Tres Gonzalez, Tsung-Che Cheng and Hudson Head had good games for Greensboro, but the bullpen blew a ninth-inning lead. Kyle Nicolas struck out ten but still didn’t have a good start. Jared Triolo saw his first action of the year. Indianapolis was rained out.
YESTERDAY’S RESULTS
Prospect Watch: Anthony Solometo Tosses Shutout Ball; Jackson Glenn Homers Three Times
TRIPLE-A: INDIANAPOLIS INDIANS
INDIANAPOLIS @ TOLEDO
Game Recap:
Indianapolis’ game at Toledo was rained out. They’ll try to play two tomorrow.
DOUBLE-A: ALTOONA CURVE
ALTOONA @ RICHMOND
Final Score: Richmond 6, Altoona (10-10)
Altoona Starter: Kyle Nicolas
Pitching Line: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 10 K
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Liover Peguero 1-3, 2B, 2 BB, 3 SB
- Henry Davis 2-5
- Matt Gorski 2-4
- Lolo Sanchez 3-4, 2 2B, SB
Game Recap:
Kyle Nicolas fanned ten but still had a poor start as Altoona lost to Richmond, 6-2. This is the continuing saga with Nicolas, as he shows swing-and-miss stuff but doesn’t get good results. He allowed eight hits and five runs over five innings. It’s not even a control problem; he threw 64 of 96 pitches for strikes.
Nick Dombkowski and Cam Junker each threw a scoreless inning. Tahnaj Thomas, who’s not having a good year so far, gave up a run on two hits and two walks in his inning.
The Curve offense had lots of chances, thanks to nine hits, five walks and five steals, but went 3-for-15 with RISP. Liover Peguero, who seems to be turning things around a little, reached three times on a double and two walks, and stole three bases. He’s 9-for-10 stealing bases on the year. Henry Davis had two singles and struck out three times. Lolo Sanchez had two doubles and a single, and Matt Gorski had two hits.
HIGH-A: GREENSBORO GRASSHOPPERS
GREENSBORO @ WINSTON-SALEM
Final Score: Winston-Salem 8, Greensboro (14-8) 7
Greensboro Starter: Bubba Chandler
Pitching Line: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Tsung-Che Cheng 2-3, 2B, 2 BB, SB
- Hudson Head 3-4, 2B, 2 3B
- Tres Gonzalez 2-4, HR (1), 3 RBI
- Will Matthiessen 1-4, HR (2)
- Will Kobos 2.2 IP, 4 K
Game Recap:
Greensboro blew a three-run, ninth-inning lead and lost to Winston-Salem, 8-7.
Bubba Chandler had an uneven start. He allowed four hits and three walks over five and a third innings. That’s not bad, but it amounted to four runs, three earned. Will Kobos followed, retiring all eight batters he faced, four on strikes. Jack Carey came on for the ninth with a 7-4 lead, but after retiring the first hitter let four straight reach base. Cy Nielsen relieved and got a second out, but gave up a walkoff, two-run double.
Tres Gonzalez hit the ground running after his promotion from Bradenton. He drove in three runs with an RBI single and a two-run home run. He’d had one longball before the move up. Hudson Head also had a big day, belting a double and two triples. Tsung-Che Cheng reached base four times on a double, single and two walks. His OPS is up to .955. Will Matthiessen hit his second home run of the year.
LOW-A: BRADENTON MARAUDERS
BRADENTON @ TAMPA
Final Score: Bradenton (14-8) 5, Tampa 2
Bradenton Starter: Dominic Perachi
Pitching Line: 5 IP, 3 H, BB, 6 K
Box Score
Top Performers:
- Termarr Johnson 1-4, 2B
- Rodolfo Nolasco 1-3, 2B, HBP
- Shalin Polanco 1-3, HR (1), HBP
Game Recap:
Bradenton got only three hits but beat Tampa anyway, 5-2.
Dominic Perachi allowed just three hits and a walk over five scoreless innings. He fanned six. Perachi didn’t exactly fill the strike zone, throwing only 39 of 72 pitches for strikes, but he got it done anyway.
The Marauders made the most of their few hits. With two on via walks in the third, Termarr Johnson and Rodolfo Nolasco hit back-to-back doubles to bring in three runs. The other two runs came on Shalin Polanco’s first home run of the season. Johnson struck out his other three times up. So far this year, he’s fanned ten times in 21 plate appearances.
