Today we are taking our first look at the fielding numbers across the minor league system for the Pittsburgh Pirates and how they compare to the rest of their league. The numbers below are through games completed on Thursday.
Indianapolis ranks first in the International League with a .984 fielding percentage. That’s not completely surprising because they have a team with a large group of solid or better fielders.
First base, which has mostly been Will Craig, has a combined zero errors. Craig got a lot of praise last year for improving his defense and that has carried over to this season. Ke’Bryan Hayes has been at third base for almost every game and he has committed just one error for a .990 fielding percentage.
The outfielders have committed a total of four errors and three of them were by Patrick Kivlehan, who is no longer with the Pirates. The other drain on the fielding percentage comes from the pitchers, who have five errors already in 66 chances. Shortstop has also had a little trouble, with nine total errors split between four of the seven players who have appeared there at least once this season.
Altoona has a .986 fielding percentage, which leads the Eastern League by three points. The Curve have a team with a lot of players known for their defense. Jason Delay and Arden Pabst are strong catchers. Jerrick Suiter is a terrific first baseman. Mitchell Tolman is a solid second baseman. Adrian Valerio, Brett Pope and for a short time between injuries, Stephen Alemais, are all above average shortstops. Jared Oliva is a strong center fielder. So with all of those players in place, it’s no surprise that they rank well. I didn’t look into this expecting them in first place, but I knew that they were playing overall strong defense from watching them.
The big surprise here is Hunter Owen at third base. He was awful there in West Virginia in 2017, then better in 2018 at Bradenton. This season he has a .972 fielding percentage in 43 games and is making plays he wouldn’t make before.
Valerio and Alemais combined have handled 88 plays without an error, which is fairly impressive for minor league shortstops. Neither catcher has committed an error yet this season.
Just like with Indianapolis, the pitchers hurt the team here. Altoona’s pitching staff has five errors in only 62 chances.
Bradenton has a .973 fielding percentage, with more than twice as many errors as Altoona. It’s not odd to see lower fielding percentages the lower you go in the system, but the Marauders rank ninth out of the 12 teams in their league.
The big area here for improvement would be the outfielders, as Chris Sharpe, Travis Swaggerty and Calvin Mitchell have combined for ten errors already. That’s with Daniel Amaral also getting semi-regular turns in the outfield. Third baseman Dylan Busby has six errors, including four in one game. Robbie Glendinning also has six, while pitcher Oddy Nunez has three errors in eight chances. Catcher Deon Stafford also has four errors in 17 games.
The highlight would be Jesse Medrano handling 96 chances between second base and some third base, without an error.
Greensboro also has a .973 fielding percentage. As I just mentioned, fielding numbers usually get worse the lower you go in the minors, so while Bradenton ranks near the bottom of their league, the Grasshoppers rank fifth out of 14 teams in fielding.
A closer look at their team shows that the pitchers are a HUGE problem with the team’s fielding. In fact, except for six errors from first baseman Mason Martin, the rest of the team is really playing strong defense for the league. Seven different pitchers have contributed to nine errors total. Subtract four errors from that total (matching all of the other three affiliates with five pitching errors) and Greensboro is the third best fielding team in the league.
The outfielders have just three errors total, while Pat Dorrian had two errors while mostly playing third base, but also taking turns at the other three infield spots.
Here are some more miscellaneous fielding stats:
Lolo Sanchez has seven outfield assists. Indianapolis has five outfield assists. Altoona has six. Bradenton has eight. The rest of Greensboro has seven assists. No one besides Sanchez has more than four.
Altoona leads the four teams with 37% success rate throwing out attempted base stealers. Arden Pabst leads everyone with 42% caught stealing. Indianapolis is surprisingly low at 23%, considering they have had nothing but strong catchers behind the plate this season. The International League average caught stealing is 30%.
PLAYOFF PUSH
Altoona is in fourth place in their division, eight games back with 24 games remaining in the first half.
Bradenton is in third place in their division, three games back with 22 games remaining in the first half.
Greensboro is in second place in their division, 3.5 games back with 23 games remaining in the schedule.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 10-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday night. The Pirates will send out Joe Musgrove today. He faced the Dodgers back on April 27th, allowing one earned run over 6.2 innings. In his last start, Musgrove allowed three earned runs over 6.1 innings against the San Diego Padres. This will be just his fourth start at home this season. The Dodgers will send out 32-year-old lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu, who gave up two runs over seven innings against the Pirates back on April 26th. Ryu has a 1.52 ERA and has tossed shutout ball in each of his last three starts, throwing a total of 24 innings over that time.
