Morning Rundown: Paul Skenes gets ninth win, JP Massey with five strikeouts, Omar Alfonzo homers
Pirates clinch series, Massey makes start for Grasshoppers, Alfonzo homers for Greensboro
The Pittsburgh Pirates clinched at least a series win against the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday.
Paul Skenes and three relievers combined to pitch a shutout, allowing just five hits. It was the ninth win for Skenes, who pitched five innings, striking out six and walking four.
Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski, and David Bednar combined to finish the shutout.
Jared Triolo hit a huge three-run home run, pushing the Pirates lead to 5-0.
The Pirates can go for the sweep on Wednesday, with Domingo German expected to make the start. Shota Imanaga is expected to pitch for the Cubs.
The Pirates claimed LHP Joey Wentz off waivers from the Detroit Tigers Tuesday. Wentz, 26, had a 5.37 ERA across 55.1 innings pitched, with 60 strikeouts and an ERA+ of 78.
Baseball Savant lists him with four pitches—Four-seam (36.7%), Cutter (31.5%), Change-up (18.7%), and Curveball (13.1%).
The latter three pitches have posted a whiff rate of 30% or better this season.
Omar Alfonzo hit his third home run in High-A but allowed a passed ball that scored the eventual winning run in the eighth inning, with Bowling Green taking game one of their six-game series.
JP Massey allowed three runs in 4.1 innings but didn’t walk a batter and struck out six. Alessandro Ercolani allowed two runs in 2.2 innings pitched, getting the loss.
I was at the game Tuesday and will provide a more detailed breakdown of what happened in today’s feature.
Altoona Curve transferred C Abrahan Gutierrez from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list
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Top Exit Velocity
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 116.7 mph - Lineout
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 114 mph - Groundout
Isiah Kiner-Falefa - PIT - 104.9 mph - Single
Jared Triolo - PIT - 104.1 mph - Home Run
Rowdy Tellez - PIT - 101.9 mph - Single
Top Pitch Velocity
Paul Skenes - PIT - 101.1 mph
Paul Skenes - PIT - 100.9 mph
Paul Skenes - PIT - 100.5 mph
Paul Skenes - PIT - 100.4 mph
Paul Skenes - PIT - 100.3 mph
Most Whiffs
Paul Skenes - PIT - 16
JP Massey - GBO - 13
Emmanuel Chapman - ALT - 6
JC Flowers - ALT - 4
Brad Case - ALT - 4
Altoona Curve - 0 vs Hartford Yard Goats - 5
Top Hitter - Sammy Siani: 2-3, 2B
Top Pitcher - Brad Case: 2.1 IP, 2 H, K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 4 vs Bowling Green Hot Rods - 5
Top Hitter - Omar Alfonzo: 2-3, HR, RBI, R, BB
Top Pitcher - Mike Walsh: 1.1 IP, BB
YOUR Pittsburgh Pirates over the last month have SEVEN regulars at 114 wRC+ or higher but the 7th worst offense in the game over that time at just 89 wRC+.
How?
They've given their 1st (IKF) and 4th (BDLC) most attempts to awful hitters, at 57 wRC+ and 43 wRC+ respectively.
I truly still believe this club is closer than they seem due to the ability for massive improvement by simply avoiding the awful.
other stats...
-Since the beginning of August, Oneil has produced an astronomical 96 mph average exit velo...and a 2 degree launch angle. GB rate jumped from 37% in July to 57%. God help the league if he can consistently put the ball in the air.
-Jared Triolo, on the other hand, has decreased his ground ball rate over that time by about 20 points and has quietly been an above average hitter over the ;last six weeks or so.
-Nick and Hank have came back SWINGIN. Both offering at strikes 84% of the time and balls more than 40%.