Another month wrapped up, and half of the minor league season is now over. It was an interesting month in the Pirates system, seeing some players get promoted, and some finally starting to show life after slow starts.
With June over and done with, here are three statistics that stuck out in the Pirates system across the minors.
32 Hits For Ji-Hwan Bae
There may not be a player performing better in the system right now than Ji-Hwan Bae, and June was a good example of that. Not only did he steal eight bases last month, but he also slashed .324/.355/.448 thanks in large part to the 32 hits he recorded in 25 games played. That’s more than one hit per game played during the month of June.
21 Walks For Andres Alvarez
Alvarez has shocked many with his surprising power he has flashed in Altoona, already surpassing his career high in home runs less than half way through the season. He’s also flashed some great patience at the plate, recording 21 walks last month, striking out only 17 times. He didn’t hit for much power (.228) but thanks to the walks had an OBP near .400 (.392).
Jared Jones .404 BABIP
It hasn’t been the most ideal of seasons for Jared Jones, the strikeout numbers are there, but he’s struggled with control at times and has been hit a lot harder than you would expect from a guy with his stuff. Overall, he didn’t have the worst of months (32 K, 13 BB, 3.96 ERA in 25 IP), which could be a sign of things starting to turn around for him.
Another sign that things could potentially get better, his insanely high BABIP. If that’s able to come down to what’s seen as the average of .300, the number side of things could start looking a lot more ideal for the young righty.
Bonus: Mason Martin 39 strikeouts
This one isn’t really an encouraging one, but more of the eye popping variety. After a scorching hot start for Martin, it’s been struggle after struggle. June showed that as he slashed just .100/.161/.165 and struck out 39 times in the month. Overall, that was 44.8% of his plate appearances.
Another Bonus: Jase Bowen With 11 Steals
Bowen is an interesting prospect, due to his power potential and his ability to play almost every position in the field. But he showed even more of his versatility in June, stealing 11 bases and launching himself up with the organization’s leaders in the category. Oh, he also hit pretty good as well (.319/.366/.451, 16 RBI).
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- Minor Moves: Matt Gorski and Omar Cruz Head to Injured List
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THIS WEEK ON PIRATES PROSPECTS
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How Mitch Keller’s New Sinker Complements His Other Pitches
JT Brubaker Discusses the Short Memory Needed in the Majors
Pirates Roundtable: When Did Realize You Would Reach the Majors?
Zach Thompson Made an Important Change to His Mindset in 2021
Jack Suwinski Put in Work to Gain an Edge
Bligh Madris Discusses Core Value of Perseverance and His Power Increase
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Song of the Day
Jase Bowen still being in Bradenton and not in Greensboro still remains one of the most puzzling personnel decisions of this season in the organization for me.
Not sure if this has been covered on other sites but The Athletic and Rob B has a good article on Bowen’s off-season …
“ Bowen, who five months earlier in the Dominican Republic had an emergency appendectomy that practically derailed his offseason training program.”
I take it more as an acknowledgment of their error in pushing many of his fellow ’21 Bradenton bats (Escotto, Head, Sianni, Herman) up a level.
Bowen was the least advanced among them heading into the year, as evidenced by him being the only one held back, and the rest have generally been overwhelmed by the assignment. Conversely, Bowen is showing that at the very least a return to Bradenton has helped increase his production.
I can understand if they take this as a lesson in patience.
Ok, you bring up some very valid points.
Yea, the only case you can make really are the strikeouts, but that’s very much a system issue so not sure that holds back one player.
Make this a recurring feature!
Martin has reached his expiration date.
I always thought that his strikeout problem would be difficult to translate into MLB.
So you are on the record, as a fan , stating Martin is no longer a prospect….i like memorializing such strong opinions/comments
Yes.
I think wayyyy to premature to count Martin out, even with his recent struggles, just turned 23, worth a longggg look especially when there is nothing to lose to have such patience🤷♂️
Bae is going to be an all star for our MLB team, not alot of fanfare, and no reason to promote him yet, there is no rush, but when he comes up in August, 2B is taken for the next 6 yrs, sorry Nick G., get a 1B glove🤷♂️😅
Is Jared Jones the poster child for the Pirates pitching development team? Their ability to unlock his potential has got to be one of the keys to teams future success, right?
He may be one of the biggest wildcards in the system. Not really brought up when talking about being in the future rotation but really has stuff that’s just as good if not better than the ones mentioned. He’s still just 20. And the really high BABIP can kinda just point to bad luck. If that’s around .300 pitching the way he does, his month is looking a lot better. It wasn’t bad, but would be way better
Not at all gonna suggest .400 is a true talent level, but he finished the entire 2021 season at .385!
I don’t know anything about anything, but to my untrained eye his top stuff (98 fb, sharpest sliders) often aren’t competitive. When he’s in the zone, it’s more 93-95.
Also, maybe hitters are just better, earlier than they used to be?
That’s what’s so unfortunate with Greensboro. Lack of live games to watch and the ones we do get the broadcast presentation isn’t the best. The series against Winston Salem didn’t have the graphic at the top that said the score or inning. Getting video from that week has been a pain.
I’ve seen him throw some very competitive pitches at high velo in BRD. Also early on in GBO.
That last part u said is what I’m thinking. Competition is just better in High-A now, add that into the fact he’s still 20. Could be it.
Martin has played himself out of the conversation for a spot on the big league team.
Hmm, May have been a reason why he was left off the 40-man roster.