Morning Rundown: Bullpen blows another lead as Pirates lose to Giants, Jack Suwinski optioned to Triple-A
Morning Rundown: Bullpen blows another lead as Pirates lose to Giants, Jack Suwinski optioned to Triple-A
The Pirates bullpen blow another lead, Jack Suwinski heads to Triple-A
The Pirates’ bullpen failed to protect another lead, and they lost their second straight game to the San Francisco Giants and dropped the series.
Paul Skenes pitched six innings, allowing just one run on six hits and one walk while striking out three.
With the Pirates up 5-1, he was in a good position to walk away with his second win in the majors. Jose Hernandez entered the game, allowing a home run to Heliot Ramos and then walking Curt Casali. After getting Brett Wisely to fly out, he was replaced by Hunter Stratton, who got out of the inning.
Going back in for the eighth inning, Stratton allowed five straight hits, the final of which tied the game at six.
Aroldis Chapman came in, and after getting Patrick Bailey to strike out, Wisley singled to score Marco Luciano to give the Giants the 7-6 lead.
For the second straight day, the Pirates hit a grand slam, with Bryan Reynolds going deep on Wednesday and Joey Bart doing it against his former team yesterday.
The Atlanta Braves will now come to town, with Bailey Falter, Mitch Keller, and Martin Perez the expected starters for the Pirates.
Reynaldo Lopez and Chris Sale are expected to pitch this weekend for the Braves, with no current probable for Friday.
After leading the Pirates in home runs during the 2023 season, Jack Suwinski was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday.
Initially acquired in the Adam Frazier trade, Suwinski hit 46 home runs in his first two years in the majors.
While he’s always had some swing-and-miss and strikeout issues, Suwinski has always made solid impact when he did make contact, helping him overcome those issues. This year, he has had less solid contact, which has led to his problems.
Suwinski has a .565 OPS with just four home runs in 157 plate appearances.
Pitching for the first time in nearly two years, Brennan Malone worked an inning in the FCL on Thursday.
He was thrown right into the mix, as the first two hitters he faced were top-100 prospects who were also rehabbing—Brooks Lee and Walker Jenkins.
Both hitters hit doubles to lead off the game, but Malone's start to the inning was rough.
The double by Lee was followed by a wild pitch, then another double (by Jenkins), then a throwing error on a pick-off attempt, and then a walk.
Malone finished strong, ending the inning on a strikeout/pick-off to first by Richard Ramirez double play to finish off the first.
He mixed in a couple of pitches, with the fastball sitting 89-91, but showed some good induced vertical break (pushing 20” with multiple).
Indianapolis Indians sent RHP Brennan Malone on a rehab assignment to FCL Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates optioned CF Jack Suwinski to Indianapolis Indians
Pittsburgh Pirates recalled LHP Jose Hernandez from Indianapolis Indians
FCL Pirates placed RHP Gilberto Alcala on the full-season injured list
Greensboro Grasshoppers placed RHP Joshua Loeschorn on the full-season injured list
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Top Exit Velocity
Canaan Smith-Njigba - IND - 110.7 mph - Lineout
Joey Bart - PIT - 109.7 mph - Home Run
Keiner Delgado - 108 mph - Single
Javier Rivas - 107.3 mph - Single
Malcom Nunez - 107 mph - Home Run
Top Pitch Velocity
Paul Skenes - PIT - 100.3 mph
Paul Skenes - PIT - 100.1 mph
Paul Skenes - PIT - 100.1 mph
Paul Skenes - PIT - 100 mph
Paul Skenes - PIT - 99.8 mph
Most Whiffs
Isaac Mattson - IND - 14
Paul Skenes - PIT - 13
Hunter Barco - GBO - 12
Jaden Woods - GBO - 9
Drake Fellows - ALT - 8
Indianapolis Indians - vs
Top Hitter - Henry Davis: 3-6, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 HR
Top Pitcher - Isaac Mattson: 2.2 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K
Altoona Curve - 11 vs Erie SeaWolves - 5
Top Hitter - Dustin Peterson: 3-5, R, 4 RBI, 2B, HR
Top Pitcher - Drake Fellows: 5 IP, 2 H, ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 5 vs Greensville Drive - 3
Top Hitter - Hudson Head: 1-3, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, HR
Top Pitcher - Jaden Woods: 2 IP, H, BB, 4 K
Bradenton Marauders - 6 vs Dunedin Blue Jays - 3
Top Hitter - Shalin Polanco: 1-3, 2B, R, RBI, BB
Top Pitcher - Yoldin De La Paz: 2.1 IP, H, BB, 3 K
FCL Pirates - 2 vs FCL Twins
Top Hitter - Carlos Tirado: 2-3, 2B, RBI
Top Pitcher - Jose Regalado: 2 IP, H, 2 BB, 3 K
How could Shelton allow A pitcher to give up five hard hit balls (all hits) with the game on the line and not make A pitching change before giving up the lead. He should he terminated.
After a commenter mentioned that Shelton/Pirates was taking credit for the drafting and developing Skenes (and if they are that desperate to control the narrative they could claim the same with Jones…), and WTM saying it won’t stick and instead, the focus will turn to the deficiencies with the rest of the club after 5 years of rebuilding, I am starting to see evidence of this.
The NS9 guys are even more frustrated with the direction of the team and today, Ben Clemens at FG includes a section in his weekly column about the Pirates. I don’t know how to link, but the gist is that the Pirates are one of the most exciting teams to watch with Jones, Skenes and Cruz. He writes that they are also exciting because their bullpen implodes, further noting that their young hitters have not produced as expected.
Skenes was the right pick. You can luck into another pitcher developing into his 90 percentile projection (maybe Jones!), but unless you are the Guardians or M’s I’m not that confident it’ll happen often enough to have a playoff caliber rotation. It’s just funny to me that if this team does not improve and Wilbur’s prediction holds up, Shelton and Cherrington could expedite their end with the club by picking the right guy 1-1.