Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Termarr Johnson Goes 4-For-4 With a Home Run, More

Termarr Johnson had another huge game for Bradenton, Henry Davis continues to prove he belongs in the majors, and more in today's Pittsburgh Pirates minor league roundup

Even the Iowa Cubs are dumb and annoying. Wednesday afternoon, the Iowa Cubs took down the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians by a score of 8-1. With the loss, the top farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates is now 29-34 on the season.

Chase De Jong served as an opener for Indy, walking a batter and striking out a pair in 2 hitless, scoreless innings pitched. Lefty J.C. Flowers followed and struggled mightily, allowing 6 runs on five hits and two walks while recording just two outs in the 3rd inning.

John O'Reilly allowed a hit and walked a batter, but got the final out of the 3rd inning. Duane Underwood Jr. followed O'Reilly by striking out three in 2 scoreless innings pitched. Cody Bolton allowed 2 runs on five hits and a strikeout in 2 innings pitched. Eli Villalobos finsihed things off by walking a batter, allowing a hit, and striking out a pair in 1 inning pitched.

While there was not much offense for Indy, Henry Davis still managed to have another good game. The former no. 1 overall pick was 2-for-3 with a double, he was hit by a pitch, and scored a run. Davis now owns a .974 OPS in 219 minor league plate appearancs this season, it's time for him to join the MLB club.

As for the rest of the Indy lineup, Aaron Shackelford hit a double and Miguel Andújar was 3-for-3 with a double, a triple, and a RBI. Nick Gonzales, Endy Rodriguez, Cal Mitchell, and Jared Triolo, four key cogs in Indy's lineup, all went 0-for-4. As a team, the Indians were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

Altoona suffers 1 run loss

Double-A Altoona suffered a tough 5-4 loss against the Somerset Patriots. With the loss, the Curve are now 30-27 on the season. The loss came despite the Curve attempted to mount a rally in the late innings.

In the 7th inning, catcher Abrahan Guiterrez hit doubled with the bases loaded to cut Somerset's lead to 4-3. This was part of Guiterrez going 3-for-5 as he continues to rake since being promoted to Double-A.

In the 8th inning, Matt Gorski socred on an Andres Alvarez ground out to cut the Patriot lead to 5-4. While Drew Maggi reached on an error to start the 9th inning, the next three Curve batters were retired to end the game.

Jared Jones started for the Curve and did not always have his best stuff. Despite this, he limited Somerset to just 1 run. Jones pitched 3.2 innings, allowing a run on five hits, three walks, and six strikeouts. He threw 50 of 78 pitches for strikes, and the two outs he recorded that were not strikeouts were induced via ground ball.

Noe Toribio followed Jones allowing 2 runs on three hits a walk, a home run, and three strikeouts. Justin Meis also struggled, allowing 2 runs on three hits, a walk, two home runs, and three strikeouts. Righty Oliver Garcia pitched the 8th and final inning for the Curve, Garcia struck out a pair while retiring all three batters he faced.

Bradenton wins by a football score

Wednesday afternoon saw a wild offensive affair played LECOM Park. In a game that finished with the score of a football game, the Low-A Bradenton Marauders improved to 31-28 on the season with an 18-9 victory over the Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.

Righty J.P. Massey started for the Marauders. After rolling in recent weeks, Massey turned in his poorest start since late April. Massey pitched just 5 innings, allowing 4 runs on four hits, four walks, five strikeouts, and he hit two batters. His overall season stats remain strong with a 3.28 ERA in 49.1 innings pitched.

For the Bradenton offense, it was a team effort.

Enmanuel Terrero went 1-for-4 with two walks, two runs scored, and a RBI. Jack Brannigan was 1-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored, Tanner Tedaway went 0-for-2 with three walks, a RBI, and two runs scored.

The top offensive performers were the two highest ceiling prospects on Bradenton's roster - Termarr Johnson and Shalin Polanco.

Johnson was 4-for-4 with a walk, two doubles, and his 4th home run of the season. He drove in four runs, scored four times, and rose his OPS on the season to .824. Polanco was 3-for-6 with two doubles, giving him 10 on the season, three RBI and two runs scored.

The no. 4 overall pick in last year's draft, Johnson is arguably the top prospect in the Pirate farm system. After a slow start to the season he has been showing why by swinging a hot bat for the Marauders. Polanco may have the biggest power potential in the farm system. The two of them having the success they are at Low-A while both being just 19-years-old is a testament to their natural hitting ability.