Morning Rundown: More Players Released, Bradenton Promotions, Tucupita Marcano To IL

Pirates released two more players to make room for some promotions from Bradenton and Tucupita Marcano heads to the Injured List.

Jul 26, 2023

With the deadline to sign draft picks now past, we should eventually start to see some players not only get assigned to affiliates, but start to play in games. As of their game on Tuesday, the FCL team only has two recent draft picks on the roster - Kalae Harrison and Carlson Reed, with neither of them having played a game yet.

That also means some room needs to be made for some of them, and while Drew Maggi got most of the headlines after being released, the Pirates also cut ties with two more minor leaguers.

Ernny Ordonez was the Pirates’ 33rd round pick back in 2019, out of Central Arizona JC. He hit 14 home runs in 81 games last year with Greensboro, but repeated the level again this season. In 50 games, he had just six home runs and an .644 OPS.

Along with Ordonez, Logan Hofmann was also released by the Pirates. The righty was a part of the first draft under Neal Huntington, but was never able to make it out of Greensboro as well. He had a career 5.22 ERA in 129.1 innings since being drafted.

Those moves were not only to make space for the incoming draft picks, but also for a trio of promotions from Bradenton. Derek, Diamond, Joshua Loeschorn and Josiah Sightler were all promoted to High-A Greensboro

Diamond stepped right into the rotation and got the start Tuesday, earning the win after pitching six innings of two-run baseball, striking out four batters.

For Sightler, the promotion is coming off of him earning Florida State League Player of The Week honors. The South Carolina product was batting over .500 during his time in Bradenton.

Loeschorn pitched out of the bullpen, and after a rough start was pitching really well as of late. I did an update on his recent success and how he stacked up to the rest of the system this past Sunday.

Joshua Loeschorn Putting Strong Season Together In Bradenton Bullpen

Anthony Murphy

July 23, 2023

Joshua Loeschorn Putting Strong Season Together In Bradenton Bullpen

In a draft class filled with college pitchers, Joshua Loeschorn was the last one taken, all the way in the 20th round in 2022. Now, as we are heading into the final stretch of the 2023 season, few are having as strong a campaign as the former Long Island University pitcher.

Read full story

Unfortunately sometimes for a player to get an opportunity at the major league level, especially an unexpected one, it comes at the expense of another.

It’s been a great story to see how Alika Williams has flicked a switch and is now raking at Indianapolis. Him getting promoted to the majors is a great story, but it did come at the expense of Tucupita Marcano, who was placed on the 60-day IL after injuring his knee Monday night.

Marcano was acquired in the Adam Frazier trade and after originally struggling was forced into action on a regular basis when injuries continued to mount for the Pirates this year.

He was always one of the more aggressive players in the system on the base paths, and unfortunately that is the very thing that led to the play he got hurt on.