Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Endy Rodriguez Homers in Indy’s Season Finale

Endy Rodriguez hit his first home run at the Triple-A level and Mike Burrows struggled in his return from the IL as the Indianapolis Indians lost in the final game of the minor league season for the Pittsburgh Pirates

The 2022 minor league season has officially come to an end for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wednesday night the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians were defeated by the Columbus Clipper 11-3. With the loss, the Indians finish the season on a five game losing streak and a final record of 74-75.

Mike Burrows came off the injured list prior to the start of the game to make one final appearance on the season. Burrows allowed 6 runs on five hits, a walk, no strikeouts and a home run while recording just two outs in the 1st inning.

With the outing, Burrows finishes with 5.31 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 42.1 innings pitched at the Triple-A level this season. Between Triple-A and Double-A, Burrows finishes the season with a 4.01 ERA and 111 strikeouts in 94.1 innings pitched.

The most important thing for Burrows this season was to develop a third pitch and he did just that by developing a strong changeup. This alone made the 2022 season a successful one for the 22-year-old. Burrows will start the 2023 season back at Indianapolis and should be entrenched in the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation at some point next summer.

Peter Solomon followed Burrows, allowing 2 runs on three hits, a walk, a home run, and three strikeouts in 2.1 innings pitched. Cody Bolton pitched the 4th inning allowing a run and Hunter Stratton allowed 2 runs in the 5th inning. Joe Jaques pitched 2 scoreless innings before Noe Toribio pitched a scoreless 9th inning.

Catcher Endy Rodriguez saved his best for last after his promotion to Triple-A. This was part of a 2-for-4 performance for Rodriguez, who finishes with a 1.208 OPS in 22 at-bats with Indianapolis. Across High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, Rodriguez finishes the minor league season with a .323/.407/.590 slash line and 25 home runs. It would not be a surprise to see Rodriguez make his MLB debut early in the 2023 season.

As for the rest of the Indian lineup, it was another tough night. Travis Swaggerty was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. Blake Sabol was 1-for-3 with a walk, Jared Oliva was 1-for-3, and Hunter Owen was 1-for-3 with a solo home run.