Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Miguel Yajure Struggles, Altoona Home Runs

Another big power day for Double-A Altoona, Low-A Bradenton has winning streak snapped and more in Sunday’s Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup

Righty Miguel Yajure started for Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon. After posting a zero in the 1st and 2nd inning, Yajure was knocked around in the 3rd inning leading to another poor start. This poor start was the beginning of a long day for the Indian pitching staff as the Pittsburgh Pirates top farm club fell to the Memphis Redbird 11-2.

Yajure allowed 4 runs on five hits, three walks, a home run, and four strikeouts in 5 innings pitched. He now has a 6.85 ERA and Triple-A this season. Factor in his struggles in the majors and he is a candidate to be designated for assignment this offseason.

Indy’s pitching struggles continued after Yajure’s day ended. Nick Mears allowed 2 runs on three hits, a walk, a home run and a strikeout in just 2/3 of an inning pitched. After Cam Alldred for the final out of the 6th inning, Travis MacGregor allowed 2 runs in the 7th inning. Zach Matson then allowed 3 more runs in the 8th.

As for the Indian offense, the top performer was Diego Castillo. Castillo started at shortstop and went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk. Castillo now owns an .846 OPS since being optioned to the minors and has earned an opportunity to return to the majors.

Hoy Park and Cal Mitchell were each 1-for-4, with Mitchell driving in a run. Travis Swaggerty wet 0-for-3 with a walk and Carter Bins was 1-for-3 with a walk. Jared Oliva also had a hit for the Indians.

Greensboro suffers a shutout loss

After getting shutout on Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates High-A affiliate, the Greensboro Grasshoppers, are now 14 games under .500 on the season. Following the 4-0 loss against the Jersey Shore BlueClaws, the Grasshoppers are now a porous 46-60.

Leadoff man Luke Brown went 1-for-4 with a triple for the Grasshoppers while center fielder and two-hole hitter Jase Bowen was 0-for-3 with a walk. Jacob Gonzalez was 1-for-4, Yoyner Fajardo was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks, Eli Wilson was 1-for-3 with a walk, and Jackson Glenn was 1-for-4.

Getting runners on base was not an issue for the Grasshoppers. Their problem, much like their parent club, was getting a big hit with runners on base. The Grasshoppers went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position on their way to stranding nine base runners.

Ricky DeVito started on the mound for the Grasshoppers and pitched 3 scoreless innings. DeVito allowed two hits, walked a batter and struck out three in his 3 scoreless innings pitched. Adrian Florencio followed with 2 innings of work, allowing a solo home run while walking a batter and striking out two.

After Florencio, Matt Eckelman was the next man up. Eckelman allowed 3 runs, 2 earned, on two hits, two walks, a home run and a strikeout. Cam Junker then allowed two hits and struck out three in 2 scoreless innings pitched.

Low-A Bradenton has four-game winning streak snapped

Entering play on Sunday the Low-A Bradenton Marauders were one of the hottest teams in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. The Marauders had won four games in a row, seven of their last eight games and were 8-3 in the month of August.

Sunday afternoon, however, the Marauders fell to the Palm Beach Cardinals by a score of 7-1. Following the lopsided loss, the Marauders have fallen to 56-51 on the season.

Po-Yu Chen started for the Marauders and lasted just 3 innings. Chen allowed 2 runs on four hits, two walks and a home run. He threw just 55 pitches in his outing, but did throw 33 of them (60%) for strikes.

Drew Irvine and Sergio Umana followed Chen and both struggled. Irvine pitched 2 innings allowing 2 runs on two hits, a walk, a home run and two strikeouts. Umana, who has pitched well for Bradenton owning a 1.98 ERA on the season, also allowed a pair of runs, but he pitched just 1 inning.

Mitchell Miller walked three batters and allowed an unearned run while recording just one out. Darvin Garcia struck a batter out in 1.2 scoreless innings pitched, while Wilkin Ramos struck out a pair in a scoreless 9th inning.

Offensively, it was a frustrating day for the Marauders.

Leadoff man Tsung-Che Cheng was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run scored. 2022 Pittsburgh Pirates draft selection Tres Gonzalez was 2-for-4, Juan Jerez was 1-for-4, and Brenden Dixon was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. Catcher Luis Hernandez and right fielder Jasiah Dixon each went 1-for-4 as well.

On the day the Marauders had no extra base hits, went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 10 runners on base. There were opportunities to score more runs but Bradenton failed to capitalize.