10 Observations: David Matoma in Bridge League, Anthony Solometo bounce back? Will Taylor struggling with ABS

Some looks around the Pirates' organization this past week

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Aug 26, 2024

Murphy 8/22—The Philadelphia Phillies have a stream down at their complex, so I got to catch up on a previous Bridge League game, which included David Matoma. The fastball was 95/96 but with a lot more consistent movement (15-18” of IVB).

He missed some time with an injury, so it’s good to see he’s making those innings back. The slider seemed more on the ‘gyro’ end, at least with the pitch shapes. It’s the pitch that got the only swing and miss across the 12 he threw.

Murphy 8/22—I talked about Jaden Woods a bit last week and how the results weren’t matching the stuff yet. He had a fairly better week against Richmond, allowing just an earned run on 3.1 innings with five strikeouts.

Throwing strikes has been an issue, and it’s worth noting he seemed to be throwing a lot more, especially at the bottom of the zone. The ump just seemed to be squeezing him when it came to calling those strikes.

Just one of those things you won’t see in the box score.

Murphy 8/22—Hitters finally got to Bubba Chandler in his last start, getting a three-run home run off him in the first inning.

How did he respond?

Four shutout innings to round out the start. The fastball wasn’t its usual dominant self, but he used his three other pitches and was able to throw a lot of strikes with them. His change-up got a disgusting swing-and-miss for a strikeout.

It’s good to see them dominate their competition, especially at his age compared to what he’s facing.

It’s almost better to see him operate like this when things aren’t clicking all the way, especially his best pitch that he relies on a lot.

NolaJeffy 8/23 — Thomas Harrington kicked off his Triple-A tenure, giving up five earned runs in 5.2 IP. Each start since then has been a small step towards meeting expectations of his talent. In his August 17th start, he threw seven scoreless innings while striking out only two. In his Friday start, he handled the International League's top offense to only one run in six innings while striking out six.

Most notably, his velocity began to flash more in the 94-95 range. It would slip as his start went on, but he finished with an average fastball velocity of 93 MPH. Initially, he wasn't showing the 94-95 he did in Altoona through his first few starts. On Friday, Harrington threw his fastball 93 mph or harder 22 times, topping out at 95.4 mph.

NolaJeffy 8/23 — Garrett McMillan and Carlson Reed were recently promoted from Bradenton to Greensboro and have taken it to another level. Both had sub-3.00 ERA's with Bradenton but have combined to give up only one ER in 28.2 IP since promotion.

Most notably, their stuff has seemed to take a step forward, with 41 strikeouts between the two in those 28.2 IP. It's a great boost to the playoff-bound club that has seen some recent arms promoted to Altoona (Hunter Barco, Dominic Perachi, Jaden Woods, and Luis Peralta).

Carlson Reed's Friday start included him striking out ten across six innings, while only allowing a walk and a hit. He generated 19 swings and misses.

NolaJeffy 8/24 — It has been a tough 2024 campaign for Jackson Glenn, but he's been hot in August. Through Saturday, he had a .742 OPS in the month with two home runs after not eclipsing .500 in OPS since April. His biggest contribution has been on the defensive side, committing only three errors all year, with two coming at the corner.

NolaJeffy 8/24 — For the BoD squad lifers, you know we love ourselves some Wilber Dotel and Alessandro Ercolani. Working off of the mention of Reed's 19 whiffs, in the same game, Ercolani struck out six in only three innings while getting 15 whiffs. The next night on Saturday, Wilber Dotel ramped his fastball up to 98 and was able to draw 21 whiffs across five innings. He struck out a season-high ten hitters. Unfortunately, it came with allowing five runs (four earned) in his five innings.

NolaJeffy 8/25 — It was a bit of a breakout week for 2024 draft pick Duce Gourson. Heading into the Lakeland series, he had only three hits in 26 at-bats. In his opening game of the week on Wednesday, he collected two hits and a RBI, including a double. On Saturday, he went 3-for-3 with two RBI and another double. His exit velocity numbers had been a little low to start, but he had a couple over 100 mph on Wednesday, topping out at 104.7 mph. He'd finish the week going 5-for-12.

NolaJeffy 8/25 — If you only look at box scores, you'd think Will Taylor was striking out more than one would like. There has been a little swing and miss, and maybe a too timid approach at times, but also, he has been getting absolutely hosed by the ABS system. The short version is that the ABS zone has been altered based on player feedback since its beginning. One of the alterations was extending the east and west portions of the zone.

You can even ask Anthony how many screenshots I've shared with him over the last week, but he has been showing a great eye at the plate, only to get called strikes or rung up on a pitch essentially over the chalk in the other batter's box, but just BARELY clips the zone. (Murphy edit: I can confirm there’s been a lot of screenshots)

It's happened so often in recent games that I began to wonder if such instances could potentially “harm” his eye at the plate. I imagine not so much, and coaches tell him to just shrug it off due to a faulty system. I wouldn't mind seeing a little more aggressiveness earlier in counts.

NolaJeffy 8/25 — It has been a difficult season for Anthony Solometo, but Sunday looked like maybe it could be a step in the right direction. He started with three fastballs, with the third one deposited over the fence. Three batters later, it was 2-0, but that'd be the end of the scoring against the young left-hander.

He was pounding the strike zone — 42 of 60 pitches for strikes — very often. He only generated four whiffs but was inducing a lot of weak contact. The mechanics looked much smoother than they had this year, and he was looking more like the Solo of old with his funky windup and hitters struggling to square up the ball. I was hoping for some more velocity — few noted velos by the broadcast were 90 mph — but it at least looked like the fastball with zip, given his approach angle and extension.

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