Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Jared Jones, Thomas Harrington Turn in Dominant Starts & More

Altoona offense wastes great pitching performance

Doing their best impression of the Pirate offense, Double-A Altoona was shutout on Thursday night. The Curve went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position while collecting just two hits in a 2-0 loss agaisnt the Richmond Flying Squirrels. With the loss, the Curve are now 28-24 on the season.

Catcher Abrahan Gutierrez was 1-for-3 with already his 2nd double since joining the Curve earlier this week. Liover Peguero bat lead off and went 1-for-4. The rest of the Curve lineup went 0-for-23 and Altoona did not draw a walk.

The story of the night for Altoona was toung righty Jared Jones. Jones no hit the Flying Squirrels through 5 innings, and allowed just one hit in 6.1 innings pitched. The only hit he allowed was a solo home run, he walked one and struck out five. He also filled the strike zone throwing 64 of 89 pitches for strikes.

At just 21-years-old, Jones now owns a 2.21 ERA in 40.2 innings pitched in his first season at the Double-A level. He owns a 13:41 BB:K ratio and has allowed just 3 home runs. This success has come despite spending time on the injured list.

Jones throws a power fastball that has a lot of movement. He also has a plus slider and a quickly developing changeup. There is a strong argument to be made that Jones, who recently joined Baseball America's top 100 prospects, is the best pitching prospect in the Pirate farm system.

Noe Toribio pitched the final 1.2 innings of the night for Altoona after Jones was lifted. Toribio allowed a run on two hits, no walks, and a strikeout. Control is always the big concern with Toribio, so no walks and throwing 17 of 30 pitches for strikes were both encouraging to see.

Walk off home run provides lone runs of the night for Greensboro

While there was not much offense in the Double-A Altoona game, there was even less in High-A Greensboro's game. However, unlike the Curve, the Grasshoppers were the team able to pitch a shutout while eeking out a run. Following a 1-0 walk off victory over the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the Grasshoppers are now 29-23 on the season

Thomas Harrington started for Greensboro and continues to pitch extremely well. Harrington fired 7 scoreless inning, allowing two hits and striking out eight without issuing a walk. This was a big bounce back outing for Harrington after he struggled in his first High-A start. Between High-A and Low-A, he know owns a 2.89 ERA and a 12:52 BB:K rate in 48.1 innings pitched.

Grant Ford followed Harrington. He pitched 2 hitless, scoreless innings. Ford walked two batter and struck out three.

Entering the 9th inning an Eli Wilson double and Tres Gonzalez single were the lone hits of the night for Greensboro. Will Matthiessen then stepped to the plate ending the game with a wlak off solo home run, his 4th of the season.

Low-A Bradenton gets blown out by Dunedin

Things went sideways in a hurry for the Low-A Bradenton Marauders on Thursday. After the top of the 3rd inning they were already in a 6-0 hole against the Dunedin Blue Jays. Things snowballed into a 14-3 loss, dropping the Marauders to 28-26 on the season.

Wilber Dotel started for the Marauders and took his lumps. Dotel allowed 7 runs on six hits and three walks in 2.2 innings pitched. He also committed a pair of errors. Luis Peralta also struggled, allowing 7 runs on three hits and four walks in 2 innings pitched. Peralta was also hurt by a Termarr Johnson error.

Darvin Garcia, Joshua Leoschorn, and Ryan Harbin combined to pitched 4 scoreless innings for the Marauders. None of the three allowed a hit, Harbin issued a pair of walks, and the trio combined to record seven strikeouts.

Jack Brannigan continued his recent power stroke for the Marauders, going 1-for-3 with his 4th home run of the season and a walk. Brannigan's home run was the lone hit of the night for Bradenton. Johnson was 0-for-3 with a walk and a RBI, while Shalin Polanco was also 0-for-3 with a RBI.