Morning Rundown: Pirates drop game in extra-innings, Yordany De Los Santos continues hot start
Pirates lose to walk-off home run, prospect in complex league continues hot start.
The Pittsburgh Pirates dropped the first of their three-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays, losing on a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 14th inning.
Bailey Falter turned in another fantastic outing, pitching six shutout innings while striking out five batters. Six relievers followed up Falter, with Kyle Nicolas allowing the home run in extra-innings to Davis Schneider.
Andrew McCutchen and Nick Gonzales picked up a pair of hits for the Pirates, with the former driving in another run. The offense picked up just six hits on the night despite nearly playing two complete games.
The series will continue on Saturday, with Mitch Keller on the mound and Yusei Kikuchi expected to start for the Blue Jays.
Yordany De Los Santos continued his scorching start to the season in the Complex League, picking up two hits on Friday against the Orioles.
In 20 games played in the FCL, De Los Santos has 28 hits, seven of which have gone for extra bases. He’s also registered eight multi-hit games.
He’s passed the number of games he played in the Complex last year before getting promoted to Bradenton.
On the season, De Los Santos has a .406/.474/.565 line, with two home runs, 12 RBI, and 17 runs scored while converting on 13 of 16 stolen base attempts.
Altoona Curve placed RHP Kade McClure on the 7-day injured list
RHP Darvin Garcia assigned to Altoona Curve from Greensboro Grasshoppers
FCL Pirates placed RHP Pitterson Rosa on the 7-day injured list
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Top Exit Velocity
Esmerlyn Valdez - BRD - 110.4 mph - Single
Nick Gonzales - PIT - 109.1 mph - Single
Andrew McCutchen - PIT - 107.9 mph - Single
Malcom Nunez - IND - 105.7 mph - Forceout
Andrew McCutchen - PIT - 103.4 mph - Groundout
Matt Fraizer - IND - 103.4 mph - Single
Top Pitch Velocity
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 99.1 mph
Aroldis Chapman - PIT - 98.4 mph
David Bednar - PIT - 98.3 mph
David Bednar - PIT - 98.2 mph
Kyle Nicolas - PIT - 98.1 mph
Most Whiffs
Domingo German - IND - 16
Patrick Reilly - GBO - 16
Braxton Ashcraft - ALT - 14
Ryan Harbin - GBO - 11
Bailey Falter - PIT - 8
Indianapolis Indians - 1 vs Omaha Storm Chasers - 4
Top Hitter - Matt Gorski: 2-3, R, RBI, 2B, HR
Top Pitcher - Ben Heller: IP, H, BB, 3 K
Altoona Curve - 6 vs Portland Sea Dogs - 8
Top Hitter - Joe Perez: 1-5, R, HR, 4 RBI
Top Pitcher - Braxton Ashcraft: 6 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 7 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 2 vs Asheville Tourists - 3
Top Hitter - Charles McAdoo: 2-4, R, 2B
Top Pitcher - Ryan Harbin: 2 IP, 2 H, ER, 5 K
Bradenton Marauders - 2 vs Fort Myers Mighty Mussels - 8
Top Hitter - Eddy Rodriguez: 2-3, R, BB, 2 SB
Top Pitcher - Peyton Stumbo: 2 IP, 2 H, R (0 ER), 3 K
FCL Pirates - 3 vs FCL Orioles - 12
Top Hitter - Yordany De Los Santos: 2-3, RBI, BB
Top Pitcher - Zander Mueth: 3 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, K
YDLS is a puzzle. The scouting reports from the DSL said he made extraordinarily hard contact. He played 17 games in the FCL last year. I saw about half of them and, yeah, he hit the ball very hard. He also had a pretty low K rate, didn’t chase and seemed to make good swing decisions.
So they moved him up and it all went south. Keeping in mind that he was basically skipping what used to be three MiL levels, he was totally baffled by any not-fastball. First week or so, he barely even hit a foul ball. Then he seemed to start coming around, then went back to struggling badly to make contact. When he did, the tracking data showed weak contact. The Pirates sent him to development purgatory when the college draftees arrived.
Now he’s back in the FCL and hitting better than before, including an OK K rate. He needs to move back up, but I dunno how you tell when.
Org went 0-6 yesterday. Yuk.