Early rotations for Pirates' full-season affiliates
How the rotations shaked out early in the regular season, already with some moving parts.
We are now a couple of weeks into the minor league season, and while we already have some changes due to injuries, we have a good idea what the rotations look like at each full-season affiliate.
Indianapolis Indians
Bubba Chandler
Braxton Ashcraft
Mike Burrows
Carson Fulmer
Thomas Harrington
This one is due to change, with Mike Burrows up in the majors. That does open the door for a couple of changes that could be coming up.
Even without Burrows, this rotation contains three top 100 prospects, depending on the outlet you check. Bubba Chandler is the unanimous one, and pitching like someone ready for the challenge of the majors.
Thomas Harrington is back in Triple-A to provide depth after making two appearances in the majors. His last start ballooned the ERA, but Carson Fulmer had been a strong presence early on.
Nick Dombkowski moved up from Double-A to start game two of the Friday doubleheader, so he’d be a candidate to take Burrows’ spot, as could someone else from Altoona.
Altoona Curve
Hunter Barco
Wilber Dotel
Anthony Solometo/Bullpen/Sean Sullivan
Po-Yu Chen
Alessandro Ercolani
This rotation took a hit when Anthony Solometo went down with an injury. He had put together two strong starts to the season. Hunter Barco has been fantastic early on, and if they are going to move someone up to take Burrows’ spot in the Indianapolis rotation, he’s the best candidate.
Po-Yu Chen also returns from last year, with Wilber Dotel and Alessandro Ercolani joining from Greensboro.
Greensboro Grasshoppers
Antwone Kelly
Garrett McMillan
Connor Wietgrefe
Khristian Curtis
Hung-Leng Chang
Only Garrett McMillan played at Greensboro at any point last year, and even he spent most of 2024 in Bradenton. Connor Wietgrefe was a 2024 draft pick who did well in Bradenton but got a late start due to an injury.
Antwone Kelly has gotten most of the headlines after hitting triple-digits with his fastball.
Bradenton Marauders
Clevari Tejada
Carlos Castillo
Zander Mueth/Jonawel Valdez
Peyton Stumbo
Matt Ager
This one is a little trickier, as injuries have kind of derailed any semblance of a traditional rotation.
This is what seems to be settling in as the rotation for now. Injuries and the team’s willingness to move a good portion of their recent pitching draft picks in trades have thinned things out quite a bit.
Even pitchers like Carlson Reed and Dominic Perachi being out has caused a trickle-down effect, causing a shortage of traditional starters.
Peyton Stumbo was a reliever last year, with Clevari Tejada primarily working out of the bullpen as well. They’ve been in the rotation from day one. The Marauders have already used eight different starters this year.
Like Wietgrefe, Matt Ager got a late start, which came at the perfect time with Zander Mueth's injury. While Bradenton generally worked with a six-man rotation, they were down to four starters.
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The best thing about the Bradenton rotation is that it isn’t the Bradenton bullpen.
All of the Affiliates have young pitching that evaluates from Good/VG to Excellent at the top two levels. This is going to be a positive influence on the Pirates future for several years. The Position Player situation is young and talented at A and A+, but AA and AAA are out of step with aging players. For instance, at AAA we have 13 position players in the ages of 26 to 30+. At AA we have 6 players who are 25+, and 6 players who are 24.