this date, outfielder George Spriggs (1965-67), infielder Hoke Warner (1916-17, 1919) and 1908 pitcher Tom McCarthy. You can read mini bios for each player in the link above.

On this date in 1965, the Pirates sent shortstop Dick Schofield to the San Francisco Giants for Jose Pagan. The deal worked out well for Pittsburgh, as Schofield really struggled at the plate for the Giants and Pagan played with the Pirates until 1972, hitting .263 over 625 games, while playing games at seven positions.

On this date in 1923, the Pirates and Phillies hooked up for a four-player deal that brought Lee Meadows to the Pirates. He would win 87 games with the team, going 19-10 during both the 1925 and 1927 seasons when the Pirates went to the World Series. Among the return for the Phillies in the trade, second baseman Cotton Tierney, who hit .345 and drove in 86 runs for the 1922 Pirates. Pittsburgh also included $50,000 in the deal, which was a large sum for the time.

On this date in 1968, Willie Stargell hit three homers and drove in seven runs in a 13-6 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. During the sixth inning, Stargell just missed his third homer of the game, when he got a double off the left field wall. Two innings later, he put another one over the fence to cap off his day. You can find the boxscore for this game here.

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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