The Bradenton Marauders have issued the fewest walks in the Florida State League this season. They’re at 62 base on balls after Friday night’s game. The next closest team in the 12-team league has walked 68 batters. It’s really been a team effort for the Marauders, as no one on the club has walked more than eight batters. Among the three other affiliates of the Pirates, eight pitchers have given up more than eight walks already.
The Marauders aren’t alone among the affiliates in finding the plate though. The West Virginia Power have issued the second fewest amount of walks in the South Atlantic League this season, but the only team behind them has played two fewer games. That gives the Power the lowest walks per nine inning total in the league.
The Altoona Curve rank as the second best team at limiting walks in the Eastern League and they are very close to the best. In 224.2 innings, Altoona has issued 72 walks. Erie has the fewest with 70, while playing 223.2 innings. So with one good game, they could be the best in the league too.
Indianapolis looks like Michael Felix (obscure prospect reference!) compared to the other three teams, giving up 81 walks, which ranks them as the fifth best in the 14-team International League. That’s obviously not bad, just not up to the standards set so far by the other clubs. Due to weather issues, Indianapolis has also played five fewer games than West Virginia and Bradenton. That doesn’t skew their walk total though, as most of the IL has had weather issues early on.
So who are the best individual players in the system at limiting walks?
There are four pitchers with limited action, who haven’t issued a walk yet. The best among them would be Brett McKinney, who has thrown 8.2 innings.
Matt Frawley at 13.2 innings and Jordan Jess with 13.1 innings, have each walked one batter while pitching out of the West Virginia bullpen.
The best starter is Dario Agrazal with three walks in 36.2 innings, which leads all Pirates for mound time. His 0.7 walks per nine inning rate is second in the FSL among starters but the smallest of margins.
Some other impressive numbers from the Bradenton rotation: Pedro Vasquez with five walks in 30.2 innings, and Mitch Keller with five in 34.1 innings.
PIRATES GAME GRAPH
Source: FanGraphs
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates won 4-0 on Friday night over the Milwaukee Brewers. The Pirates will go with Gerrit Cole tonight, who will be making his seventh start. He pitched seven innings against the Cubs in his last home start, giving up just one unearned run. Cole struck out eight batters in the game, matching his total from his previous start. The Brewers will counter with right-hander Matt Garza, who has made two starts this season and allowed four runs over 10.2 innings.
In the minors, Indianapolis was rained out yesterday for a second straight day, so Steven Brault will try again today to make his sixth start. In 4.2 innings during his last outing, he gave up season-highs with four runs, seven hits and four walks. Altoona was also rained out so Yeudy Garcia will try again today. He threw 5.2 innings without an earned run in his last start. That was despite coming into the game with a 10.80 ERA. Luis Escobar gets the start for West Virginia. He leads all Pirates with 45 strikeouts, though he had just four strikeouts in his last outing. In 12 innings over his last two starts, Taylor Hearn has 14 strikeouts.
MLB: Pittsburgh (13-16) vs Brewers (15-15) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Gerrit Cole (3.50 ERA, 7:34 BB/SO, 36.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (8-16) @ Columbus (11-15) 6:15 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Steven Brault (3.86 ERA, 13:24 BB/SO, 25.2 IP)
AA: Altoona (15-10) @ Akron (11-14) 6:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Yeudy Garcia (6.43 ERA, 9:18 BB/SO, 14.0 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (17-12) vs Dunedin (16-13) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Taylor Hearn (3.86 ERA, 8:30 BB/SO, 25.2 IP)
Low-A: West Virginia (14-15) vs Lexington (11-18) 6:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Luis Escobar (3.29 ERA, 6:45 BB/SO, 27.1 IP)
HIGHLIGHTS
Here is the seventh home run of the season from Logan Hill. He hit 13 all of last season.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
5/4: Brandon Waddell activated from disabled list. JT Brubaker placed on disabled list.
5/3: Jordan George activated from Bradenton disabled list.
5/2: Jackson Williams promoted to Indianapolis. Justin Maffei assigned to Morgantown.
5/2: Zane Chavez assigned to Altoona.
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.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Six former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including a member of the last World Series team. Before we get to them, one of the Pirates best known pitching performances happened on this date in 1951. Cliff Chambers threw the second complete game no-hitter in franchise history and first in 44 years. Facing the Boston Braves in the second game of a doubleheader, Chambers pitched the no-hitter despite issuing eight walks. He won 3-0 and managed to keep the Braves off the board, while only retiring the side in order three times. You can view the boxscore here.
The Pirates had two shortened no-hitters back in 1906-07, which at the time were official, but rule changes a little while back said that shortened games were no longer official. I’m of the belief that they should still count because under the rules of the time they were official and anything after the new rules were put in place would be the ones that didn’t count. In the case of Howie Camnitz’s no-hitter in 1907, it was agreed upon prior to the game, that the two teams would play five innings in the second game of a doubleheader. The other game was six innings by Lefty Leifield and it was called due to darkness.
Players born on this date include:
Alberto Lois, outfielder/pinch-runner for the 1978-79 Pirates. He played 11 games during the 1979 World Series winning season, all as a pinch-runner.
Dick Cole, infielder in 1951 and then 1953-56. Came to the Pirates in a trade for Cliff Chambers just over a month after the no-hitter mentioned above.
Earl Turner, catcher in 1948 and 1950. Hit .240 in 42 games. Only made 13 career starts.
Bob Chesnes, pitcher from 1948 until 1950. Pirates traded three players and $100,000 to acquired him from San Francisco of the Pacific Coast League.
Luke Boone, 1918 shortstop. Native of Pittsburgh, who collected over 2,200 hits in the minors.
Ed Karger, 1906 pitcher. He pitched just 28 innings for the Pirates. The following year, he threw a seven-inning perfect game in the second game of a doubleheader, with the two teams agreeing to seven innings prior to the game. It’s not actually considered an official perfect game despite the fact it was a complete game.
