For an in depth review of yesterday’s games please check out our minor league wrap-up which can be found here. The Pirates have 20 pitchers in their farm system who have started at least 10 games and struck out at least twice as many batters as they have walked. That list is lead by Jameson Taillon who has a 6.70 ratio (10 BB/ 67 K).
AAA: Indianapolis (55-52) @ Charlotte (52-55) 7:15pm
Probable starter: Ross Ohlendorf (NR)
Ohlendorf moves up to Indianapolis after one start with Altoona. He also made two previous rehab starts with Bradenton. His last outing was his longest rehab outing as he went 4.2 innings allowing two runs on five hits, one walk and he struck out three. While with Bradenton he made two 4 innings starts giving up a total of 10 hits, four runs, one walk and he struck out six.
AA: Altoona (44-58) @ Portland (43-61) 7:00pm
Probable starter: Michael Colla (4-7 3.88)
Michael Colla will make his 17th start of the year tonight. His last appearance was in relief on Monday night when he went 1.1 innings giving up two hits,one walk and he struck out three. In his last start on July 19th he gave up 5 runs in 4.2 innings. He has pitched a career high 97.1 innings and is 2nd on the Curve in strikeouts with 78.
High-A: Bradenton (49-56 overall 19-16 2nd half) @ Brevard County (43-59 overall 16-16 2nd half) 7:05pm
Probable starter: Brett Lorin (6-5 2.76)
Lorin will make his 14th start of the season tonight, he has also made seven relief appearances. He gave up just one run over 7 innings in his last start on Sunday night. He has 9 straight appearances in which he has allowed two earned runs or less. Brett is 2nd on Bradenton to Nate Baker in innings pitched, he leads the team in strikeouts with 83 and he has walked just 16 batters all season. He has a 1.04 WHIP on the year.
Low-A: West Virginia (48-53 overall 13-20 2nd half) VS Lakewood (51-50 overall 18-15 2nd half) 7:05pm
Probable starter: Colton Cain (5-7 3.13)
Colton will make his team leading 20th start tonight. He is the South Atlantic League leader in WHIP with a 1.04 mark. He allowed just one run over 5 innings in his last start on Saturday. In his last 10 starts Colton has a 2.65 ERA over 51 innings but has gone six starts without picking up a win. He has 74 strikeouts on the year and trails team leader Zack Von Rosenberg by just four.
Short Season A: State College (13-27) @ Tri-City (16-23) 7:00pm
Probable starter: Ryan Hafner (0-2 3.34)
Ryan will get his 7th start of the year and 8th overall appearance. He threw 4 innings last Saturday giving up 2 unearned runs and allowed a career high four walks. Hafner has pitched the 3rd most innings on State College this year(29.2) and ranks 4th in strikeouts with 19. He has not allowed a home run in his pro career which includes 2 appearances in the GCL last year.
Rookie: GCL Pirates (21-13) VS GCL Braves (13-21) 12:00pm
The GCL Pirates are currently in 2nd place, two games back in the standings.
VSL: VSL Pirates (36-27) VS VSL Phillies (30-33) 11:00am
The VSL Pirates are in first place and have a 3 game lead over the 2nd place Rays and Mariners. There are just 9 games left in the season.
DSL: DSL Pirates (30-18) VS DSL Yankees2 (20-33) 10:30am
The DSL Pirates are tied for 2nd place with the Red Sox,1 1/2 games behind the DSL Royals.
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.
