Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Indianapolis Picks Up First Win of the Season

While the Pittsburgh Pirates may have come up short on Thursday, the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians picked up their first victory of the season

Thursday was an eventful day for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team started the day by reaching an 8-year, $70 million extension with Ke’Bryan Hayes, the largest contract ever given out in franchise history.

The Pittsburgh Pirates then kicked off their 2022 season by having just about everything that you could imagine going wrong go wrong at Busch Stadium. This included Hayes exiting the game in the 1st inning with a cramping issue. Reliever Duane Underwood Jr. also left the game with an injury. When the dust settled, the Pirates were 9-0 losers.

The organization’s Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, then capped off a busy day for the Pirate organization by playing their second game of the season. Unlike their parent club the Indians were victorious, knocking off the Omaha Storm Chasers 5-3 for their first victory of the season.

Oneil Cruz will be the player at Triple-A that fans will be most interested in. Until he is promoted to the majors fans will follow him like a hawk, especially if Kevin Newman continues to have games like he did on Thursday where he made an error, was caught stealing, and hit into a double play.

In the victory Cruz was 1-for-3 with a run scored. The base hit he collected came on a 110 MPH missile that he laced into center field. Cruz also flashed his plus athleticism by stealing a base for the Indians.

Another key contributor in the Indy lineup who should become a mainstay in Pittsburgh at some point this season is utility man Ji-Hwan Bae. Batting leadoff he was 1-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI, the left-handed hitting South Korean native is 3-for-8 with a pair of walks through Indy’s first two games.

Outfielders Cal Mitchell and Canaan Smith-Njigba were key factors in the victory as well. Smith-Njigba was 1-for-3 with a run scored, while Mitchell, who hit a solo home run in their season opener on Tuesday night, went 2-for-3 with a RBI. Both Mitchell and Smith-Njigba hit a double in the victory, and each should be on track to make their MLB debuts this season.

A man who has become a bit of a forgotten player in the Pirate system is infielder Rodolfo Castro. Despite making MLB history last season by becoming the first player to ever hit a home run for each of their first 5 MLB hits, Castro has sorta fallen to the back burner for many fans. Well, in the Indian victory he was 2-for-2 with a RBI. First baseman Mason Martin also drove in a run with a triple.

On the pitching side of things the start of the night was Yerry De Los Santos. Arguably the organization’s  top relief pitching prospects De Los Santos pitched 2 scoreless innings, retiring all 6 batters he faced while striking out a pair. For the most part the Storm Chaser batters looked completely overmatched by De Los Santos. He is a player who could make his MLB debut sooner rather than later.

Cam Vieaux started for the Indians, allowing a hit, walking a batter, and striking out a pair in 2 scoreless innings pitched. Hunter Stratton struck out 4 in 2.2 scoreless, hitless innings of work. Matt Eckelman allowed all 3 Storm Chaser runs, surrendering them on 3 hits, 3 walks and a home run while recording just one out in the 3rd inning.

In the second game of their doubleheader the Indians fell to the Storm Chasers 6-2. Bae started in center field in the loss and was 1-for-3 with a walk. Travis Swaggerty served as the team’s DH, going 0-for-3 with a walk. Castor was 1-for-3 with a walk, Mitchell was 1-for-2 with a walk and a RBI, and Smith-Njigba was 0-for-2.