With his rehab assignment over, the Pirates brought back Ji-Hwan Bae back, deciding to option Jared Triolo to Indianapolis, plus they get good news back on Termarr Johnson.
Luis Ortiz didn’t have the best of outings on Friday night. In 4.2 innings pitched, Ortiz allowed nine hits, five runs, three walks, and struck out six.
What’s your definition of “for real?” I don’t mean this to be snarky, but often the road for any prospect is bumpy. Jeez, we’re seeing that as they transition to the majors.
Harrington has been so difficult to get a reading on. He'll have nights like this and then struggle the next. Is it the league he's playing in? I'm not sure. I guess we will see once he hits Altoona. I feel like he's a lot like Priester, where he has a high floor but not sure on the upside. But the fastball appears to be better, so maybe the upside is higher than Priester?
I mean, in terms of velocity, yes. But as we are learning velocity doesn't equate success anymore. His fastball always kinda looked on the flatter side of things, and now the advanced numbers are showing it. We didn't have that kind of information when he was in Greensboro or Altoona, so we can't be for sure.
If only they’d drafted Dylan Crews or Wyatt Langford, oops, sorry, I can’t help myself.
Interesting article but as usual far too forgiving of Suwinski’s inadequacies. Any team relying on Jack Suwinski to produce runs is a team that’s not gonna score much. He hits some home runs (well occasionally) and walks a fair amount, but he does not drive in runs, which the last time I looked was the point of this game especially for a clean-up hitter. The Pirates have to find, develop, trade for or build better outfielders if they want to win. Holes in the lineup like they have now are just too big to prevent wins from falling through.
It’s frustrating to watch young players develop at the MLB level. So much inconsistency. We can only hope with more reps they will become better at pitch recognition.
As for Davis in RF, he needs to error on the side of aggression. He is too content to let IFers go back on bloopers. He needs to be coached up to go get everything in the air towards the 1B side of the diamond.
Just a community service announcement. A new podcast episode was dropped with Nola, Ethan, and Cody. They discussed a way to early look at the upcoming rule 5. The discussion paired well with my morning coffee here this morning.
Agree with you that Triolo should not have been the player to be sent back to AAA - would have thought Alika Williams would be sent down before Triolo. But, it is BC and the Pirates after all.
Excellent pitching performances by LHSP Jackson Wolf at AA, RHSP Thomas Harrington at A+ with 7 IP and only 90 pitches, and two kids in the FCL Antwone Kelly and Carlson Reed. Need to be slightly concerned that Harrington has already thrown 108 innings in just his first year in professional baseball. That's a really good first year for both he and the Pirates, especially that 70 of the innings have been at the A+ level. Sets him up to be at AA in 2024, possibly with Skenes?
Harrington should be good to finish out the season. He threw 92.2 innings last year, so he will be within the normal progression by the end of this year.
I am a Triolo fan and have NO issue with the demotion of JT. Alika provides really good defense at SS at least. Triolo, while a competent defender, is NOT a good SS. And we don’t need him at 2b because of Peguero. That is Liover’s best position.
Jared Triolo has averaged 3.1 WAR / 162 games per Baseball Reference
That’s already really good
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/triolja01.shtml
Is Harrington for real?
Luis Ortiz didn’t have the best of outings on Friday night. In 4.2 innings pitched, Ortiz allowed nine hits, five runs, three walks, and struck out six.
What’s your definition of “for real?” I don’t mean this to be snarky, but often the road for any prospect is bumpy. Jeez, we’re seeing that as they transition to the majors.
Harrington has been so difficult to get a reading on. He'll have nights like this and then struggle the next. Is it the league he's playing in? I'm not sure. I guess we will see once he hits Altoona. I feel like he's a lot like Priester, where he has a high floor but not sure on the upside. But the fastball appears to be better, so maybe the upside is higher than Priester?
Didn’t Priester use to have a good fastball? 😎😎
Agree that AA is always the true litmus test.
I mean, in terms of velocity, yes. But as we are learning velocity doesn't equate success anymore. His fastball always kinda looked on the flatter side of things, and now the advanced numbers are showing it. We didn't have that kind of information when he was in Greensboro or Altoona, so we can't be for sure.
Doesn’t sound promising, tho.
Only in Pittsburgh would K artists like Suwinski and Davis have to continue to get to stand (not swing) at the plate.
IF only we had some decent OF prospects other than infielders and catchers that they constantly try to turn into outfielders!
FWIW: Article on Jack
https://pittsburghbaseballnow.com/pittsburgh-pirates-jack-suwinski-home-runs-strikeouts/
If only they’d drafted Dylan Crews or Wyatt Langford, oops, sorry, I can’t help myself.
Interesting article but as usual far too forgiving of Suwinski’s inadequacies. Any team relying on Jack Suwinski to produce runs is a team that’s not gonna score much. He hits some home runs (well occasionally) and walks a fair amount, but he does not drive in runs, which the last time I looked was the point of this game especially for a clean-up hitter. The Pirates have to find, develop, trade for or build better outfielders if they want to win. Holes in the lineup like they have now are just too big to prevent wins from falling through.
It’s frustrating to watch young players develop at the MLB level. So much inconsistency. We can only hope with more reps they will become better at pitch recognition.
As for Davis in RF, he needs to error on the side of aggression. He is too content to let IFers go back on bloopers. He needs to be coached up to go get everything in the air towards the 1B side of the diamond.
He has Ryan Doumit disease, both behind the plate and in the outfield.
No, if only he could hit like Doumit, at the very least.
Just a community service announcement. A new podcast episode was dropped with Nola, Ethan, and Cody. They discussed a way to early look at the upcoming rule 5. The discussion paired well with my morning coffee here this morning.
Link?
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1ndeONNUq4Y557IgAIQXbf?si=Y0lOWALVRUmbs5oKdQSpvw
Agree with you that Triolo should not have been the player to be sent back to AAA - would have thought Alika Williams would be sent down before Triolo. But, it is BC and the Pirates after all.
Excellent pitching performances by LHSP Jackson Wolf at AA, RHSP Thomas Harrington at A+ with 7 IP and only 90 pitches, and two kids in the FCL Antwone Kelly and Carlson Reed. Need to be slightly concerned that Harrington has already thrown 108 innings in just his first year in professional baseball. That's a really good first year for both he and the Pirates, especially that 70 of the innings have been at the A+ level. Sets him up to be at AA in 2024, possibly with Skenes?
Harrington should be good to finish out the season. He threw 92.2 innings last year, so he will be within the normal progression by the end of this year.
I am a Triolo fan and have NO issue with the demotion of JT. Alika provides really good defense at SS at least. Triolo, while a competent defender, is NOT a good SS. And we don’t need him at 2b because of Peguero. That is Liover’s best position.