Morning Rundown: Termarr Johnson homers twice in Pirates loss
2022 first round pick for Pirates comes in as subsitution, homers twice for Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates lost their third straight Spring Training game on Monday, losing to the Toronto Blue Jays by the score of 8-4.
Roansy Contreras made his 2024 debut and pitched two innings, allowing four hits, two runs, and a walk.
Braxton Ashcraft followed up with a clean inning, with Pittsburgh native Justin Meis also getting to pitch a frame as well. Jared Triolo and Termarr Johnson picked up multiple hits, with the latter hitting a pair of home runs.
The four runs were more than they had scored in the first two games combined.
They will play the Atlanta Braves back in Bradenton on Tuesday, with first pitch expected around 1:05 pm ET. Marco Gonzales is the expected starter.
Game Notes
-Almost everyone who watched Roansy Contreras in camp was impressed, so it was going to be interesting to see what he looked like in games.
He averaged 95 mph with the fastball and picked up three whiffs on 12 swings with the pitch.
The stat line wasn’t pretty, and he did struggle to locate his pitches at times, but the opponent’s average exit velocity was just 74 mph against the fastball, so they weren’t making solid contact with it. There was a lot of focus on getting him to throw the fastball up in the solid, which, with his shape/metrics, should help, as long as he places it where he wants.
-Jared Triolo is just a hit machine. It may be a ‘competition’ for the starting second base job, but he could be the favorite. Some sort of platoon with Liover Peguero would allow both to be the backups at third and short seems like a great option.
-Judging by Twitter, many people were getting their first opportunity to watch Braxton Ashcraft yesterday, and he looked about how he did last year. The velocity was good, and he has two really good breaking pitches to go with it.
The question is whether he can repeat all this over longer outings throughout the season. If so, the Pirates have yet another potential big-time arm on their hands.
-Termarr went up hacking the first two pitches he saw Monday and missed both. The following two swings he put out of the ballpark.
That seemed about on par for Johnson, who showed a little more swing and miss than expected last year. It seems he sells out for power but without chasing out of the zone.
The second home run was beautiful, though, dipping low to go down and get that breaking ball and launching it out 104.1 mph off the bat.
Exit Velocity
Henry Davis - 108.9 mph
Termarr Johnson - 104.1 mph
Termarr Johnson 103.1 mph
Pitch Velocity
Braxton Ashcraft - 98.2 mph
Braxton Ashcraft - 98 mph
Justin Meis - 97.6 mph
Whiffs
Kade McClure - 5 (45%)
Colin Selby - 4 (36%)
Roansy Contreras - 4 (21%)
This is another reminder to pick up your copy of the 2024 Pirates Minor League Guide that Draft Nation put out, which some of us here at the site contributed to.
You can get in-depth scouting reports on 50 prospects in the system and information on as many as 75. Plus, some history on the Pirates’ farm system.
The book was released on Friday, and I’ve seen some people posting on Twitter their pictures of the book, so hop on Amazon to get your copy now!
Only a few days are left in our ‘Season Kick-Off’ special here at Bucs on Deck. Get 20% off of a yearly subscription, which totals to $3.33 per month.
You get access to the site’s top 25 prospect list for the Pirates, with in-depth scouting reports, my video breakdowns throughout the year, and some in person reporting when I travel to an affiliate.
Mine is supposed to be delivered by Amazon today.
Can’t wait!!!
Looking forward to reading your 2024 Pirates Minor League Guide!