Morning Rundown: Pirates lose Spring Breakout, tie the Tigers in nightcap
Bubba Chandler strikes out four in Spring Breakout, Pirates tie Tigers at LECOM
The second annual Spring Breakout continued on Friday, with some of the top prospects in the Pirates system facing the Phillies, in Clearwater.
Bubba Chandler started, pitched two innings, and flashed how electric his fastball could be. It took him 30 pitches to get through his two innings, striking out four batters without allowing a hit or walk.
The radar gun hit 100 mph at the stadium multiple times, but that was rounded up from 99.5-99.9.
Anthony Solometo entered in the third, but things didn’t go well, and he was lifted after a third of an inning for Nick Dombkowski. He returned in the fourth and pitched much better. He allowed two runs on three hits while striking out three in 1.1 innings pitched.
Hunter Barco pitched a pair of innings, allowing a home run and striking out a batter. Wilber Dotel and Jaden Woods also gave up a run in their inning to close out the game.
The offense managed only four hits, scoring three runs. Phillies pitchers walked six batters and hit four Pirates batters.
Tsung-Che Cheng went 2-4 with a walk and RBI, playing the entire game. Cheng, Konnor Griffin (0-5), Sammy Siani (0-5), and Jack Brannigan (0-4, BB) went the distance.
Omar Alfonzo went 1-3 with a double and had three batted balls of over 100 mph.
A six-run fifth inning, and another two in the eighth, helped the Pirates tie their game against the Detroit Tigers.
Nick Gonzales went 2-2 with two RBI, Jared Triolo also had a pair of hits, and Endy Rodriguez entered the game and hit a double.
After struggling with his control in his first few outings, Andrew Heaney didn’t walk anyone across four innings, but did allow a couple of massive home runs. He allowed four runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out four.
Colin Holderman struck out two in his inning, with Caleb Ferguson, Tanner Rainey, Peter Strzelecki, and Ryan Borucki all pitching in relief.
The Pirates will face the Orioles at LECOM on Saturday, with an expected start time of 1:00 pm ET. Carmen Mlodzinski is expected to start, and will face Thaddeus Ward.
Top Exit Velocity
Omar Alfonzo - 108.6 mph - Double
Sammy Siani - 107.6 mph - Groundout
Omar Alfonzo - 106.5 mph - Groundout
Bryan Reynolds - 106 mph - Single
Nick Gonzales - 104.9 mph - Single
Top Pitch Velocity
Bubba Chandler - 99.9 mph
Bubba Chandler - 99.7 mph
Bubba Chandler - 99.6 mph
Bubba Chandler - 99.6 mph
Bubba Chandler - 99.5 mph
Most Whiffs
Andrew Heaney - 8
Anthony Solometo - 5
Ryan Borucki - 4
Colin Holderman - 4
Bubba Chandler - 4
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Nimmo has a knee issue. The Mets sure could use Tommy Pham. BC should hold out for $99.99 in int’l cap space.
I think I commented that I was surprised that EL hadn't listed Griffin in his top 100. I guess all it took was a few ST observations (from yesterday's top prospects article at FG; and if you check The Board you'll see that he's 83rd):
"He slides into the Top 100 next to Arjun Nimmala, who has also made some early-career swing adjustments in an effort to mitigate his hit tool risk."