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Morning Report: Thoughts on Travis MacGregor, Oddy Nunez, Luis Escobar

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We’re doing something a little different this year with the Morning Report. By that, I mean that some of the Morning Report articles will be written by me this year.

Previously, the Morning Report was a daily article written by John Dreker. I had a daily article as well called First Pitch. It was getting difficult to come up with First Pitch ideas on a nightly basis when I was also writing two or three other articles per day. This year we’ve divvied up the writing on the site a bit more, which makes it easier for me to come up with a daily article, in addition to my weekly column, and all of the other articles I’ve got throughout the week.

I’ll be writing the Morning Report on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday this year. My plan for the article when I’m writing it is to have it as a smaller version of First Pitch. There will be no set topic or format. One day it will be more of a news story. Another day it will be a mini-column on a recent topic.

We’re not doing live game recaps this year in the Prospect Watch, but instead we’re putting that stuff into weekly features for each team. However, I’ll use this article to discuss some of the live events, whether that’s games I’ve seen, or games across the system that I can add some insight to.

Last night there was a performance that really stood out, with Travis MacGregor striking out 12 batters in his season debut. MacGregor is one of the many potential breakout guys in West Virginia, as I wrote about earlier in the week. A big reason for his breakout potential is that he’s finally starting to get used to his tall, skinny frame. He has added some velocity to go with improved control, and his curveball is looking better this year. I don’t want to make too much of one start, other than to say it’s a promising beginning to the year for a guy who could jump on a lot of people’s radars by the end of 2018.

I’ll have an article on MacGregor in the upcoming week as I cover our West Virginia features until Tom Bragg starts up on the site later in the month.

My live coverage starts this weekend in Bradenton, and the combination of pitchers for the two games is about all I could ask for over a two-game stretch. Oddy Nunez is taking the mound tonight, giving me a chance to see him in the regular season, but earlier in the year. I saw him last year at the end of the season in West Virginia, and while he was effective, the stuff was down due to that being his first year in the rotation.

Luis Escobar starts on Sunday, giving me a look at the top prospect on the team this year. I saw Escobar a few times during Spring Training, but it’s different seeing him during the year. He’s had some issues with his control, over-throwing in bigger situations. I’m going into his first start expecting him to have control problems due to the adrenaline of the first start at a new level, and being pleasantly surprised if he doesn’t.

I’ll have some thoughts on each guy in the next two days.

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates won 14-3 over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday night. Chad Kuhl will make his second start today. He allowed four runs on eight hits and no walks in 5.2 innings during his season debut. The Reds will counter with 24-year-old right-hander Sal Romano, who allowed three runs on two homer runs over six innings in his season debut.

The minor league schedule includes the season debuts of three top 50 prospects in Tyler Eppler, Brandon Waddell and Oddy Nunez, as well as Gavin Wallace, who was considered for the back-end of our top 50 list. Both Altoona and West Virginia have early afternoon start times today.

MLB: Pittsburgh (6-1) vs Reds (1-5) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Chad Kuhl (6.35 ERA, 4:0 SO/BB,  5.2 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (0-1) vs Columbus (1-0) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Tyler Eppler (NR)

AA: Altoona (1-1) vs Akron (1-1) 2:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Brandon Waddell (NR)

High-A: Bradenton (1-1) vs St Lucie (1-1) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Oddy Nunez (NR)

Low-A: West Virginia (0-2) vs Greenville (2-0) 2:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Gavin Wallace (NR)

HIGHLIGHTS

From Altoona’s opening game, Cole Tucker hits a two-run double to get the scoring started.

RECENT TRANSACTIONS

4/5: Pirates claim Jesus Liranzo from Los Angeles Dodgers.

4/2: Kevin Siegrist placed on suspended list for Indianapolis.

4/2: Pirates place Joe Musgrove on DL; Recall Clay Holmes

3/31: Pirates release Clark Eagan

3/29: Pirates placed AJ Schugel on disabled list.

3/28: Pirates release seven minor league players, including Barrett Barnes and Cody Dickson

THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY

On this date in 1979, the Pirates made a trade that could have ended up costing them the title that season, giving up starter Jerry Reuss for Dodgers’ pitcher Rick Rhoden. Reuss was unhappy about his role in Pittsburgh, while Rhoden was just entering his prime. The trade ended up being one-sided that first season when Rhoden injured his shoulder during his first start. He would miss the rest of the year following surgery on that shoulder. The Dodgers got good use out of their new pitcher. Reuss ended up staying in Los Angeles until 1987, winning as many as 18 games (twice) in a season.

Even while losing Reuss and getting nothing from the deal from Rhoden in 1979, the Pirates still went on to win their fifth World Series title that year. Rhoden would end up winning 79 games during his eight seasons with the Pirates, while Reuss helped the Dodgers to the 1981 World Series title, so the deal ended up working out well for both teams.

Former Pirates players born on this date include (more on them in the link above):

Bobby Del Greco – 1952, 1956 outfielder

Jack Ferry – 1910-13 pitcher

Art Weaver – 1903 catcher

John Ganzel – 1898 first baseman

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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