37.9 F
Pittsburgh

Morning Report: Pirates are Getting Some Impressive Performances from Minor League Relievers

Published:

Yesterday in the Morning Report we covered the leaders in hitting categories for each of the Pittsburgh Pirates affiliates. Today we look at the pitchers. I’ve decided to use innings pitched, WHIP, strikeouts and then best ERA for starters and relievers. For the WHIP and ERA for starters, I’m going with 15 innings pitched, and for the relievers I’m going with  6.2 innings, which is one inning every three games at this point. The reliever ERA below is listed as rERA. That’s not a real stat, just using it to easily tell the difference between the two groups.

Indianapolis

IP: Steven Brault, 25.2

ERA: Tyler Eppler, 2.45

WHIP: Eppler, 0.82

SO: Brault, 24

rERA: Doydas Neverauskas, 0.00

Altoona

IP: JT Brubaker, 23.0

ERA: Alex McRae, 1.99

WHIP: McRae, 1.19

SO: Austin Coley, 17

rERA: Tate Scioneaux, Sean Keselica, Buddy Borden, 0.00

Bradenton

IP: Dario Agrazal, 30.2

ERA: Pedro Vasquez, 1.83

WHIP: Agrazal, 1.08

SO: Taylor Hearn, 22

rERA: Yunior Montero, Seth McGarry, 0.00

West Virginia

IP: James Marvel, Matt Anderson, 23.0

ERA: Cam Vieaux, 1.61

WHIP: Eduardo Vera, 0.77

SO: Luis Escobar, 41

rERA: Jordan Jess, 0.84

From these numbers, you can see there are some strong performances early on from relief pitchers. Altoona’s bullpen has been strong all season. John Kuchno was they only one struggling for them as he was released on Friday. Besides the three guys with a combined 0.00 ERA, you also have Montana DuRapau (0.90), Jared Lakind (1.00) and Miguel Rosario at 1.46, though he’s thrown 10.1 shutout innings in his last four appearances. Luis Escobar is clearly running away with the strikeout title early on. On his own team, second place belongs to Matt Anderson with 23 strikeouts. That’s actually the third highest total in the system behind Steven Brault.

Finally, look at Eduardo Vera with the best WHIP in the organization as a long reliever and a spot starter. At this time last year, he was still rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. One of the first things I heard this spring was that Vera looked like a totally different pitcher, with 2-3 MPH more velocity, better control and both his curve and changeup were improved. It was an unsolicited opinion, but I made a mental note and took more notice when we found out he was making the jump from the GCL to West Virginia. I saw him pitch Thursday night and liked the first impression he made, so he’s one to keep an eye on. One thing to watch will be his innings in his first full season back from surgery and how he looks at the end of the season.

PIRATES GAME GRAPH


Source: FanGraphs

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Miami Marlins by a 12-2 score on Friday night. Ivan Nova will make his fifth start of the season tonight. He allowed one run over seven innings in his last start, which came against the New York Yankees. The Marlins will counter with 28-year-old right-handed pitcher Dan Straily, who has a 3.92 ERA in four starts.

In the minors,  Yeudy Garcia makes his fourth start and he’s still looking for his first quality outing. In his last game, he picked up nine strikeouts, but he also got knocked out of the game after 3.2 innings. Bradenton’s Pedro Vasquez threw six shutout innings in his last start, and he has gone further into games each time out, starting at 4.2 innings in his debut. Oddy Nunez has allowed one run over eight innings in his last three starts combined.

MLB: Pittsburgh (10-12) @ Marlins (10-11) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Ivan Nova (2.00 ERA, 1:15 BB/SO, 27.0 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (6-14) @ Scranton/WB (11-9) 4:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Josh Lindblom (2.65 ERA, 5:14 BB/SO, 17.0 IP)

AA: Altoona (11-9) vs Harrisburg (10-9) 6:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Yeudy Garcia (10.80 ERA, 7:13 BB/SO, 8.1 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (12-10) @ Charlotte (8-13) 6:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Pedro Vasquez (1.83 ERA, 3:13 BB/SO, 19.2 IP)

Low-A: West Virginia (10-13) @ Rome (15-7) 6:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Oddy Nunez (5.14 ERA, 3:13 BB/SO, 14.0 IP)

HIGHLIGHTS

Here is a rare highlight for West Virginia. This is from Thursday night when Trae Arbet hit his first triple of the season.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

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.

4/20: Chris Diaz assigned to Altoona.

4/19: Brett McKinney assigned to Extended Spring Training. Johnny Barbato added to Indianapolis roster.

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

Two former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, one was part of a father-son combo that both played for the Pirates. Pitcher Tony Armas made 15 starts and 16 relief appearances for the 2007 Pirates. He had an awful season, posting a 6.03 ERA and ended up pitching just three more Major League games following his time in Pittsburgh. His father, who was also named Tony Armas, was an outfielder, who was signed by the Pirates as an amateur free agent in 1971. He played briefly with the team in 1976, before he was traded to the Oakland A’s.

Also born on this date was outfielder John Vander Wal, who was part of two big trades for the Pirates. In 2000, he was acquired for Al Martin. Then in 2001 at the trade deadline, he was sent to the San Francisco Giants as part of the Jason Schmidt deal. Vander Wal put up big numbers for the Pirates in limited time in 2000, driving in 94 runs in 384 at-bats.

One game of note, and there is another from the 1990 season mentioned in the link above. On this date in 1934, the Pirates played their first Sunday home game in franchise history. They beat the Cincinnati Reds by a 9-5 score in front of 20,000 fans. Prior to 1934, there was a law on the books, prohibiting Sunday baseball (professional games) in the state of Pennsylvania.

Owner Barney Dreyfuss was against the idea of Sunday baseball at home, so he never fought the law. That meant that the Pirates franchise went their first 52 seasons without playing a Sunday game at home, often times traveling to nearby Cincinnati, or Cleveland during the earlier days, to play their Sunday games. Dreyfuss passed away in 1932 and after that, both the Phillies and Pirates appealed the law, getting it removed in time for the 1934 season. The Pirates lineup from that day can be found below, while you can see the full boxscore here.

Lloyd Waner, CF
Paul Waner, RF
Freddie Lindstrom, LF
Arky Vaughan, SS
Gus Suhr, 1B
Cookie Lavagetto, 2B
Tommy Thevenow, 3B
Pat Veltman, C
Red Lucas, P

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.

Related Articles

Article Drop

Latest Articles