Anthony Solometo throws another five effective innings for Altoona

Two starts in, Solometo showing signs of life

Apr 13, 2025

There may not be a player in the Pirates’ system in more need of a successful 2025 season than left-handed pitcher Anthony Solometo.

Drafted in the second round of the 2021 draft, Solometo had plenty of success in 2022 with Bradenton and then in the first part of 2023 while pitching in the hitter-friendly First National Bank Field at Greensboro.

He was eventually promoted to Altoona, becoming one of the youngest players in the entire league.

Solometo has hit a bit of a wall since then with Altoona, with 2024 being basically a disaster. In 23 games, he posted a 5.37 ERA with 39 walks and 53 strikeouts over the 70.1 innings pitched.

It’s only two games, but after the 2024 that he had, you probably couldn’t have asked for a better start to the season.

Pitching against an Akron lineup that featured the reigning first overall pick, Travis Bazzana, Solometo pitched five innings, allowing just one run on one hit and one walk while striking out five.

He also went after Bazzana, striking him out in the first, and then getting him to popout later on.

Solometo looked confident, and attacked hitter—even the right-handed hitters. He’s been efficient, needing under 70 pitches to get through each of his starts. Saturday 65% of his pitches went for strikes, an improvement from even his first start the previous week.

In two starts this season, Solometo has allowed just the one run on two hits and four walks, while striking out seven across 10 innings pitched.

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It’s still early, but this version of Solometo much more represents the one we saw earlier in his career.

If there is a player that could force his way into an early season promotion, it’s Garrett McMillan on the Greensboro Grasshoppers. As a college draft pick, he’s shown that he may be ready for the challenge of Double-A, even when you go back to last year.

Since making the jump to High-A, McMillan has pitched in one games for the Grasshoppers—five of them being starts.

In those nine games, McMillan has allowed just two earned runs in 32 innings pitched (0.28 ERA) with 39 strikeouts to five walks (28.8% K-BB%).

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