Pittsburgh Pirates: Two Prospects Receiving Praise

It has been a good spring for more than one of the young players in camp with the Pittsburgh Pirates

On Thursday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates took on the Orioles at home in a 7-5 win in their eleventh Spring Training game this week. In this game, two Pirates prospect pitchers, Will Crowe and Roansy Contreras, showed off their talents, and got acknowledged for it.

Both of these prospects are new names in the ‘Burgh, as they were both brought in through trades this off season.  Crowe first came over in the Josh Bell trade with the Nationals, then Contreras came from the Yankees in the Jameson Taillon trade.

Crowe was the first of these two to get into the game when he came in to start the 4th inning. Crowe came in to face Stevie Wilkerson, and gave up a single on a line drive to him. After giving this base hit up though, Crowe was flawless for the next 3 innings.

He managed to face the bare minimum of nine batters over his three innings pitched by following up the single with a double play, and three punch outs. This performance along with his two others from this spring go to show just how special he can end up being for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In total now, Crowe has pitched 6 innings without allowing a single run. This also goes along with five strikeouts, only two runs and a WHIP of 0.83. These are amazing numbers and shows that is deserving of a spot in the Opening Day bullpen of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

When Crowe’s day was done, Contreras came into the game in relief. This was his first appearance of the Spring. While he has not played previously this Spring, he came out throwing heat as his fastball was registering at 98 mph. Like Crowe, Contreras did not allow a run in his outing.

While Contreras only pitched 1 inning, he managed to punch-out two batters. Also, Contreras was credited for the win in this game.

As showcased by the performances here, the Pittsburgh Pirates have a bright future to look forward to with the way that the prospects are developing throughout the farm system.