On Friday, we posted scouting reports for all 21 players signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates on the first day of the international signing period. Except for three of those players, the other 18 won’t begin their pro career until the 2020 season. They will be playing games throughout the summer, fall and then spring before that point, but their official pro debut won’t be for another 11 months when the 2020 DSL season begins.
The players signed during the 2018-19 international signing class are about halfway through their first pro season, though a few went right to the U.S. so they are still early in their season. The Pirates handed out at least 15 bonuses worth between $150,000 and $700,000 last year. I figured now would be a good time to check on the progress of those 15 players. Below is the list of players, with their reported bonus total in parenthesis. All of them are 17 now, or will be before the season ends.
Osvaldo Gavilan ($700,000) – Gavilan was the highest bonus player, as a 5’11” lefty hitting outfielder. He is playing center field most games, occasionally seeing time in left field. Through 22 games, he is hitting .220/.265/.374, with seven extra-base hits and two steals, but only three walks.
Sergio Campana ($500,000) – Campana got a little bit of a late start, missing the first week of the season. He has played 15 games, hitting .295/.371/.475, with one double, five triples and four stolen bases. He was considered to be the best prospect in this group and the early stats are backing up those pre-signing reports. He’s playing center field regularly now.
Luis Tejeda ($500,000) – Tejeda is hitting .247/.320/.348 through 24 games, which will look like poor numbers compared to some you see on this list, but it’s actually right about a league average slash line. What really stands out here is that he was born on August 26th, five days before the cutoff for signings, so he’s as young as you will see in this league. He has been playing shortstop regularly, but might end up elsewhere down the line.
Dariel Lopez ($400,000) – Lopez had Tommy John surgery after signing, but he was healthy going into the season. He has been playing exclusively at shortstop, where he’s had some issues. He has the tools to stay there, but could end up elsewhere in the future. What’s really to like here is the early results with the bat. Lopez is hitting .363/.404/.516, with eight doubles and two homers. In 23 games, he has scored 23 runs and driven in 21 runs, so he is really making things happen on the field.
Juan Jerez ($380,000) – Jerez is one of the more exciting players on this list and the bat looks strong early on. He has a .314/.360/.549 slash line in 26 games, with 14 extra-base hits. He was signed as a shortstop, but has mostly been at second base. That’s not odd to see because teams are going after shortstops and trainers put their best players there. That means clubs are signing a lot of shortstops and they need to play somewhere. Jerez is athletic enough that he could play numerous positions.
Adrian Mendez ($355,000) – Mendez is a southpaw, who was the top pitcher signed. He is more about projection than you would expect from his bonus. He sits in the mid-to-upper 80s and his control and secondary stuff need work. He has a 6’1″ frame with room to fill out. The early results aren’t that bad, except for the walks. He has a 4.70 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 23 innings. He has issued 14 walks, and also plunked six batters.
Alexander Mojica ($350,000) – Mojica doesn’t turn 17 until next month, but he has already connected on six home runs. His .338/.474/.649 slash line has him at the top of the entire Dominican Summer League. He’s one of the few players for the Pirates with more walks (19) than strikeouts (16). Mojica is a big strong kid, who the Pirates will try to keep at third base. He isn’t slow, but he is a big kid who will benefit from conditioning in the system, which should help him move better in the future. If the bat plays up, then it won’t matter where he stands in the field, but his arm gets a 70 grade from scouts, so that would look nice at the hot corner.
Orlando Chivilli ($350,000) – Chivilli was signed as a shortstop, though he has been at third base in every start. He’s hitting .267/.413/.483 with solid defense and a little bit of pop in his bat. The early downside would be his 22 strikeouts in 18 games. You don’t see many players with more than a strikeout per game at this level, but he is one of the younger players on this list, so it’s best to be patient.
Franrielis Bastardo ($260,000) – Bastardo is showing some early power and plate patience. He has five doubles and three homers, along with 13 walks in 26 games. He’s only batting .221, but the .730 OPS is solid for this pitcher-friendly league. He’s a corner outfielder with limited speed.
Rodolfo Nolasco ($235,000) – Nolasco could be the buried gem here. He’s hitting .290/.333/.441 in 25 games, with ten extra-base hits. What you should really like with his scouting report is the fact that he makes hard contact (100+ MPH exit velocity) more often than anyone on either Pirates team. While those stats obviously look good for a 17-year-old in a pitcher-friendly league, I’m told that he has had some bad luck with a lot of hard hit outs.
