Morning Rundown: Mitch Keller brilliant in Pirates win, Jared Jones fantastic in rehab outing
The Pirates even up the series with the Rangers. Jared Jones with a strong rehab outing.
After dropping the series' first game on Monday, the Pirates evened things up against the Texas Rangers with a 4-0 victory on Tuesday.
Mitch Keller had a fantastic bounce-back outing, pitching seven shutout innings in which he allowed just three hits and struck out nine batters.
After back-to-back rough starts, Keller was back to his usual self and picked up his 11th win of the season.
Oneil Cruz had a pair of hits, including a triple. Connor Joe and Rowdy Tellez hit doubles.
The Pirates will go for their second straight series victory on Wednesday, with Domingo German making his first start with the team.
After a rough start last time, Jared Jones looked like his usual self on Tuesday, pitching five one-hit innings in Triple-A, striking out 10 batters. The lone hit was against Chase DeLauter, a 78 mph dribbler that went six feet.
He averaged 97 mph with his fastball, topping 99 mph multiple times. Jones had 15 total whiffs, nine with the fastball (38%) and six with the slider (43%).
The key number in all of this was 73; that was the number of pitches he was able to make on the night.
Derek Diamond pitched six innings of shutout baseball on Tuesday, only allowing one hit. After a solid start to the season, it’s been a rough couple of months for Diamond. The game dropped his ERA under five.
Offensively, the Grasshoppers managed just four hits and one run. Kalae Harrison hit a sacrifice fly that scored Omar Alfonzo in the fifth inning, giving them the lead.
Zander Mueth made another start for the Bradenton Marauders on Tuesday, and although the walks continue to be an issue, he’s still flashing some solid stuff.
That includes a fastball that averaged 93.7 mph but reached 96.6 mph. He got his first three strikeouts with the fastball.
He was able to mix in a slider and change-up along with the fastball (statcast also mentions a cutter, but only two, and they were similar to the slider).
RHP Beau Sulser assigned to Indianapolis Indians from Altoona Curve
LHP Magdiel Cotto assigned to Greensboro Grasshoppers from Bradenton Marauders
Pittsburgh Pirates sent RHP Colin Holderman, RHP Carmen Mlodzinski, and 2B Nick Gonzales on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians
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Top Exit Velocity
Henry Davis - IND - 108.6 mph - GIDP
Billy Cook - IND - 106 mph - Flyout
Bryan De La Cruz - PIT - 105.6 mph - Groundout
Jack Suwinski - IND - 105.4 mph - Groundout
Bryan Reynolds - PIT - 103.3 mph - Groundout
Top Pitch Velocity
Colin Holderman - IND - 99.8 mph
Colin Holderman - IND - 99.7 mph
Jared Jones - IND - 99.5 mph
Colin Holderman - IND - 99.3 mph
Jared Jones - IND - 99.2 mph
Most Whiffs
Jared Jones - IND - 15
Mitch Keller - PIT - 13
Derek Diamond - GBO - 11
Hunter Furtado - BRD - 8
Zander Mueth - BRD - 7
Justin Meis - ALT - 7
Indianapolis Indians - 1 vs Columbus Clippers - 2
Top Hitter - Nick Yorke: 2-4, RBI, BB, SB
Top Pitcher - Jared Jones: 5 IP, H, BB, 10 K
Altoona Curve - 7 vs Richmond Flying Squirrels - 5
Top Hitter - Kervin Pichardo: 1-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, HR
Top Pitcher - Jack Carey: 2.1 IP, H, BB, 2 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 1 vs Asheville Tourists - 6
Top Hitter - Omar Alfonzo: 2-3, R
Top Pitcher - Derek Diamond: 6 IP, H, 6 K
Bradenton Marauders - 3 vs Lakeland Flying Tigers - 10
Top Hitter - Andrew Patrick: 1-3, 2 RBI, 2B
Top Pitcher - Greiber Mendez: 2 IP, H, 2 K
DSL Pirates Black - 2 vs DSL Cleveland Mendoza - 4
Top Hitter - Deshandro Tromp: 2-3, RBI, 2B
Top Pitcher - Wifrailyn Jaquez: 5 IP, 5 H, ER, BB, 3 K
DSL Pirates Gold - 6 vs DSL Nationals
Top Hitter - Joseph Sequera: 2-3, R, RBI, 2B
Top Pitcher - Dariel Francia: 3 IP, 4 H, ER, 3 K
Much needed well pitched game by Mitch Keller, and the same for Jared Jones on Rehab at AAA. Have to think that the Top 4 of the Pirates Rotation (Keller, Skenes, Jones, Falter) will be together soon to possibly finish the last month of the season. Luis Ortiz the 5th SP at present, with Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington working at AAA to prep for joining the Rotation in 2025. Much appreciate BC for putting this group together.
Now a hitter or two to add to next year's lineup would be nice. Joey Bart has been much better than expected, and his bat fits nicely in the middle of the order. IKF has been a nice addition, and we need to hope that BDLC gets comfortable in Pittsburgh. Oneil Cruz looks better as the season progresses. He's been here so long that we sometimes forget he is still only 25, finishing his second year of MLB Service, and has more AB's in 2024 than he had in the previous 3 years combined. This year, coming off a serious injury that cost all but 9 games in 2023, was a very important building block for him. Watching him run out that triple last night is proof positive of the work he put in to rehab and prep for this long season.
The Pirates are TOO deep in Pitching and MI's. That means we do not have meaningful spots for all of them at the Top 2 levels of our system. We need to use some in trade value with another team(s) that has/have what we need and are lack pitching or MI's. We do not need to wait for the off-season if we can get it done before the 2024 season ends.
Skenes
Keller
Jones
Bubba
Falter
This is the rotation that breaks camp next season. Watch tf out!