Morning Rundown: Pirates swept, Wilber Dotel strikes out 10, Grasshoppers sweep doubleheader
Pirates swept by the Padres, Dotel strikes out 10 on Sunday, Nicolas optioned to Indy
The Pittsburgh Pirates fell hopelessly to the San Diego Padres on Sunday, getting shut out for the major league-leading sixth time this season.
Stephen Kolek, who was making his season debut, tossed 5.1 scoreless innings as the Pirates managed eight hits but could never get one home.
Matt Gorski pinch-hit late in the game and hit a single and a triple. Four players had multi-hit games—Gorski, Joey Bart, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and Tommy Pham. Only Gorski and Bart had one go for extra bases.
Andrew Heaney allowed four runs on eight hits and four walks over 3.2 innings pitched. Colin Holderman tossed 2.1 shutout innings out of the bullpen. Tanner Rainey, Dennis Santana, and Joey Wents also pitched scoreless outings for the Pirates.
Wilber Dotel tied a career high with 10 strikeouts for the Altoona Curve on Sunday, tossing six innings of one-run baseball. He produced 19 whiffs on 85 pitches, good for a 22.3% swinging strike rate.
In six starts this season, Dotel has posted a 2.84 ERA with 33 strikeouts over 25.1 innings pitched.
I’m in Bradenton for the start of the FCL season, as well as to catch some Marauders games next week.
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Bradenton Marauders activated OF Will Taylor from the 7-day injured list
Bradenton Marauders transferred OF Solomon Maguire to the Development List
DSL Pirates Black released RHP Daviel Castillo
Pittsburgh Pirates optioned RHP Kyle Nicolas to Indianapolis Indians
Top Exit Velocity
Oneil Cruz - PIT - 109.8 mph - Groundout
Joey Bart - PIT - 109.2 mph - Single
Eddy Rodriguez - BRD - 107.4 mph - Home Run
Jack Suwinski - IND - 107.3 mph - Flyout
Jhonny Severino - BRD - 106.1 mph - Double
Top Pitch Velocity
Colin Holderman - PIT - 99.9 mph
Colin Holderman - PIT - 98.9 mph
Colin Holderman - PIT - 98.1 mph
Colin Holderman - PIT - 97.8 mph
Colin Holderman - PIT - 97.6 mph
Most Whiffs
Wilber Dotel - ALT - 19
Antwone Kelly - GBO - 12
Thomas Harrington - IND - 11
Andrew Heaney - PIT - 7
Victor Cabreja - BRD - 6
Garrett McMillan - GBO - 6
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Indianapolis Indians - 1 vs Omaha Storm Chasers - 8
Top Hitter - Malcom Nunez: 3-4, 2B
Top Pitcher - Yohan Ramirez: IP, 2 K
Altoona Curve - 3 vs Akron RubberDucks - 2
Top Hitter - Sammy Siani: 3-4, R, 2B
Top Pitcher - Wilber Dotel: 6 IP, 3 H, ER, 2 BB, 10 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 9 vs Winston-Salem Dash - 8
Top Hitter - Enmanuel Terrero: 1-2, R, HR, 4 RBI, BB, SB
Top Pitcher - Sean Sullivan: 2 IP, 2 H, ER, K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 3 vs Winston-Salem Dash - 1
Top Hitter - Esmerlyn Valdez: 2-3, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI
Top Pitcher - Connor Oliver: 3 IP, H, 3 K
Bradenton Marauders - 1 vs Clearwater Threshers - 2
Top Hitter - Eddy Rodriguez: 1-3, R, RBI, HR
Top Pitcher - Victor Cabreja: 3 IP, H, 3 BB, 3 K
This is the most disappointing season for me since 2016. I thought they would at least be competitive and hover around .500.
I don't see how any of them survive the off-season. I would guess Shelton, Cherington and Williams are all gone by end of November.
They're not going to fire the GM in the middle of the season...If they do anything, they'll fire Shelton.
Bligh Madris has faced some good arms over the first month of the minor-league season. Asked which of them has most impressed him, the Toledo Mud Hens first baseman/outfielder didn’t name an individual, but rather an entire pitching staff.
“Indianapolis had a great staff,” Madris said of Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate, which hosted Detroit’s from April 15-20. “They had a great starting five that week. Every arm, including the bullpen, was above average. They were all around 18-plus inches of vert — a lot of ride, a lot of hop on their heaters. You really had to push them down in the zone.”
Bubba Chandler, Thomas Harrington, Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows, and Carson Fulmer made up Indianapolis’s rotation. The first of that group impressed Madris with more than just his high-octane heater.
“Bubba Chandler has the new changeup,” said the 29-year-old slugger, who has big-league time with the Tigers, Pirates, and Houston Astros. “They’re calling it a splinker, like [Paul] Skenes’s, and he was throwing it 93-94 [mph]. He’s impressive. I’d seen him when I was Pittsburgh and he was a younger two-way guy. His athleticism was incredible; you could tell that he could have been a quarterback at Clemson. He’s always had a lot of raw potential, and now he’s defining himself as one of the best prospects in baseball.”
Chandler has a 1.42 ERA and a 39.6% strikeout rate over 25-and-a-third Triple-A innings.