From the Backfields: Konnor Griffin and Tanner Rainey Appear in Minor League Exhibitions
And a mystery man appears
The Pirates took on the Rays’ minor leaguers again at Pirate City on Wednesday. The teams in the two games were designated A+ and A, although it’s hard to say how much that means at this stage.
I didn’t spend a lot of time watching the more-or-less higher-level game because the more interesting players were on the other field, which I’ll get to. Tanner Rainey pitched the first inning of the A+ game. He didn’t have a good inning, with sketchy control and some well-hit balls.
Garrett McMillan followed and went three. I’d guess that means he will be starting this year, probably at Greensboro initially. His first two innings were quick, and he got hit around a bit in his third.
Late in the A+ game, Joel Mendez and Cristian Jauregui went in to play left and center field, respectively. The Pirates picked Mendez up in the minor league Rule 5 draft from the Yankees. He has not played above rookie ball in four years, but he hit for a lot of power last season in the FCL. Jauregui is Cuban and signed for $260,000. The Pirates left him in the DSL for two years, although he did pretty well both years. He’s a speedy center fielder, and I expect he’ll be starting in the FCL outfield this year.
Dioris Martinez started the A game and threw two innings. The Pirates seem to be pushing him fairly quickly, probably because he throws 96-97 mph. I’m not sure he has much idea where the ball is going, though. He scuffled through the two innings, giving up I think three runs.
Martinez was followed by lefty Victor Cabreja, who looked the best of any pitchers I saw today. He only throws 91, but he changes speeds and moves the ball around constantly. He adds a slider, a change, and a s-l-o-o-o-w curve. He had two easy innings, giving up just a walk and fanning three.
Konnor Griffin served as DH in that game for two ABs. The first time, he popped up. The second, he hit a standup triple on a drive to deep right center. In case you’re new here, he can really, really run.
Kendrick Herrera, who was one of the team’s top prospects in the DSL last year, played third, with Yordany De Los Santos at short. Herrera is a defense-oriented player and looked very smooth on grounders. At the plate, he seemed a bit overmatched.
The mystery man in the A game was Carl Calixte, who played right. I’ve been wondering for a year who this guy is, although I expect nobody else has. He has a barebones page at MiLB.com that includes this blooper: “B/T: S/S.” (It’s actually R/R.) Calixte signed on January 15, 2024, but never appeared in a game last year, nor did he go on the injured list. I couldn’t find a thing on him, possibly because he hails from Haiti. Anyway, he looked fine at the plate, especially considering that he was facing full-season level competition having never played even in the DSL, and he’s still only 18. The first time up, he lined the first pitch straight up the middle, only to have the pitcher somehow catch the ball behind his own head. The second time, Calixte worked a walk in a long at-bat. The third time he lined an RBI single up the middle. He’s pretty skinny and needs to fill out some, but he seemed interesting at least.
One final note: Termarr Johnson wasn’t in evidence Tuesday or Wednesday. That may mean he’s still out.
Support the site by becoming a paid member, and get access to all of our premium content, including our Top 25 list with complete player write-ups and video breakdowns, which come out weekly.
It will also give access to my player feature articles from on-site trips.
We have monthly and yearly plans available, with the latter costing an average of $4.16/month
Mlod starting against O’s at PC. Curious how far he goes.
Bubba and Carlos Castillo starting an intrasquad game. Florentino lasered one out to RF off CC. First look at Jonathan Rivero catching.
Fun notes, WTM. Thank you so much!