Some thoughts on the lower level teams, as all eight affiliates are in action today for the first time this year.
** Bristol pitchers shouldn’t see too many fly balls drop in the outfield this season if Opening Day is any indication of their lineup going forward. They had 23rd round draft pick Garrett Brown in right field. Michael de la Cruz in center field, and Victor Fernandez in left field. That’s about as much speed as you will see in any outfield at the same time. That should equal some strong defense and also a lot of stolen bases for Bristol. It’s really interesting that Brown was in the lead-off spot in the first game. He’s supposed to be raw as a player due to concentrating on football for two year. Even so, if the 22-year-old is a prospect, then he should be able to put up decent numbers in the Appalachian League as one of the older players.
** I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Pirates sign some non-drafted free agents in the near future. The GCL team looks to be light on players, even if they add 41st overall pick Nick Lodolo and 11th round pick Max Kranick. Neither would put in many innings this year, so they wouldn’t be much help. To answer your questions, yes I think they will both sign, and no I haven’t heard anything other than Lodolo is negotiating with the team. When/if they do sign, they will be assigned to the GCL team. They only have 12 position players, even with Johan De Jesus being brought over from the DSL.
Bristol lost three draft picks when Craig Dedelow and Michael Danielak decided after the rosters were set that they were going back to school for their senior years. They also lost Tyler Leffler, who needed to go to Morgantown, a team that already had injuries to infielders Kevin Mahala and Trae Arbet. You don’t really need to have 30 players on the team, but most of the pitchers are on strict innings limits, so it helps to have extras.
The Pirates usually hold tryouts for players down in Bradenton before the draft, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see a couple of the players who were further down on their draft list and didn’t get taken, end up signing. Besides Dedelow and Danielak returning to school, 31st round pick Ben Miller has said he will return to Nebraska for his senior year. It’s interesting that the Pirates took three players in the draft from East Tennessee State and none of them have signed yet. I haven’t heard anything regarding other draft picks signing or not.
** The GCL Pirates begin play today at noon and we will post the team preview today. The starting pitchers are never announced ahead of time, but if we know who is pitching and it’s someone interesting, we will make a note of that in the schedule section. The schedule section also has either “vs” or “@” between the teams at the upper levels. I don’t do that for the GCL (or DSL) because each two-game series consists of a home and away game, so that means I’d be updating it everyday, and almost no one goes to the games. If you’re planning on seeing the GCL team at some point and want to know about the future schedule, I’d be happy to help you out. If you’re wondering on how to get tickets for the GCL games, stop doing that now, no team charges for these games.
** Busy day today with all eight teams playing on the same day for the first time, plus Bristol has to finish yesterday’s suspended game in addition to their regularly scheduled game. The Prospect Watch tonight should be a good time with all of that coverage. Oh yeah, I think the Pirates have an interesting player going tonight. Enjoy your Friday.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pirates lost 5-3 on Thursday afternoon to the Giants. They now take on the Dodgers for four games, starting tonight with Jameson Taillon on the mound. He will be making his fourth start of the season and second start at PNC Park. In his only home start, he faced the Mets and allowed three runs over six innings. In his last, Taillon gave up four runs over four innings to the Cubs. The Dodgers will counter with Nick Tepesch, who hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2014. The 27-year-old righty has a 3.66 ERA in 83.2 innings in Triple-A, which isn’t a bad number for the Pacific Coast League.
In the minors, Frank Duncan makes his eighth start for Indianapolis. He has allowed three earned runs or less in each game. Brandon Waddell starts for Altoona. He has gone five innings or less in each of his last five starts. His mound opponent is Jayson Aquino, who was with Bradenton last year for 13 starts, before the Pirates lost him on waivers.
Yeudy Garcia gets the start for Bradenton. He has yet to allow more than three runs in a start this season. He is tenth in the Florida State League in ERA and third in strikeouts, but his 1.60 WHIP is 43rd among the 46 qualified pitchers.
The GCL Pirates start today with Brian Sousa on the mound, while Bristol will send Nicholas Economos to the hill. Sixth round pick (2016) Cam Vieaux gets his second start for Morgantown. Bristol’s opener was suspended after three innings. They will finish that game today, then play a seven inning contest for the regularly scheduled game.
