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Prospect Watch: Chen Good, Burrows Bad, Campana 4-4

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Everybody is in action.  It seems likely the roster changes will accelerate; Kevin Newman has played nine rehab games, Ben Gamel and Yoshi Tsutsugo each six.  Jake Marisnick has played two.  The team doesn’t seem in too much of a hurry, though.  Tucupita Marcano has the fifth-best OPS+ of anybody on the team with at least 50 PAs.  Hoy Park has an OPS of .831 over the last 14 days and .723 over the last 28.  Jack Suwinski is second on the team in HRs despite being in the minors the first couple weeks.  Bligh Madris has been hot.  Seems like the front office is going to have to make some tough calls.

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS

Prospect Watch: Kyle Nicolas Gets His First Start in Nearly a Month; Bubba Chandler Hits a Grand Slam

TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS

P2Daily: Indianapolis Week on Pirates Prospects

Game Time: 8:05pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Mike Burrows

  • Final Line: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

Notable Performances:

  • Kevin Newman 3-5
  • Travis Swaggerty 1-5
  • Yoshi Tsutsugo 1-3, HR (1), BB
  • Cal Mitchell 1-4

Game Recap:

Indianapolis (37-37) had a rough day in a loss to Nashville.  The Indians didn’t show the same facility for making complete fools of themselves that the Pirates and their manager have shown numerous times this year, but 13-4 certainly isn’t good.  Mike Burrows sailed along through four scoreless innings, but things fell apart in the fifth.  That seems to be a pattern with some of the Pirates’ pitching prospects — looking dominant for a while, then imploding in the fourth, fifth or sixth inning.  It’s happened a couple times with Burrows and more often with Po-Yu Chen and Luis Ortiz.  Anyway, Burrows gave up five in the fifth and failed to get out of the inning.  Cristofer Melendez had an even more disastrous outing, walking five, hitting one and allowing four runs while recording only one out.  Matt Eckelman gave up another three.  Zach Matson got the last two outs.  He’s not a position player, so evidently it’s more acceptable to look like idiots at the major league level than in AAA.  Indy got three hits from Kevin Newman and a two-run home run from Yoshi Tsutsugo.  Taylor Davis had a hit and two walks.

DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE

P2Daily: It’s Altoona Curve Week on Pirates Prospects

Game Time: 6:00pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Aaron Shortridge

  • Final Line: 4 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K

Notable Performances:

  • Matt Fraizer 1-3, BB
  • Jared Triolo 1-4, SB
  • Liover Peguero 1-4
  • Andres Alvarez 1-4, HR (11)
  • Connor Scott 1-3, BB

Game Recap:

Altoona (36-37) took a no-hitter into the sixth and went on to beat Harrisburg, 6-0.  Aaron Shortridge worked the first four innings, allowing just two walks.  Dillon Peters followed for two innings and allowed the first hit with two out in the sixth.  Duane Underwood, Jr., threw a 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts, and Tyler Samaniego gave up the only other hit in his two scoreless innings.  Seven different Altoona players had one hit apiece.  Andres Alvarez hit his 11th longball and Aaron Shackelford had a double.  Matt Fraizer, Connor Scott and Brendt Citta each reached base twice, and Jared Triolo stole his 14th base.

HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS

P2Daily: It’s Greensboro Grasshoppers and Matt Gorski Week on Pirates Prospects

Game Time: 7:00pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Adrian Florencio

  • Final Line: 2 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 K

Notable Performances:

  • Endy Rodriguez 1-4
  • Abrahan Gutierrez 2-3, BB
  • Dariel Lopez 1-4, 2B
  • Domingo Gonzalez 6 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 3 K
  • Oliver Mateo 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K

Game Recap:

Greensboro (31-41) won a 2-1 pitchers duel over Hickory, employing several pitchers who’ve had problems this year.  Adrian Florencio returned from the development list to throw two innings, giving up one run on a solo homer.  Domingo Gonzalez followed with six shutout innings.  Oliver Mateo, who’s lost some time to injury, worked the ninth for the save.  The Hoppers got their runs on a balk in the second and an Abrahan Gutierrez single in the third.  They had only five hits, two of them, along with a walk, by Gutierrez.  Dariel Lopez had a double for the only extra-base hit.

LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS

P2Daily: It’s Bradenton Marauders Week on Pirates Prospects

Game Time: 6:30pm

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Po-Yu Chen

  • Final Line: 5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K

Notable Performances:

  • Tsung-Che Cheng 1-3, BB, SB
  • Sergio Campana 4-4, HR (3), SB

Game Recap:

Sergio Campana had quite a return from the development list to lead Bradenton (32-40) to a 5-3 win over Tampa.  He went 4-for-4 with his third home run of the year and 16th stolen base.  Po-Yu Chen didn’t hit a wall in this one, throwing five shutout, one-hit innings despite a rain delay.  He also didn’t walk a batter.  Johan Montero nearly gave up what was then a 4-0 lead, as he allowed three runs in the sixth.  Mitchell Miller threw an inning and a third, but he needed help as Yunior Thibo came on with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth.  Thibo got a fly ball to right that turned into a double play when Rodolfo Nolasco — who has quite an arm if you haven’t seen him throw — cut down the lead runner at home.  Thibo then worked a quick ninth for the save.  Norkis Marcos had two hits and two steals, Tsung-Che Cheng reached base twice and stole his 14th base, and Wyatt Hendrie tripled in a run.

RK: FCL PIRATES

Minor League Season Preview: 2022 FCL Pirates

Game Time: Noon

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Bladimir Dotel

  • Final Line: 4 IP, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K

Notable Performances:

  • Enmanuel Terrero 3-4, 2B
  • Esmerlyn Valdez 2-3, HR (1)
  • Luis Tejeda 1-1, 2 BB

Game Recap:

The FCL Pirates (11-8) beat the Orioles, 4-0, in a game shortened to five innings by rain.  Bladimir Dotel worked the first four innings, allowing four hits and no walks.  Drew Irvine, the Pirates’ 19th round draft pick last year out of Iowa, made his pro debut with a 1-2-3 inning, including two strikeouts.  Most of the offense came from Enmanuel Terrero and Esmerlyn Valdez.  Terrero had three hits, including a double, while Valdez had two, including his first home run of the year.  He scored and knocked in two.  Luis Tejeda reached base three times on a single and two walks.

RK: DSL PIRATES BLACK

Minor League Season Preview: 2022 DSL Pirates

Game Time: 11:00am

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Hader Blanco

  • Final Line: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 K

Notable Performances:

  • Angel Rodriguez 2-4
  • Robert De Paula 1-3, 2B, BB
  • Wesley Zapata 2-4, 2 2B

Game Recap:

The Black team (11-10) lost to the Angels, 6-4.  Seventeen-year-old Hader Blanco started off well, with three shutout innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth that amounted to three runs, two of them earned.  The Pirates took the lead with four in the top of the seventh, but a run in the bottom half and two in the eighth gave the Angels the win.  Brandison Polanco worked three innings and gave up the tying run, while Isaias Uribe allowed the last two.  Angel Rodriguez had two hits, as he’s off to a 6-for-13 start.  Wesley Zapata had two doubles.  Robert De Paula had a double and a walk, and Rodolfo De La Cruz had a double.

RK: DSL PIRATES GOLD

Game Time: 11:00am

Box Score: LINK

Starting Pitcher: Gilberto Alcala

  • Final Line: 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K

Notable Performances:

  • Roinny Aguiar 1-4, BB, SB
  • John Zorrilla 2-4, 2B, HR (3)
  • Isaias Dipre 2-4, 2B, SB
  • Axiel Plaz 1-3, BB, SB

Game Recap:

The Gold team (14-6) scored six in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Marlins, 9-5.  The game ended on a grand slam by John Zorrilla.  That was his third home run of the year and he also had a double.  The Pirates used six pitchers, with nobody going more than two innings.  Gilberto Alcala started and was the most effective, allowing two hits and fanning four in his two innings.  Rafael Mendez worked a scoreless inning and two-thirds, and Eliecer Romero got the win with a scoreless ninth.  Isaias Dipre had a single, a double and a steal, and Ruben Vizcaya had a triple.  Roinny Aguiar reached on a single and walk, and stole a base, while Axiel Plaz had the same line.

Wilbur Miller
Wilbur Miller
Having followed the Pirates fanatically since 1965, Wilbur Miller is one of the fast-dwindling number of fans who’ve actually seen good Pirate teams. He’s even seen Hall-of-Fame Pirates who didn’t get traded mid-career, if you can imagine such a thing. His first in-person game was a 5-4, 11-inning win at Forbes Field over Milwaukee (no, not that one). He’s been writing about the Pirates at various locations online for over 20 years. It has its frustrations, but it’s certainly more cathartic than writing legal stuff. Wilbur is retired and now lives in Bradenton with his wife and three temperamental cats.

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