Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Matt Gorski Stays Hot, Rehabs Continue & More

While the minor league affiliates of the Pittsburgh Pirates went 0-3 on Tuesday night there were some notable performances worth talking about

Making his second rehab outing lefty Sam Howard made the start for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. In 1.2 innings pitched Howard allowed a run, while walking a batter and surrendering just a single hit. Howard is likely close to rejoining the Pittsburgh Pirates.

After John O’Reilly got the final out of the 2nd inning, Chas De Jong took over on the mound for the Indians and allowed 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 strikeouts in 2 innings pitched. Blake Weiman pitched 2 scoreless innings and Austin Brice pitched a scoreless inning. While he did look somewhat human by allowing a run, Yerry De Los Santos also picked up a strikeout in his inning of work.

The biggest issue for the Indians in their 4-2 loss was the offense. While center fielder Travis Swaggerty did his job out of the lead off spot by collecting a base hit and drawing a walk, the Indians only had three other hits. Two of the hits were by catcher Jason Delay, while Ji-Hwan Bae had the third. Joining Howard in a rehab assignment Anthony Alford was 0-for-2 with a walk. Oneil Cruz, who had a RBI, Rodolfo Castro, and Hunter Owen all drew a walk as well.

At the High-A level the Greensboro Grasshoppers fell to the Aberdeen IronBirds 8-6 to fall to 4-6 on the season. Endy Rodriguez made the start in left field and continued his hot start to the season, going 2-for-5 at the plate while scoring a run. Catcher Henry Davis was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored. Both Rodriguez and Davis are off to strong starts this season with an .880 and .900 OPS, respectively.

Matt Gorski started at first base going 3-for-4 with his 3rd home run of the season. While Maikol Escotto was 0-for-5, Hudson Head doubled and drove in a run. Center fielder Sammy Siani also had a multi-hit performance for the Grasshoppers.

Sean Sullivan started for the Grasshoppers, allowing 3 runs on 3 hits, 3 walks, 2 home runs allowed, and 4 strikeouts in 3.2 innings pitched. Logan Hofmann allowed just a single hit, but he allowed a run while issuing 3 walks in 1.2 innings pitched.

The Low-A Bradenton Marauders were shutout in a 3-0 loss against the Daytona Tortugas, falling to 7-3 on the season. Carlos Jimenez started for the Marauders and was burnt by a Mike Jarvis error. This error led to Jimenez allowing 2 unearned runs on 4 hits in 1.2 innings pitched. It was not a banner night for Jarvis who also went 0-for-3 at the plate, stranding a trio of base runners.

Jake Sweeney followed Jimenez pitched 3.1 scoreless innings of relief. Carlos Lomeli struck out 4 and allowed an unearned run in 2 innings of relief. However, the unearned run came as a result of an error by Lomeli. Darvin Garcia pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning for the Marauders.

Jacob Gonzales had the lone extra base hit for the Marauders with his 4th double of the season. The only other Marauder hits were singles by Alexander Mojica, Juan Jerez and Sergio Camapana.