The minor league schedule includes Greensboro’s Osvaldo Bido, who allowed one run over six innings in his last start. He is holding batters to a .204 average this season and ranks fifth in the SAL with an 0.97 WHIP. Bradenton’s Aaron Shortridge was limited to three innings in his last start due to rain. He gave up 3+ runs in each of his four previous starts. Altoona’s Pedro Vasquez allowed one run over six innings in his last start. He has pitched better on the road this season, posting a 2.82 ERA, a 1.03 WHIP and a .215 BAA in 22.1 road innings. Altoona has an early afternoon start time. After posting a 7.13 ERA in his first five starts, Rookie Davis has allowed three runs over his last 13 innings. Indianapolis took over their division lead with a win yesterday.
The full 2019 Pirates Prospects Prospect Guide is now available, up to date as of April 3rd, with every player in the minor league system (NOTE: There have been just three players released and two added since then, so the book is still 99% up to date). Includes full reports on the top 50 prospects, reports on over 150 other players, as well as looks back at the recent drafts and international signing classes. Subscribers get 20% off the purchase of a book.
MLB: Pittsburgh (25-23) vs Dodgers (33-18) 7:15 PM
Probable starter: Joe Musgrove (3.67 ERA, 44:17 SO/BB, 54.0 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (26-18) @ Columbus (26-19) 7:15 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Rookie Davis (5.35 ERA, 27:13 SO/BB, 37.0 IP)
AA: Altoona (22-24) @ Portland (14-31) 1:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Pedro Vasquez (3.32 ERA, 31:9 SO/BB, 43.1 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (26-21) vs Tampa (21-26) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Aaron Shortridge (3.56 ERA, 38:7 SO/BB, 48.0 IP)
Low-A: Greensboro (33-14) @ Hickory (30-17) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Osvaldo Bido (2.45 ERA, 42:12 SO/BB, 51.1 IP)
HIGHLIGHTS
From the Pirates, since the minor league highlights posted is singular from yesterday. Bryan Reynolds, who still has some prospect status left, homers on Thursday
"That'll work."
Bryan Reynolds with his 3rd homer in the past 6 games for the @Pirates. Now batting .321 in #MLB.
More on the 2016 2nd-round #MLBDraft pick & #Pirates No. 8 prospect: https://t.co/yHNrNtCaLi pic.twitter.com/R2X8G3aSlF
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 23, 2019
Here’s the only minor league highlight, Jerrick Suiter with an RBI single. He drove in all three runs that Altoona scored between Wednesday and Thursday. They got shut out on Tuesday
Return to sender. RBI single by @jerricksuiter and we're on the board. 3-1, New Hampshire ⬆️4⃣ pic.twitter.com/zJDF9PTtkQ
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) May 23, 2019
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
5/22: Ji-Hwan Bae removed from restricted list. Raul Siri assigned to Extended Spring Training.
5/21: Steven Baron placed on injured list. Richard Rodriguez added to Indianapolis roster.
5/21: Austin Coley added to Bradenton roster. Luis Nova assigned to Extended Spring Training
5/20: Nicholas Economos promoted to Bradenton.
5/18: Justin Harrer added to Greensboro roster. Jonah Davis assigned to Extended Spring Training
5/17: Trevor Williams placed on injured list. Clay Holmes recalled from Indianapolis
5/17: Geoff Hartlieb added to 40-man roster and recalled by Pirates. Jacob Stalling assigned to Indianapolis (cleared waivers) and Richard Rodriguez optioned to Indianapolis
5/17: Luis Nova added to Bradenton roster. Oddy Nunez placed on injured list
5/16: Tate Scioneaux placed on injured list.
5/15: Chris Archer activated from injured list. Clay Holmes optioned to Indianapolis.
5/15: Colin Selby assigned to Greensboro.
5/15: Matt Eckelman assigned to Altoona from Indianapolis.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Five former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date, including 2006 first round pick Brad Lincoln, who turns 34 today. Among the former players, we have first baseman Randall Simon (2003-04), outfielder William Pennyfeather (1992-94), first baseman Jim Marshall (1962) and pitcher John Hofford, who played for the franchise in 1885-86, before the Pirates were called the Pirates (Alleghenys) and before they moved to the National League, which happened in 1887.
On this date in 1954, the Pirates traded outfielder Cal Abrams to the Baltimore Orioles for pitcher Dick Littlefield. The Orioles got one good season out of Abrams, while Littlefield pitched well for the Pirates in 1954, a season in which they lost 101 games. He struggled the next season, then was part of a deal that brought Bill Virdon to Pittsburgh.
On this date in 1935, the Pittsburgh Pirates won 11-7 over the Boston Braves, but an aging slugger for Boston was the big story. That day, Babe Ruth hit the last three homers of his Major League career. The last homer he hit left Forbes Field over the right field roof, making him the first player to ever accomplish that feat. Here is the boxscore from that game.
