Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Strong Starting Pitching at Each Level & More

Strong starting pitching performances, home runs by Bubba Chandler and Jack Brannigan, and more in Sunday’s Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup

Entering the 9th inning on Sunday it appeared the Indianapolis Indians would be on their way to a victory. However, the wheels completely came off the cart in the top of the 9th inning leading to the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates suffering a 5-2 loss to fall to 62-59 on the season.

Mike Burrows only pitched 2 innings for the Indians as the Pittsburgh Pirates brass continues to be careful with his work load, but he was impressive. In 2 scoreless innings pitched, Burrows did not allow a hit, walked a batter and struck out a pair.

Osvaldo Bido followed Burrows, striking out a pair while also walking a pair in 4 scoreless innings pitched. After Nick Mears pitched a scoreless 7th inning and Travis MacGregor struck a batter out in a 1-2-3 8th inning, Indianapolis took a 2-0 lead into the 9th inning.

Noe Toribio was given the ball in the 9th inning and things quickly went south. Toribio allowed 5 runs on a walk, five hits, he hit batter, and recorded just one out. This outing led to Toribio’s ERA at the Triple-A level rising to 6.00. Cam Alldred would come in to get the final two outs of the 9th inning.

Hoy Park bat leadoff for the Indians, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Ji-Hwan Bae, who should be in the majors, was 2-for-4 with a RBI. Diego Castillo went 1-for-4 with a double and a RBI, and third baseman Josh Bissonette also hit a double.

Double-A Altoona failed to hold onto a 9th inning lead as they were walked off by the Bowie Baysox

Entering the 9th inning on Sunday afternoon the Double-A Altoona Curve held a 4-3 lead over the Bowie Baysox. Unfortunately, when the 9th inning was over the Baysox were walking off with a 5-4 victory, dropping the Curve to 59-60 on the season.

Quinn Priester started for Altoona and lasted just 3 innings. Priester allowed 2 runs, only 1 of which was earned due to a Jared Triolo error, on five hits, a walk, a wild pitch, and six strikeouts in his 3 innings on the mound.

Even though Priester only lasted 3 innings he was still impressive. His curveball looked as good as it has all season, contributing to him racing up 11 swings-and-misses in his 3 innings of work. Also, all six of his strikeouts were swinging strikes. Not to keep beating the dead horse, but the Pittsburgh Pirates really should look to get Priester a MLB start or two in September.

Making his first appearance since June 28th, Omar Cruz followed Priester. Cruz allowed a run on two hits and two strikeouts in 2 innings pitched. Jeffrey Passantino allowed a hit, a walk and struck a batter out in 2 scoreless innings pitched. Tahnaj Thomas continued his dominance with a strikeout in a 1-2-3 8th inning, J.C. Flowers then had a rare poor outing allowing a walk-off two-run home run in the 9th inning.

Even though Triolo made a costly error, the third baseman was 1-for-2 at the plate with a walk, a double, and a run scored. Nick Gonzales was 1-for-3 with a walk and a double, Blake Sabol was 1-for-4 and Malcolm Nunez was 1-for-4 with a RBI.

As has often been the case since he was promoted to Double-A, catcher Endy Rodriguez had a huge day at the plate. Rodriguez was 3-for-4 with his 7th double as a member of the Curve, a run scored and three RBI. He also threw out a runner attempting to steal second base, already giving him five runners thrown out in just 11 games behind the dish at Double-A.

Strong Jared Jones starts sets the tone in Greensboro victory

Sunday afternoon saw High-A Greensboro pick up a 5-3 victory over the Greenville Drive. With the win, the Grasshoppers are now 53-64 on the season.

Greensboro had to thwart a 9th inning rally attempt by Greenville to secure the victory. With Domingo Gonzalez on the mound for the Grasshoppers, the Drive got a single and a two-run home run to start the bottom of the 9th inning. Following a one-out throwing error by Claudio Finol that brought the tying run to the plate, Gonzalez got the final two outs of the game to end the Drive’s rally attempt. Gonzalez allowed those 2 runs, while striking out a pair and allowing three hits in 4.1 innings pitched.

Gonzalez’s work came after Jared Jones pitched the first 4.2 innings of the game. Jones allowed three hits, walked a pair and struck out five. The only run he allowed in his 4.2 innings pitched was unearned.

Jones has made 24 starts this season, pitching 114.2 innings. Jones owns a 4.63 ERA in these 24 starts, but he has racked up 132 strikeouts. The biggest thing that Jones needs to work on moving forward is his control. Jones has the pure stuff to be a very good major league starting pitcher one day, but he needs to harness it better. Even with some struggles this season, Jones has flashed his potential at times and should still be viewed as a top 10 organizational prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Left fielder Ernny Ordonez led the way for the Grasshopper offense. Ordonez was 2-for-4 with two home runs, giving him 14 on the season. Third baseman Mike Jarvis was 1-for-3 with a two-run home run, and catcher Abrahan Gutierrez was 1-for-4 with his 19th double of the season.