Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Bubba Chandler, Henry Davis & More!
Bubba Chandler pitches 5 no-hit innings while making an incredible defensive play, Henry Davis returns to action and more in Tuesday’s Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup
Tuesday night saw the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians defeat the Rochester Red Wings by a score of 3-2. With the win, the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates improved to 59-57 on the season.
Osvaldo Bido started for the Indians and pitched 6 strong innings. Bido allowed a run, which came on a solo home run, while walking three batters and striking out seven. Joe Jaques struck a batter out and allowed a solo home run in the 7th inning, Austin Brice and Eric Handhold each followed with a scoreless inning of relief to close out the win for the Indians.
Cal Mitchell started in left field for the Indians and was the straw that stirred the drink for their offense. Mitchell was 2-for-4 with a two-run home run, his 8th at the Triple-A level this season, and a run scored.
Mason Martin went 1-for-4 with a double, and Diego Castillo was 1-for-3 with a walk and a RBI. Ji-Hwan Bae was 1-for-3 with a walk, Hoy Park was 1-for-4 with a run scored, and shortstop Drew Maggi was 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Double-A Altoona never gave up in a 7-5 victory over the Bowie Baysox, improving to . Poor defense was a sore spot for the Curve in the victory, and it hurt Quinn Priester‘s final stat line. Although, Priester also battled with poor control for much of the night.
Priester pitched 5.1 innings for the Curve, allowing 5 runs on seven hits, a walk and three strikeouts. However, due to errors by Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero, only 1 of the 5 runs he allowed was earned. That said, Priester also threw a wild pitch and hit three batters. Overall, the outing lowered Priester’s ERA with Altoona to 2.43 in 61.1 innings pitched across his 13 starts.
Lefty Nick Dombkowski followed Priester and struck a batter out while getting the final two outs of the 6th inning, lowering his ERA on the season to 3.30. Kyle Nicolas, J.C. Flowers and Tyler Samaniego each pitched a scoreless inning out of what has become a very strong Curve bullpen.
Home runs were the story for the Curve offense in the victory. Catcher Endy Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with a pair of walks, two RBI and his 3rd home run since being promoted to Double-A. The fast rising Rodriguez now owns a 1.178 OPS with the Curve.
Another power hitting prospect to go deep for Altoona was Malcolm Nunez. Nunez’s three-run home run was part of a four RBI night for the first baseman who now has 3 home runs since being acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the José Quintana trade.
Blake Sabol started in left field and went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, giving him 23 this season, and a RBI. Jared Triolo was 2-for-4 with his 19th double and a walk. While he was held hitless, Gonzales did draw three walks.
High-A Greensboro suffers a 3-2 loss against the Greenville Drive
Jared Jones started for Greensboro and pitched 4 scoreless inning. Jones allowed four hits, walked three and struck out a pair. Jack Carey pitched the 5th inning and got roughed up, allowing 3 runs on a home run, two hits, and two walks, although, he did strikeout the side.
After Matt Eckelman pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief things got tense with Denny Roman on the mound in the 8th inning. Roman walked a pair and allowed a base hit to load the bases, but he got a fly out to center field to keep the score at 3-2.
Luke Brown was in the leadoff spot for the Grasshoppers, the left fielder went 0-for-3 with a walk. Center fielder Hudson Head was in the two-hole in the lineup and went 0-for-2, but did draw a pair of walks while scoring a run.
Dariel Lopez was 1-for-3 and Abrahan Gutierrez was 0-for-4 with a RBI. Catcher Eli Wilson was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, while third baseman Jackson Glenn also had a hit for the Grasshoppers.
The most notable offensive performance in the loss was second baseman Yoyner Fajardo. Fajardo was 4-for-4, including a base hit to leadoff the 9th inning allowing the Grasshoppers to bat three times with go-ahead run at the plate, and he stole a pair of bases to give him 16 on the season. This included him stealing second base in the 9th inning to put the tying run in scoring position as Fajardo did all he could to will the Grasshoppers to victory.
Bubba Chandler does a bunch of things for Low-A Bradenton before their game gets suspended wit the Marauders leading 3-0
Making his 6th pitching appeared for the Low-A Bradenton Marauders, highly touted Pittsburgh Pirates two-way prospect Bubba Chandler turned in his best pitching performance yet. Facing a college hitter heavy Dunedin lineup, the 19-year-old Chandler pitched 5 no-hit innings.
In his 5 no-hit innings Chandler walked a pair and struck out five. He also made this incredible defensive play.
Johan Montero followed Chandler and pitched a scoreless 6th inning. This was it for Bradenton pitchers before power led to the game being suspended, it will be resumed at noon on Wednesday afternoon.
Henry Davis returned to action as he began a rehab assignment with the Marauders on Monday night. Serving as the team’s designated hitter, going 1-for-2 with a double and a run scored. Hopefully, Davis will be able to re-join Double-A Altoona sooner rather than later.
Third baseman Jack Brannigan and catcher Wyatt Hendrie each had a hit for the Marauders before the game was suspended. Brenden Dixon was 1-for-2 with a walk, outfielder Tres Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with a run scored and fellow outfielder Sergio Campana drove in a pair of runs.