MLB: Pittsburgh (34-39) vs Dodgers (41-33) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Jameson Taillon (3.50 ERA, 4:13 BB/SO, 18.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (40-33) vs Buffalo (40-34) 7:15 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Frank Duncan (3.00 ERA, 5:32 BB/SO, 39.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (40-31) @ Bowie (31-41) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Brandon Waddell (5.22 ERA, 20:26 BB/SO, 39.2 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (38-31) @ Charlotte (34-36) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Yeudy Garcia (2.51 ERA, 29:66 BB/SO, 57.1 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (35-35) @ Asheville (35-35) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Dario Agrazal (5.20 ERA, 11:40 BB/SO, 64.0 IP)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (6-1) @ Staten Island (6-1) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable Starter: Cam Vieaux (6.75 ERA, 2:1 BB/SO, 2.2 IP)
Rookie: Bristol (0-0) @ Bluefield (0-0) 7:05 PM
GCL: Pirates (0-0) vs Tigers East (0-0) 12:00 PM
DSL: Pirates (5-12) vs Mets1 (7-9) 10:30 AM (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is a two-run homer from Harold Ramirez on Tuesday, his second of the season.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
6/24: Pirates purchase the contract of Adam Frazier. Designate Cole Figueroa for assignment.
6/24: Juan Nicasio activated from restricted list. Designate Jorge Rondon for assignment.
6/24: Jacob Stallings optioned to Indianapolis.
6/23: JT Brubaker added to Bradenton roster. Colten Brewer placed on temporary inactive list.
6/23: Tito Polo assigned to Bradenton.
6/22: Pirates recall Kyle Lobstein. Wilfredo Boscan optioned to Indianapolis.
6/22: Jhondaniel Medina assigned to Indianapolis.
6/21: Pirates recall Wilfredo Boscan. Curtis Partch optioned to Indianapolis.
6/21: Pirates sign Braeden Ogle.
6/20: Trace Tam Sing and Erik Lunde added to Bradenton roster. Pablo Reyes placed on temporary inactive list.
6/19: Steven Brault sent to Morgantown on a rehab assignment.
6/19: Pirates purchase the contract of Jacob Stallings. Jason Rogers optioned to Indianapolis.
6/19: Tomas Morales promoted to Indianapolis.
6/18: Pirates option Rob Scahill to Indianapolis. Recall Jason Rogers, Jorge Rondon and Curtis Partch.
6/18: Cory Luebke designated for assignment.
6/18: Juan Nicasio placed on restricted list.
6/17: Pirates released Garrett Russini and Guido Knudson.
6/17: Pirates sign Matt Frawley, Stephen Owen and Arden Pabst.
6/16: Pirates sign 13 draft picks.
6/16: Casey Hughston and Logan Sendelbach assigned to West Virginia. Julio Vivas and Billy Roth assigned to Morgantown.
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.
6/14: 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.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Five former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including the franchise’s all-time leader in batting average. Starting with the players that didn’t hit .360 for the Pirates, we have third baseman Ken Reitz (1982), pitcher Al Gerheauser (1945-46) and Rollie Hemsley, who caught for the Pirates from 1928-31 and made five All-Star teams during his 19-year career.
Also born on this, pitcher Kirtley Baker, who played for the worst team in franchise history. The 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys went 23-113 and Baker won three of those games. Unfortunately, he lost 19 games, giving him the lowest winning percentage (.136) for any pitcher that has at least 20 decisions with the Pirates. Despite the poor record, he did have a highlight to brag about. At the end of June, he threw a shutout against the New York Giants and pitcher Mickey Welch, who is a 300-game winner and a Hall of Famer.
Finally, Jake Stenzel was born on this date and no one had a higher average than his .360 mark with the Pirates. He is the only player in Major League history to hit .350 with 80 RBIs, 100 runs scored and 50 stolen bases in a season four times. He did it three times with the Pirates, while everyone else combined in franchise history reached those numbers twice, both times by Honus Wagner. Stenzel hit .371 in 1895 and the previous year he scored 150 runs, which remains the franchise’s single-season record. His .429 on base percentage is also the best in team history.
