Pittsburgh Pirates Minors: Prospects Finding Success In Australia

Now that the Autralian Baseball League season is complete, let’s check in on how the three prospects the Pittsburgh Pirates had playing in the league performed

This offseason three prospects from the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing in Australia in an effort to hone their skills. The three prospects playing in the Australian Baseball League are pitcher Beau Sulser, outfeilder Bligh Madris and infielder Robbie Glendinning.

For Madris and Sulser, this winter was their first taste of Australian Baseball League action. As for Glendinning, a native of Australia, this was his third consecutive winter playing for the Perth Heat in the Australian Baseball League.

Glendinning was on his way to having another successful season in Australia. Through 79 plate appearances he had hit for a .343/.443/.507 slash line to go with 3 home runs and a 7.5% extra base hit rate. However, last week Glendinning’s season ended early due to needing to undergo Tommy John surgery.

Unfortunately, this will cause Glendinning to miss the rest of the season in Australia, as well as the entire 2021 minor league season. Hopefully, Glendinning will be back and ready for action next winter in Australia.

Like Glendinning, Sulser also played for the Heat this winter. Sulser helped lead the Heat to the shortened championship round of the Australian Baseball League playoffs. Unfortunately, the Heat would come up short.

Despite coming up short in their quest for a championship that does not take away from the success the 26-year-old Sulser found in Australia. In 5 starts Sulser pitched 24 innings, posting a 2.63 ERA. He allowed 20 hits, just 2 home runs, walked 2.2% of batters faced and struckout batters at a 25.3% rate.

Sulser pitched in 33 games, 6 starts, with the Double-A Altoona Curve in 2019. While he may start the 2021 season back in Altoona, if he can continue the success he had in Australia the Pittsburgh Pirates will have Sulser pitching for Triple-A Indianapolis sooner rather than later.

As for Madris, it was a successful winter for the left-handed hitting outfielder. Earlier in the offseason Madris informed us of some of what he was looking to work on in Australia. Not only was he able to work on areas of his game, he did so while producing at the plate.

In 98 PAs with the Brisbane Bandits, Madris hit for a .259/.347/.424 slash line. He hit 3 home runs, collected extra base hits at a 9.4% rate, and had a strone 12:15 BB:K ratio.

Like Sulser, Madris may begin his 2021 season at Double-A after finishing the 2020 season in Altoona. However, also like Sulser, if Madris can continue his success with the Curve he could hit his way to the Triple-A level in a hurry.