10 observations: Jesus Castillo struggles, JP Massey's big start, Eddy Rodriguez debuts
10 observations: Jesus Castillo struggles, JP Massey's big start, Eddy Rodriguez debuts
A look back at the previous week in the minors.
Murphy (4/23)—It could have been the angle of where the camera was at in Clearwater, but Carlos Jimenez’s curveball and change-up had a slightly different look to them.
The curve was almost more 12-to-6, with less horizontal movement than before. The change-up had less of a sharp break back away from lefties and had a little more fade than it traditionally has.
He walked five and hit another, so IF there were adjustments, it didn’t help. It was interesting nonetheless. It is something that will be interesting to see next week against Fort Myers.
Murphy (4/23)—It’s going to get close to the time to wonder what exactly the Pirates’ plans are for Omar Alfonzo. He’s been perhaps the only bright spot in the Bradenton lineup so far and got off to another good start this week, walking twice and picking up another hit.
The approach has been great again (he is chasing/whiffing more against breaking pitches, but that could also be small sample-size stuff), so it will be interesting if this continues if/when they give him a bit more of a challenge in Greensboro.
Murphy (4/23)—Hunter Furtado really had his change-up working on Tuesday for the Marauders. Left-handed change-ups are a personal favorite of mine. It seems the Bradenton bullpen is really starting to click, and while most are comprised of former college draft picks, they are having their moments here and there.
The numbers aren’t pretty, but they’ve come through in some big spots over the past week.
With an even stricter limit on how many players you can have in the organization, it kind of feels that’s why the Pirates went so college heavy in the draft recently. It has helped buffer them with more multi-inning relievers to help eat innings to make sure they can get through the season.
That’ll include some of those ‘take one for the team’ type of games where they see the ERAs get blown up, but it is what’s necessary now.
Murphy 4/24—Eddy Rodriguez made his Bradenton debut on Wednesday after starting the year on the injured list. He was one of the FCL players I was interested in seeing this season, and it didn’t take long for him to get going.
In his first game, he picked up a walk and hit nearly two. He put a very solid charge into the one hit, maybe too much, as it took a very solid bounce off the wall straight to the defender—who also made a good throw-in—to limit it to just a single.
It will be interesting to see how much time he gets at first base compared to the outfield, especially with Esmerlyn Valdez and Omar Alfonzo splitting time.
Murphy 4/24—It will be something that we can say daily, but there was another excellent pitching performance in the system Wednesday night. This time, it was Bradenton righty Hung-Leng Chang who pitched five innings against Clearwater.
It’s been hard to get a feel for what kind of pitcher Chang can be. He doesn’t have an overpowering fastball and relies on multiple off-speed and breaking pitches to get hitters out.
The splitter has been really good, which can help the fastball, but it will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Murphy 4/24—Derek Diamond returned from the injured list on Wednesday and threw three innings out of the bullpen for the Grasshoppers.
He was one of the few pitchers to pitch more than 100 innings last year in the minors for the Pirates, and due to the crowded rotation in Altoona, it seemed likely he would end up back in Greensboro.
I always assumed he would be part of the rotation, but with how the starters have pitched in High-A (outside of Massey), there’s even more of a crowd in High-A than maybe we thought.
Murphy 4/25—One thing to monitor with Jack Brannigan going forward. He had really cut down the swing and miss to start the season, but it looked like it had come at the cost of some of the power he was hitting for last year.
Power is back against Greenville, but so is some of the swing-and-miss. Thursday night, he had a double and a home run in his first two at-bats, but he struck out three times as well.
I’d be willing to sacrifice the power with his speed and defensive ability.
Murphy 4/26—Friday was a big night for JP Massey. After not making it out of the first inning, Massey pitched five innings of two-run baseball, only walking one batter.
The walks had really gotten the best of him in his first few starts, with eight in his first nine innings. Derek Diamond was reactivated from the injured list earlier in the week and could be a candidate to take over a rotation spot, especially if Massey continues to struggle.
Murphy 4/27—Charles McAdoo picked up his second home run of the season on Saturday. It seemed like he was picking things up a bit so I checked, hits in eight of his last nine.
There are still some strikeouts in this streak, but he’s lifted his batting average by about 100 points in a little more than a week. He was a guy I thought would have a lot of success playing in Greensboro, and it seems like maybe things are clicking a bit for him.
Murphy 4/28—Jesus Castillo is a confusing player to follow. It’s almost as if he’s selling out for ‘more power,’ which has gotten him a single extra-base hit so far this season.
The exit velocity numbers are up from a year ago, but it’s translating to less success on the field (batting .119). The walks have still been great, but Castillo is one of the players who has seemingly taken a step back despite repeating the same level.
He didn’t pick up a single hit (0-22) in the series against Clearwater. There was some intrigue there after leading the system in steals last year, as well as drawing 100 walks.
The walks are still there, and he does have eight steals so far. There may not be a more versatile defender in the system either, but the success just isn’t quite coming.
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For me April has been a disaster for the Pirates in terms of hitting prospects. The guys I was planning to watch closely —- Polanco, Johnson, White, Nolasco —- havre either done nothing or gotten injured. I can’t believe White is injured again. Brannigan is regressing. Head and Siani are at the same level for the *third year in a row*.
Meanwhile the high ceiling Latin guys are all hanging out at Pirate City waiting for rookie ball to start, which is what no impact 19-year-old prospect has done ever.
One of the things I normally enjoy about the season is checking the minor league box scores each night. This has been so painful this year that I’ve stopped doing it.
I’m sure every organization has an organizational philosophy on hitting. My issue with the Pirates is they are trying to pound square pegs into round circles.
For example, they draft Termarr Johnson and Mitch Jebb early on, who scouts said had great contact ability, and then Pirates development team try to turn them into TTO hitters. Why?
If they want hitters to be super selective and swing out of their shoes on pitches in their red zone, then draft players who have that skill set. Don’t draft a guy who is mentioned as a Wade Boggs type hitter, and ask him to be Dave Kingman. It’s lunacy.