Anthony Solometo treading in right direction as season winds down
Lefty starter puts together best start of the season on last day of August
You would be hard-pressed to find someone in more need of the outing that Anthony Solometo had on Saturday.
There’s no other way to put it: 2024 has been a very rough year for the former second-round pick.
He was bounced out of the rotation in Altoona before being sent back to the complex, and eventually Bradenton, for a few starts, finding his way back to Double-A.
It’s still been a work in process, but he’s certainly shown signs of life lately and finally broke through with a big start on Saturday.
Solometo only needed 79 pitches to make it through six shutout innings, but most importantly, walked just one batter in the process.
He allowed three hits while striking out six to round out the box score stat line.
August was easily the best month of the season for Solometo, as adding in the start he made in Bradenton, he has a 3.28 ERA in 24.2 innings pitched, allowing 16 hits and 13 walks while striking out 19.
Not the best overall numbers, but the one that counts the most—earned runs—has come down.
You can see the progress as well. In his last two starts, he’s struck out eight while walking just two in 10 innings pitched.
Solometo entered the season as a top-100 prospect and was a former second-round pick for the Pirates, so the pedigree is there.
His 2024 season reminds us that development isn’t linear and that he was still young for the Double-A level.
He’s an obvious bounce-back candidate, especially if he can close the season strongly.
One good start doesn’t necessarily make up for an entire rough season, but it’s a step in the right direction, and that’s all you can ask for.
If there is a hitting version of Solometo that could use a strong finish to the season, it’s his teammate, Tsung-Che Cheng.
There’s suddenly an opening long-term at the shortstop position, but he will have to start hitting more to get the opportunity.
He got off to a rough start this year (.609 OPS, 90 wRC+ in April) but improved the following two months but headed in the wrong direction in July and August (.568 OPS, 66 wRC+).
Cheng can play a solid enough shortstop but may repeat Double-A, depending on how he closes things out. He’s reached double-digits in both home runs and stolen bases, which is a plus, but he’s over 700 plate appearances deep into his Double-A career and hasn’t shown signs of fully figuring things out.
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Apparently Folderman and Borucki are the two call ups. I never did think they’d call up Yorke or Cook.
best thing we could do with this guy is turn him into Tekulve and make him a closer