Morning Rundown: Bubba Chandler pitches five shutout innings, Konnor Griffin and Termarr Johnson homer
Top prospects shine in system for Pirates
Bubba Chandler put together another fantastic outing for the Indianapolis Indians on Friday. The Pirates’ top prospect struck out four batters while allowing just a hit over five shutout innings.
He now has an ERA of 1.33 this season across 20.1 innings pitched.
It wasn’t his usual dominant swing and miss day, but the stuff was fantastic nonetheless. He averaged 98.4 mph with his fastball, topping 100 mph five times.
Chandler threw each of his four pitches at least six times, including the curveball.
He has allowed just three earned runs and has struck out 27 batters, compared to six walks, five coming in his first two starts.
The team’s top two hitting prospects—Termarr Johnson and Konnor Griffin—hit their third home runs on Friday.
Johnson has 13 hits in 16 games played this year and is hitting .262/.360/.431 in 75 plate appearances. Griffin has struggled more this year, striking out at a 30% rate across 76 plate appearances and has hit .215/.307/.400. His home run was the first extra-base hit he has registered since April 15.
Paul Skenes pitched a fantastic game against the defending World Series champions, striking out nine batters in 6.1 innings, allowing five hits and no walks.
He generated 18 whiffs on the night, nine with the fastball and another five with the splinker.
The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-0 in the first of three this weekend.
Top Exit Velocity
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 117.6 mph - Single
Jack Suwinski - IND - 110.3 mph - Home Run
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 109.8 mph - Lineout
Enmanuel Valdez - PIT - 108.5 mph - Single
Konnor Griffin - BRD - 108.1 mph - Home RUn
Top Pitch Velocity
Bubba Chandler - IND - 100.5 mph
Bubba Chandler - IND - 100.5 mph
Bubba Chandler - IND - 100.4 mph
Bubba Chandler - IND - 100.3 mph
Bubba Chandler - IND - 100 mph
Most Whiffs
Paul Skenes - PIT - 18
Po-Yu Chen - ALT - 12
Nick Dombkowski - IND - 10
Cy Nielson - ALT - 9
Valentin Linarez - ALT - 9
Connor Wietgrefe - GBO - 9
JP Massey - GBO - 9
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Indianapolis Indians - 10 vs St. Paul Saints - 0
Top Hitter - Nick Solak: 3-4, 3 R, RBI, HR
Top Pitcher - Bubba Chandler: 5 IP, H, 4 K
Indianapolis Indians - 0 vs St. Paul Saints - 3
Top Hitter - Billy Cook: 1-3
Top Pitcher - Nick Dombkowski: 3.2 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 5 K
Altoona Curve - 2 vs Chesapeake 3
Top Hitter - Termarr Johnson: 1-4, HR, R, RBI
Top Pitcher - Po-Yu Chen: 5 IP, 4 H, ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 6 vs Bowling Green Hot Rods - 8
Top Hitter - Javier Rivas: 2-3, 2 R, BB
Top Pitcher - Connor Wietgrefe: 3.1 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K
Bradenton Marauders - 6 vs Lakeland Flying Tigers - 9
Top Hitter - Konnor Griffin: 1-5, R, 3 RBI, HR
Top Pitcher - Peyton Stumbo: 4 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, BB, 2 K
Matoma to Bradenton.
Cruz is on such a tear, ripping multiple ~110+ liners per game. I'm excited to see how this plays out over the rest of the season.