Pittsburgh Pirates: Vince Velasquez Close to Returning, Other Minor League Notes

Following a strong rehab outing on Saturday Vince Velasquez appears to be close to returning to the Pittsburgh Pirates, Henry Davis hits another home run, and other minor league notes

Falling to the Iowa Cubs 2-1 in game one of ther Saturday doubleheader, the Triple-A Indianapolis saw Vince Velasquez toe the rubber in a rehab outing. After a strong outing, it appears Velasquez is close to returning to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Velasquez allowed four hits, issued a walk, and struck out two in 4.2 scoreless innings pitched. He htrew 42 of 63 pitches for strikes and was able to work in all of his pitches. Assuming there are not setbacks, Velasquez should be in position to return to the Pirate starting rotation next weekend in Seattle.

Even though the Pirate starting rotation has the best ERA of any starting rotation in baseball since April11th with an ERA under 3.00. That said, getting Vleasquez back should still be a big boost for the Pirates. Prior to his injury, Velasquez was having a career year posting a 3.06 ERA, 4.04 FIP, 8.8% walk rate, and a 23.6% strikeout rate through his first seven starts of the season.

Game two of the doubleheader saw Indy fall to Iowa 1-0. After being swept, the Indians are now 20-23 on the season. Between the two games Canaan Smith-Njigba was 1-for-5 with a double and a walk. Endy Rodriguez and Nick Goznales were both 0-for-3, Cal Mitchell was 2-for-6 with a walk, and Jared Triolo was 1-for-2 with a walk and a double.

J.C. Flowers issued a walk and allowed a base hit in a scoreless 1st inning of game two while working as an opener. Fellow lefty Caleb Smith followed Flowers, allowing a run on six hits, no walks, and four strikeouts in 6 innings pitched.

Henry Davis does it again

In a game cut short due to rain, the Double-A Altoona Curve improved to 18-18 on the season with a 6-4 victory over the Bowie Baysox. Lefty Braeden Ogle pitched a scoreless 1st inning for Altoona, then righty Justin Meis allowed 4 runs on eight hits and three strikeouts in 4 innings pitched. That was it for Altoona pitchers on Saturday.

Henry Davis once again led the way for the Altoona offense. Playing in right field, Davis went 1-for-2 with a walk and a solo home run. The home run Davis hit was an absolute moonshot, giving him 10 home runs on the season.

At this point there is zero reason for Davis to remain in the minors. The no. 1 overall pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, Davis now owns a .311/.463/.660 slash line to go with a 201 wRC+, .349 isolated slugging (ISO), and both an 18.4% walk and strikeout rate. He's collected 16 extra base hits, which includes his 10 home runs. It's time for Davis to be promoted to the majors.

Shortstop Liover Peguero also remained hot for the Curve. Peguero was 3-for-3 with a pair of home runs, giving him 4 on the season, and three RBI. With his recent hot streak at the plate Peguero now has a .276/.353/.455 slash line, 10.7% walk rate, 18.0% strikeout rate, 123 wRC+ and 11 stolen bases in 150 plate appearances.