Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Miguel Andújar HR, Multi-Hit Night for Tsung-Che Cheng, More

Oct 5, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA;  Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Miguel Andujar (26)
Oct 5, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Miguel Andujar (26) / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
3 of 3
Next

tMiguel Andújar hit a home run, Tsung-Che Cheng continues to do nothing but hit, and more in Saturday's Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup

Saturday's Pittsburgh Pirates minor league action saw the Double-A Altoona Curve get rained out. In Memphis, the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians fell to the Memphis Red Birds 7-2. With the loss, Indy is now 7-13 on the season.

Osvaldo Bido started for Indy. Early on this season Bido has pitched extremely well for the Indians and that was the case early in the game. Bido started with 3 scoreless inning, but ran into trouble in the 4th inning.

With Indy leading 2-, Bido got the first two outs of the 4th inning and appeared to still be rolling. Then with two outs, the Red Birds drew a walk, singled, hit a home run, singled again, and doubled before making the final out of the inning. This led to Bido allowing 4 runs on four hits, two walks, a home run, and three strikeouts in 4 innings pitched.

John O'Reilly followed Bido and struggled as well. In 1.2 innings pitched, O'Reilly allowed 3 runs on three hits, a home run, no walks, and two strikeouts. Lefty Daniel Zamora recorded a strikeout to get the final out of the 6th inning. Hunter Stratton finished things off by allowing a hit and striking out 3 in 2 scoreless innings pitched.

Outside of Miguel Andújar, there was not much offense for the Indians on Saturday. Andújar started in right field and went 2-for-3 with a walk and a 2-run home run, his 2nd of the season. Andújar is currently swinging a hot bat at Triple-A, with his OPS on the season now up to .817.

Outside of Andújar, the Indians had just four hits. Ryan Vialde was 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Tyler Heineman and Josh Bissonette each went 1-for-3. Nick Gonzales continues to strikeout far too much, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Cal Mitchell, Aaron Shackelford, and Josh Palacios were all 0-for-4 as well.

Poor 2nd inning puts Greensboro in a hole they never recover from

To start the season the best team in the Pirate farm system has been the High-A Greensboro Grasshoppers. Well, Saturday night saw the Grasshoppers play one of their worst games of the season. After falling in a 5-0 hole in the 2nd inning, Greensboro never recovered in a loss agaisnt the Greenville Drive to fall to 10-4 on the season.

Valentin Linarez started for the Grasshoppers and took his lumps. Linarez owned a 2.35 ERA on the seasong entering the start, but after allowing 5 runs on five hits, a home run, and four strikeouts in 1.2 innings pitched, his ERA has ballooned to 6.75.

Jaycob Deese replaces Linarez and got the final out of the 2nd inning. Deese pitched a scorelesss 3rd and 4th inning, before running into trouble in the 5th inning. Deese's struggles in the 5th inning was the start of Greensboro allowing 4 runs in the inning.

Deese and Dante Mendoza combined to allow the 4 runs in the 5th inning. Deese finished the night with 3 runs allowed on two hits, a walk, and a strikeout. Mendoza's struggles continued into the 6th inning, leading to him allowing 3 runs on five hits and a walk in 2 innings pitched.

Drew Irvine allowed 2 runs on two hits, two walks, and two strikeouts in 2 innings pitched. Oliver Mateo finished things off by allowing a hit, issuing a walk, and striking out a pair in his lone inning pitched.

Shortstop Tsung-Che Cheng once again led the way for the Grasshopper offense. Cheng went 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored. Ernny Ordonez was 1-for-5 with a solo home run, Hudson Head went 1-for-3 with two walks, and Sammy Siani was 1-for-4.

Late inning woes sink Low-A Bradenton

Other than High-A Greensboro, the Pirate farm club off to the best start this season is the Low-A Bradenton Marauders. Like Greensboro, however, things did not go well for Bradenton on Saturday in a 6-4 loss against the Daytona Tortugas to fall to 9-5 on the season.

Luis Peralta went first for the Marauders on the mound on Saturday, walking a batter and striking out five in 2 hitless, scoreless innings pitched. Derek Diamond, who was off to a strong start this season, followed Peralta. Diamond pitched a scoreless 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th inning, then ran into trouble in the 7th.

To start the 7th inning Diamond allowed a double and a home run. Diamond then recorded a strikeout, but it was one that saw the batter reach first base on a wild pitch. Diamond then allowed back-to-back singles before being lifted. Ryan Harbin relieved Diamond and recorded a pair of strikeouts before allowing a run-scoring single that included an error. Harbin then got the final out of the inning.

Diamond allowed 5 runs, 4 earned, on eight hits, no walks, a home run, and six strikeouts in 4 innings pitched. Harbin pitched 2 innings allowing a hit, issuing a walk, and striking out three. Yoldin De La Paz allowed a run on two hits, a walk, and a strikeout in the 9th inning.

Right fielder Tres Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with two walks and a run scored. Shortstop Javier Rivas was 2-for-5 with his 1st home run of the season and 4 RBI. Jesus Castillo was 1-for-3 with two walks, and Alexander Mojica was 1-for-3 with two walks.

Next. Jack Suwinski's Early Season Strides. dark

Next