Morning Rundown: Roansy Contreras Pitches In Bradenton, Strong Pitching Night In System
For the first since July 5, Roansy Conteras pitched in a live game, throwing two innings for Bradenton
It was a long fall from grace for Roansy Contreras. After being acquired by the Pirates in the Jameson Taillon trade, Contreras rose from relatively unknown to Top-100 prospect to a potential mainstay in the major league rotation.
A lot can happen in a year, as this time last season Contreras put together a three start run in August where he put up a 3.00 ERA.
Friday night 2023, he was pitching for the first time in game action since July 5 - and doing so in Single-A Bradenton.
A big reason for his struggles in the majors was the ineffectiveness of the fastball. While it wasn’t an elite fastball, it was good enough that he threw it nearly 50% of the time last year.
He essentially became a two-pitch pitcher, throwing both fastball and slider over 40% of the time. So when the fastball became ineffective, he only had the slider to fall back on - not exactly a recipe for success.
So he was optioned to the Complex League to work on the back fields and try to figure things back out.
On the mound for the first time since July 5 in an actual live game, Contreras pitched two innings, striking out a pair of batters in the process.
Certainly a good step forward, but also it was more of the same from a metric standpoint with the fastball.
The movement was mostly the same (+3 for the horizontal movement compared to his time in the majors), the velocity was a little down (averaged 92.9) and only got one whiff on eight swings.
Contreras will need a little time to build things back up, and when he does we will see what all he was able to work on in the complex.
The Pirates go pretty deep when it comes to pitching prospects, and Friday night was a good showing of them.
Bubba Chandler completed seven innings for the first time in his professional career, striking out six and not walking a hitter.
Braxton Ashcraft threw three shutout innings for the Altoona Curve. They are still monitoring his innings coming back from Tommy John but he’s been one of the big risers in the system.
Jared Jones was added to Pipeline’s Top 100 recently, and struck out seven in 5.2 innings. He did walk five, but the control has been fairly better this season.
Priester is still have his struggles in the majors, but did a good job working out of a self created bases loaded, nobody out jam without allowing a run.
Minor League Recap 8/3
Indianapolis Indians - 3 vs Gwinnett Stripers - 5
Top Hitter - Nick Gonzales: 2-3, R, 2 BB, 2B
Top Pitcher - Jared Jones: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 7 K
Altoona Curve - 4 vs Richmond Flying Squirrels - 0
Top Hitter - Carter Bins: 1-3, R, HR (1), 2 RBI
Top Pitcher - Braxton Ashcraft: 3 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 3 K
Greensboro Grasshoppers - 7 vs Asheville Tourists - 0
Top Hitter - Malcom Nunez: 2-4, 2 R, HR (1), 2B, 4 RBI
Top Pitcher - Bubba Chandler: 7 IP, 4 H, 6 K
Bradenton Marauders - 6 vs Tampa Tarpons - 3
Top Hitter - Geovanny Planchart: 2-3, 4 RBI, 2 2B
Top Pitcher - Roansy Contreras: 2 IP, 2 K
FCL Pirates - 2 vs FCL Orioles - 3
Top Hitter - Eddy Rodriguez: 1-3, R, RBI, HR (4)
Top Pitcher - Isaias Uribe: 4 IP, 4 H, ER, BB, 2 K
There are some high prospect pitchers in the minors who are doing well, and are possibly getting close to their number of "safe" innings.
*Tom Harrington, 22, A/A+ 19 Starts, 92.2 IP. First year out of college with a 10.4/2.4 K/BB/9
*Bubba Chandler, 21, A+, 85 IP. Last year he threw 41 innings of just pure throwing. His last few starts he has exhibited the traits of a pitcher rather than a thrower. How far do the Pirates take him this year?
*Braxton Ashcraft, 23, AA, 52.2 IP, 10.9/2.2 K/BB/9, First pitching since TJ.
*Jared Jones, 22, AA/AAA, 84 IP, 10.1/3.3 K/BB/9. Last year he threw 123 innings, all at A+. This year it has been the upper levels (more stress), so should he be capped around 125 IP?
Excellent night for Pirate Pitching Prospects - picking a few words from the write-up on Bubba Chandler - 7 IP and no walks says it all. He's reached a point where he is under control and being a pitcher as opposed to being a thrower.