Jose Berroa ($230,000) – Berroa is a gifted switch-hitter, blessed with all of the tools you want to see at this age. He’s just raw compared to most of these players, so there is more upside than you see with his .646 OPS in 22 games. He could end up returning to this level and benefiting from the added experience before heading to the U.S.
Deivis Nadal ($185,000) – Nadal was described as being raw and having a small frame that hasn’t started to fill out, so the expectations weren’t high this year. He has impressed up to this point, hitting .323/.438/.424 in 27 games, while splitting his time between shortstop and second base. The early defensive stats (.880 fielding % at shortstop) hide the fact that he has shown the tools to stick at the position. He has seven steals in ten attempts.
Miguel Toribio ($175,000) – The two pitchers below have much bigger frames, but Toribio is the best right now of the three right-handers. He has an 0.79 ERA in 22.1 innings, with 17 strikeouts, a .203 BAA and a 1.24 WHIP. He’s 6’1″, 165, with a fastball that sits high-80s and he has a nice slider.
Andy Maldonado ($170,000) – Maldonado is one of a few pitchers who is still just 16 years old and it’s showing early on. He has a big 6’4″ frame, with room to fill out, and is currently all about projection. He throws low-90s now, but still needs to refine his control. Maldonado has a 10.05 ERA in five starts, with 16 walks in 14.1 innings, so he is clearly all projection at this point.
Listher Sosa ($150,000) – Sosa is a huge pitcher already at 6’4″, 210 pounds and could still get strong. He throws low-90s with the ability to use three pitches. His were results were poor before he threw six shutout innings yesterday on one hit, with no walks and seven strikeouts.
TODAY’S SCHEDULE
Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates won 12-2 over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night. The Pirates will send out Joe Musgrove today for the final game before the All-Star break. He went three shutout innings in his last start, leaving early due to a long rain delay. His previous outing was six shutout innings against the Houston Astros, which followed one run over seven frames against the San Diego Padres. The Brewers will counter with veteran right-hander Chase Anderson, who has a 4.31 ERA in 62.2 innings, with 63 strikeouts and a 1.29 WHIP. He gave up two runs over 5.2 innings in his previous start. That followed one run over 5.1 innings against the Seattle Mariners. Anderson has faced the Pirates twice, allowing a total of four runs over 11 innings.
The minor league schedule includes the third start in Altoona for Cody Bolton, after yesterday’s game was rained out. He has given up four runs in each of his first two starts with the Curve. He had just one start with more than two earned runs in Bradenton this season. The Marauders will send out Max Kranick, who has a 2.56 ERA, a 1.01 WHIP and a .226 BAA in his last six starts. He has held batters to a .234 average both at home and on the road this season. Kranick leads the Florida State League with 87 innings pitched. Osvaldo Bido will make his fourth start against Lakewood since May 20th. He allowed a total of eight runs over 17 innings in the first three meetings between the two clubs.
Bristol will send out Tahnaj Thomas, who bounced back from two very rough outings to begin the season by throwing five shutout innings in his last start. He recorded just five outs total in his first two starts. Indianapolis will send out Alex McRae, who had his worst outing of the season against today’s opponent (Toledo). He gave up six runs on 11 hits in five innings. McRae has a 5.23 ERA at home. Morgantown was rained out yesterday, so they should be sending out Noe Toribio today. He tossed five shutout innings in his last start, while picking up seven strikeouts. The GCL and both DSL Pirates have off on Sundays.
MLB: Pittsburgh (43-45) vs Brewers (47-43) 1:35 PM
Probable starter: Joe Musgrove (4.13 ERA, 78:22 SO/BB, 93.2 IP)
AAA: Indianapolis (44-43) vs Toledo (39-49) 1:35 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Alex McRae (4.90 ERA, 66:21 SO/BB, 71.2 IP)
AA: Altoona (46-38) vs Erie (44-39) 2:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Cody Bolton (7.71 ERA, 9:4 SO/BB, 9.1 IP)
High-A: Bradenton (47-38) vs Florida (30-55) 1:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Max Kranick (3.83 ERA, 65:23 SO/BB, 87.0 IP)
Low-A: Greensboro (53-33) vs Lakewood (35-52) 4:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Osvaldo Bido (3.59 ERA, 80:24 SO/BB, 95.1 IP)
Short-Season A: Morgantown (12-9) vs Auburn (9-11) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Noe Toribio (0.82 ERA, 13:2 SO/BB, 11.0 IP)
Rookie: Bristol (10-8) vs Pulaski (10-7) 6:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Tahnaj Thomas (6.75 ERA, 6:5 SO/BB, 6.2 IP)
GCL: Pirates (5-6) vs Twins (5-6) 12:00 PM 7/8 (season preview)
DSL: Pirates1 (15-16) vs Rays2 (19-12) 10:30 AM 7/8 (season preview)
DSL: Pirates2 (25-6) vs Royals2 (14-16) 10:30 AM 7/8 (season preview)
HIGHLIGHTS
From Indianapolis on Friday, some defensive highlights from Ke’Bryan Hayes and Kevin Kramer
Not one…but two #SCtop10 plays tonight?!? We think so.