Ryan Harbin relieved Perachi and gave up two runs, one earned. Julian Bosnic and Mike Walsh combined for two and a third scoreless innings.
Jared Triolo began his rehab from hamate surgery. He played eight innings at third and went 0-for-3 with a walk.
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.
What’s up with TJ? NOT hitting or fielding well. Is he going to be a DH? Is he a good fielder? So far disappointing.
Love the W/K and SB numbers Peguero is putting up at AA – 10 Walks, 13 K, and, as you mentioned, 9 of 10 SB.
Lolo Sanchez with another OF assist from LF last night – 3 already on the season. Surprised to see him with 2 E’s already. I think he only had 2 E’s all season last year
The phrase didn’t exactly fill the strike zone comes up often in these articles, is it command or to much nibbling?
Looking at the stats, Perachi is better than a K/IP and he also throws a lot of GB’s – I’d have to bet he is a low ball nibbler, and he’s not going to give in. Sometimes batters don’t bite at the balls out of the zone and/or you just don’t get calls on pitches just a little South of the strike zone. Keeping the ball down will be his calling card as he moves up.
A big 11th Round pick out of Salve Regina U in RI?
Let me know if this is helpful
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=5/2/2023&gamePk=729681&chartType=pitch&legendType=pitchName&playerType=pitcher&inning=&count=&pitchHand=&batSide=&descFilter=&ptFilter=&resultFilter=&hf=pitch3d&sportId=14
You might need to scroll down to the pitcher you’re looking for …
Nibbling is a consistent pattern with the 2022 draftees. The Pirates went very heavily for spin and breaking balls. That’s working at the ML level, but those guys are throwing strikes. The draftees are college guys at the lowest full season level, at a time when the quality of play there has cratered due to Manfred whacking the minors.
I’ve seen most of these guys multiple times now (not Perachi) and they’re relying heavily on getting hitters to chase. Some, like Harrington, are succeeding at it. Others, like Massey, aren’t. I’m skeptical how these guys are going to do against higher level hitters. Doubly so, because this FO isn’t doing well generally at developing pitching.
Should we be concerned with the Ks with Termarr? The evaluations on hit tools are becoming quite concerning in our system
No. As emjay said, it’s a few games and he’s coming in from lengthy time off. It’s also his first full professional season, so I’d want to at least give him several months at least before I decide to engage in panic.
Draft related: ESPN released their first draft rankings. Crews/Skenes/Langford as the top three and they seem to think that Crews is the favorite to go 1, but more for logical reasons than intel. In short, Kiley doesn’t think they’d save much by popping Skenes. They’d save more if they went with Langford.
You have to be a little concerned. The kid was getting Wade Boggs comps and some were saying he could be in Altoona by the end of the season.
Having seen the guy, that’s a bizarre comp. Maybe he has that level of talent and maybe not, but the approach isn’t at all similar. Johnson takes a BIG cut and looks to pull the ball. Boggs looked to make contact. Really makes me wonder where these “scouting reports” come from.
I think they’ll still prove correct on this one, but only if Termarr is mature enough to adjust exactly as you say.
He’s got a remarkable ability to adjust, you still see him sting a ton of balls right back where they’re pitched. Very, very rare for kids his age and I’m sure that’s what scouts saw.
He just also hacks like he’s playing beer league softball in between. Ain’t gonna cut it.
I can understand loving the swing. It’s incredibly powerful. And he seems to know the strike zone well, but he’s swinging through pitches in the zone now, which is a disturbing reminder of a certain other guy.
Eesh. Appreciate your eyes on it, Wilbur. You said it.
The scouting report probably came from the source Longenhagen used for Suwinski’s speed and defense.
Just call him Dr. Stopwatch.
I’m not concerned, at least not right now. If people are throwing Wade Boggs comps on TJ, that’s naive and irresponsible. And the same applies if people thought he’d be in Altoona.
Yep
Almost 2 full months from original injury in Feb to first game in April; I would not get too concerned in the first 7 or 8 games. The legs are the foundation of hitting, and it will take a while for him to feel really solid. So far 3 Walks, 10 K’s, decent number of RBI’s?
Elijah Green and Collier are doing so hot either
So we should look to emulate the bad picks . . . .
From Bradenton
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=5/2/2023&gamePk=729681&chartType=pitch&legendType=pitchName&playerType=pitcher&inning=&count=&pitchHand=&batSide=&descFilter=&ptFilter=&resultFilter=&hf=playerBreakdown&sportId=14