Pittsburgh Pirates: September 2 Notes From the Minor Leagues

The Pittsburgh Pirates minor league teams are in the final stretch of their playoff race.  Here are some news and notes from the minors over the last day.

The Pittsburgh Pirates saw their top four minor league affiliates in action last night.  All four teams are projected to make the playoffs this year.  As the minor league playoffs get closer, the teams are seeing some last minute roster moves being made.  For instance, last night right-handed pitcher James Marvel made his High-A début.  The Duke product started the year at Low-A West Virginia and made 20 starts there.  He was promoted to High-A, and Marvel made a really good first impression.  He threw six innings of shutout baseball.  Although he only struck out one batter in his start, he limited Charlotte to just two base runners, both coming on hits.

Also last night, the West Virginia Power sent their top prospect to the hill in the likes of Luis Escobar.  Escobar has a really strong last regular season start throwing five shutout innings.  He also punched out eight batters, raising his total to 168 punch outs in 131.2 innings pitched this season.  He limited the Delmarva Shorebirds to one hit and two walks.  Escobar will finish the year with a record of 10-7 and a 3.83 earned run average.

In the other games, the Indianapolis Indians took a loss by a score of 4-3 to the Toledo Mudhens.  Tyler Eppler started giving up four earned runs on nine hits over 6.2 innings. Pittsburgh Pirates former first round pick Kevin Newman was 1-5, and he is now hitting .273 at the Triple-A level.  The Altoona Curve only played five innings before the game was postponed due to weather.  The Pittsburgh Pirates Double-A affiliate was tied 1-1 with the Nationals affiliate.

Roster Moves

Pittsburgh Pirates top prospect Austin Meadows was placed on the disabled list with a strained oblique.  This likely will cost Meadows the rest of the Triple-A season including the playoffs.  This has been the story of Meadows’ season.  He has battled hamstring issues all year, and when he finally got his hamstring issue taken care of he strains his oblique.  This is definitely not something Pittsburgh Pirates fans want to see, especially after seeing Gregory Polanco have similar issues this season.

Next: Josh Harrison Placed On The DL

Triple-A utility man Chris Bostick was recalled to join the Pittsburgh Pirates.  This move was made when the Bucs put Josh Harrison on the disabled list.  For more on this move check out the link above.

Due to these two moves, the Pittsburgh Pirates moved infielder Anderson Feliz and outfielder Justin Maffei to Triple-A.  Both were playing at the Double-A level.  To replace these two at Double-A, the Bucs moved former third round pick Casey Hughston and infielder Mitchell Tolman to Double-A, these moves according to Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects.