Morning Rundown: Pirates get to flex their pitching depth on home opener day

Three of the top pitching prospects all pitch on Friday throughout the Pirates system.

There may not be another organization that can boost the pitching prospect depth that the Pittsburgh Pirates can.

Friday will be an excellent day to flex that muscle, as three of their top pitching prospects will pitch on the same day.

First up will be Jared Jones, who will not only be making his second career start, but it will also be the home opener. They will face the Baltimore Orioles, a team also stacked with former top prospects.

Jones was electric in his major league debut, as advertised. He’s been one of the more electric arms in the minors since he stepped on a mound professionally.

In 5.2 innings pitched, Jones struck out 10 batters using his explosive fastball to blow hitters away. From a metrics standpoint, the fastball has the chance to be one of the best in the game.

Paul Skenes, the 2023 first-round pick, will make his second Triple-A start for the Indianapolis Indians. Last time, he needed 46 pitches to pitch three perfect innings, striking out five.

He averaged 100 MPH with the 22 fastballs he threw that day. Later today, I will have a video breakdown of his first outing, which includes some things that stood out.

Altoona also begins its season on Friday, with Bubba Chandler slated to make the start.

After struggling initially in 2023, Chandler dialed it up down the stretch, making his final start of the season in Altoona. He blew away a good Harrisburg lineup featuring Dylan Crews, James Wood, and Robert Hassell III.

Greensboro will have Hunter Barco on the mound on Friday. Despite needing Tommy John, he was a second-round pick, which forced him to miss most of the 2022 season in college and the beginning of 2023.

He’s flashed an excellent change-up. If he could dial up the fastball to be closer to what we saw in the Spring Breakout game, the Pirates could have another strong arm in the system.

Carlson Reed is more of a wildcard and is expected to start for Bradenton. Mostly a closer in college, Reed put up a lot of strikeouts but struggled with control. It looks like the Pirates are trying him as a starter, but even if that doesn’t work, he could fly up the system as a reliever.

Not many other organizations can have this many quality pitchers throwing on the same day throughout the system.

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The Pirates wrapped up their series against the Washington Nationals with a 7-4 victory, improving to 6-1.

Martin Perez picked up his first win as a Pirates, allowing two runs on six hits and two walks with six strikeouts over 6.2 innings pitched.

Connor Joe hit his first home run of the season, with Bryan Reynolds and Michael A. Taylor picking up doubles.

Top Exit Velocity

1. Joshua Palacios - IND - 110.1 MPH - Forceout

2. Billy McKinney - IND - 105.2 MPH - Double

3. Michael A. Taylor - PIT - 104.9 MPH - Double

4. Carter Bins - IND - 104.3 MPH - Single

5. Oneil Cruz - PIT - 102.7 MPH - Single

Top Pitch Velocity

1. Aroldis Chapman - PIT - 99 MPH

2. Aroldis Chapman - PIT - 98.1 MPH

3. Aroldis Chapman - PIT - 97.2 MPH

4. David Bednar - PIT - 96.7 MPH

5. David Bednar - PIT - 96.6 MPH

Most Whiffs

1. Michael Plassmeyer - IND - 10 (24%)

2. Martin Perez - PIT - 8 (18%)

3. Kade McClure - IND - 4 (57%)

4. Wily Peralta - IND - 4 (29%)

5. David Bednar - PIT - 3 (30%)

Indianapolis Indians - 7 vs Memphis Red Birds - 5

Top Hitters - Malcom Nunez: 2-4, 2 2B, RBI

Top Pitcher - Michael Plassmeyer: 5 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 8 K