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Pittsburgh Pirates: Luis Ortiz, Henry Davis Lead April Prospect Performance
This will be a somewhat new type of article to the site as we take a look at each level of the Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League system and who performed best in that month. Of course, this group will be representing the month of April. One other note that will be included is the games that the prospects really broke out in.
The first is of course right-handed pitcher Luis Ortiz. I wrote about Ortiz the other day so I will keep this brief. Ortiz had an impressive cap-of-coffee at the Big League level in 2022. So far he has answered all the questions that remained after his 2022 Major League breakout. He also has answered any questions about how he would perform after being demoted to Triple-A.
Well, Ortiz has been flat-dominant this season for the Indianapolis Indians. On the year he has made 6 starts and owns a 2.45 earned run average. One different detail that stood out to me when looking at the numbers for Ortiz was his ground ball rate. In his Minor League career, his ground ball rates were in the 40s. This year it is at about 55%. This suggests that Ortiz is working on inducing more weak contact as we have seen from the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff.
The second player to check in on is former first-round pick, Henry Davis. Davis had a tough 2022 season, missing a lot of time due to injuries including trying to play with a broken wrist. He also was hit by a pitch an obscene amount of times, taking free passes 20 times in just 59 games.
This year has been much better for Davis. He has played in 16 total games already this season, practically a fourth of the games he played last season. He is off to a fantastic start hitting .273 with 6 home runs and an OPS north of 1.100. For the record, he has been hit by pitch 3 times this season already. His discipline has been excellent as well walking 15 times and only punching out 15 times as well.
Now for the April prospect performer for the Greensboro Grasshoppers. This has to be outfielder Jase Bowen. Bowen, a former Michigan State football recruit, looks like he is starting to put his tools together. He is 22 years old which puts him at about the expected age for High-A.
The former 11th-round pick is having as good of a start as one could probably hope. On the year, Bowen has 70 plate appearances and has appeared in four different positions defensively. In his 70 plate appearances, he is batting .200 with an OPS just above 1.000. He has shown off his defensive versatility but has also shown his power and speed combination. On the year he already has 5 home runs and 5 stolen bases.
The Pittsburgh Pirates saw some of their best prospects step up in April.
The prospect of note for Low-A is right-handed pitcher Owen Kellington. Looking into the Bradenton Marauders it was tough to decide on their Prospect Performer. The team has seen solid contributions from Thomas Harrington and outfielder Emmanuel Terrero.
Kellington has a higher ERA than Harrington with them respectively posting ERAs of 3. 55 and 2.89. Kellington also has the same number of walks, 6, as Harrington does. Harrington has thrown 6 more innings than Kellington as well. So what makes Kellington the Prospect Performer?
The 2021 draft pick had a tough 2022 season, posting an ERA over 10. So to see him come out pitching much more effectively is a great sign for his development. Also, some of his other numbers are interesting to look at. First off he has 18 strikeouts in 12.2 innings of work. He also is doing a great job of limiting base runners with a 1.08 WHIP.
Furthermore, his xFIP is actually 3.43 compared to his ERA of 3.55. This suggests that he has had some luck working against him and has pitched better than his results suggest. All signs are pointing in the right direction for Owen Kellington so far for the 2023 season.
Now for the games that stood out for each of these prospects. Going back to the start made by Luis Ortiz on April 16th. Ortiz did not have his best swing-and-miss stuff, which was evident from him only striking out 1 across 5 innings of work. However, the work was scoreless and he proved he can get outs without his best stuff. Kellington's best start came on April 12th when he threw 3 innings, only allowing 1 run, and striking out 6 total.
On April 23rd Henry Davis possibly had the best game of his career. He went 3-3 with a walk which obviously is a great game. But, 2 of his hits he collected were home runs. Bowen actually had a big game that same day. He also would hit two home runs plus a double, going 3 for 4 on the day.