Pittsburgh Pirates: Mason Martin Hits 11th Homerun, Cruz Goes Deep

The Pittsburgh Pirates top two power-hitting prospects continue to mash the ball in Triple-A. Both homered in Sunday’s game.

Another series loss came for the Pittsburgh Pirates at the hands of the San Diego Padres.  The Padres took two of the 3 games against the Bucs who only managed 9 runs across the three-game set.  Even with a wave of young talent like Cal Mitchel, Rodolfo Castro, and Tucapita Marcano, the team is still struggling to produce consistent offense.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates two top power prospects continue to hit in the minors.  Both Mason Martin and Oneil Cruz have been providing plenty of pop for the Indianapolis Indians.  Both could make a significant impact in the middle of the Pittsburgh Pirates lineup right now. Instead, both are still playing in Triple-A.

On Sunday, the duo both went yard in the same game. This is the second time in the last week that both Martin and Cruz went deep in the same game.  The power-hitting Martin hit his 11th home run of the year:

Oneil Cruz actually got the scoring started in the game with his 7th home run of the season.  Cruz shows off his easy power with a shot to left-center:

Again, the Pittsburgh Pirates need offensive help, especially in the power category.  The Bucs are 24th in the league in home runs and 28th in slugging percentage.  In general, the Pittsburgh Pirates have one of the worst offenses in Baseball and these two could easily help the lineup.  Instead, we continue to watch them “progress” in Triple-A while the Front Office picks and chooses which prospects are deemed “ready”.

It is time to get Oneil Cruz and Mason Martin up to the Big Leagues.  Martin actually has just as much as a case to be promoted as Cruz.  The Bucs currently need some help at first base with Josh Van Meter playing regular innings there.  It should be Martin.