Good stuff, @Kevin_Kramer7 and @KeBryanHayes.
Here is Hayes hitting his fourth home run
Young Hayes.
RECENT TRANSACTIONS
7/6: Pirates recall Dario Agrazal, Luis Escobar and Montana DuRapau. Steven Brault place on injured list. Trevor Williams placed on paternity leave. Dovydas Neverauskas optioned to Indianapolis.
7/6: Jake Brentz added to Indianapolis roster.
7/5: Bralin Jackson placed on Altoona injured list.
7/4: Ke’Bryan Hayes and Pablo Reyes activated off Indianapolis injured list. Yefry Ramirez placed on temporary inactive list. Logan Hill assigned to Altoona.
7/4: Gregory Polanco assigned to Indianapolis on rehab.
7/3: Pirates sign Jake Wright and Jasiah Dixon
7/3: Jake Brentz placed on temporary inactive list
7/3: Yandy Vega and Hai-Cheng Gong assigned to GCL Pirates
7/2: Pirates sign a ton of international players
7/2: Mario Garcia promoted to GCL Pirates
7/1: James Marvel promoted to Indianapolis. Blake Cederlind added back to Altoona roster
7/1: Pirates sign JC Flowers, Ethan Paul, Jake Snider and Marshall Gilbert.
6/30: Hunter Owen placed on Indianapolis injured list (retroactive to 6/27).
6/30: Oneil Cruz activated from Bradenton injured list. Chase Lambert placed on injured list.
6/30: Yandy Vega and Hai-Cheng Gong assigned to Morgantown.
6/29: Ke’Bryan Hayes and Pablo Reyes assigned to Morgantown on rehab.
6/29: Ryan Peurifoy assigned to Bradenton
6/29: Fernando Villegas assigned to GCL Pirates on rehab
6/29: CJ Dandeneau and Alex Roth assigned to Bristol.
6/29: Jordan Lyles activated from injured list. Geoff Hartlieb optioned to Indianapolis.
6/28: Pirates release Nick Franklin.
6/28: Daniel Amaral placed on injured list. Ike Schlabach activated from injured list.
6/28: Pirates sign Orsen Josephina.
6/28: Oliver Mateo placed on injured list.
6/27: Jake Elmore activated from Indianapolis injured list.
6/27: Pirates sign Gift Ngoepe.
6/27: Zack Kone and Jonah Davis added to Greensboro roster.
6/27: Dario Agrazal optioned to Indianapolis. Pirates recall Dovydas Neverauskas
6/27: Aaron Shortridge placed on Bradenton injured list.
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
Five former Pittsburgh Pirates players born on this date and combined, they didn’t even play 30 games with the Pirates. Starting with the most recent player first, we have Jerry Dybzinski, shortstop for the 1985 Pirates. Before him was Chuck Goggin, who was dealt to the Pirates for Hall of Fame pitcher Jim Bunning. Goggin was a utility fielder for the 1972-73 Pirates.
Next up are Red Nonnenkamp and Art Merewether, who share something in common besides a birthday and playing for the Pirates. Both of them played exactly one game for the Pirates and it came as a pinch-hitter. Nonnenkamp struck out in his only at-bat on September 6,1933 and Merewether grounded out to Hall of Fame shortstop Dave Bancroft in his only at-bat. Unlike Nonnenkamp, Merewether never played another Major League game.
Finally we have Hall of Fame second baseman Billy Herman, who was a player-manager during the 1947 season. He didn’t write his name into the lineup often, starting just 13 times. He led the Pirates to a 61-92 record before stepping down prior to the last game of the season. Herman went into the HOF in 1975, part of the same class with his teammate in 1947, Ralph Kiner.
