Morning Rundown Weekly MiLB Preview: Double dose of the Mets
Second half success for all full-season affiliates
Indianapolis Indians: 50-36
Last Week: 4-2
Opponent: Gwinnett (Braves)
Quick Overview:
The recurring theme this week is that all four of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ full-season affiliates are currently in a prime position for second-half title aspirations.
The Indianapolis Indians sit only a game back of the league lead, but take on the Gwinnett Stripers, who are only a game back of Indianapolis. It’s only been two series so far, but this will be the first series against an opponent above .500 for both clubs in the second half.
Atop the Atlanta Braves’ Triple-A affiliates roster is 2023 first-round pick (24th overall) Hurston Waldrep. His first full season of professional baseball in 2024 culminated in two MLB starts for 7.0 IP with a 16.71 ERA. He began 2025 in Triple-A, and it appears he’ll likely stay there for the near future. He has made 16 starts for the Stripers, throwing 73.2 IP with a 5.25 ERA. He has struck out 73 batters, but also walked 44 in the same timeframe.
Recently acquired reliever Hunter Stratton will also be in the opposing dugout this week.
Opposing Prospects
Hurston Waldrep | RHP | 2
Nacho Alvarez Jr. (7-Day IL) | INF | 3
Jhancarlos Lara | RHP | 11
Rolddy Munoz | RHP | 20
Carlos Rodriguez | OF | 28
Hayden Harris | LHP | 29
Bucs on Deck: Pittsburgh Pirates Top 30 Midseason Update
We are past the halfway mark of the 2025 minor league season, and it seems like a perfect time for an update on our Top Prospect list, which has been expanded to 30 players.
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Not only do you gain access to our Top 30 scouting reports and 2025 updates, but also video breakdowns and player features, as well as live reports from my travels to minor league games.
Altoona Curve: 39-41
Last Week: 4-2
Opponent: Binghamton (Mets)
Quick Overview:
This might be the marquee matchup of the week for a couple of reasons. First off, it’ll pit the Eastern League’s Northeast division leader, Binghamton Rumble Ponies, against the Southwest division leader, Altoona Curve. The Ponies already clinched a playoff spot in the first half, but the Curve would like to build on the two-game lead over the Akron RubberDucks.
In facing the New York Mets’ Double-A affiliate, the Curve will get to see the Mets’ top three prospects, all ranked among the game’s best top 100 prospects across various publications. Starting with the 2022 first round selection (14th overall), Jett Williams, who has actually seen time in Double-A for now the third year in a row, but his first extended look at the level. The young shortstop has an .858 OPS in 72 games, which ranks fourth among qualified EL hitters. Next would be right-hander Jonah Tong, who was also drafted in the 2022 MLB Draft (7th round — 209th overall), and has quickly risen up prospect lists with a 1.83 ERA in 15 starts. He has struck out 125 while walking 35 in 78.2 IP. Third would be 2024 first-rounder (19th overall) Carson Benge, who was promptly promoted after the Brooklyn Cyclones captured the first half South Atlantic League’s North division title (I’m still salty). Benge is slashing .242/.375/.364 through his first 10 games with the Ponies.
A fun name that some may recognize is 2022 first-round selection (11th overall), Kevin Parada. The catcher drafted out of Georgia Tech hit his way to Double-A in 2023, but hasn’t been able to hit his way out. “Wait, didn’t you just mentioned Jett Williams as a 2022 first round pick?” Well, if you’ll remember, they drafted Kumar Rocker 10th overall in 2021 draft, but he didn’t sign. So the Mets received the 11th pick in the 2022 Draft, and subsequently drafted Parada.
Jett Williams | SS/OF | 1
Pipeline Top 100: #45
Baseball America Top 100: #47
ESPN Top 100: #20
Fangraphs Top 100: #84
Jonah Tong | RHP | 2
Pipeline Top 100: #59
Baseball America Top 100: #59
ESPN Top 100: #45
Fangraphs Top 100: #73
Carson Benge | OF | 3
Pipeline Top 100: #74
Baseball America Top 100: #96
Ryan Clifford | 1B/OF | 6
Nick Morabito | OF | 16
Jacob Reimer | 3B/OF | 17
Jack Wenninger | RHP | 27
Anthony Nunez | RHP | 28
Greensboro Grasshoppers: 56-24
Last Week: 4-2
Opponent: Bowling Green (Rays)
Quick Overview:
In almost identical fashion, the matchup in High-A will see the South Atlantic League’s North division leader, the Greensboro Grasshoppers, battle the South division’s leader, the Bowling Green Hot Rods. Just as with Binghamton in Double-A, the Hot Rods have already clinched a playoff spot from the first half, and Greensboro would like to build upon their two-game lead over Hudson Valley.
In terms of prospect pedigree, the Tampa Bay Rays’ High-A affiliate has seen better days. Top-ranked Aidan Smith has a 113 wRC+ on the season, with a strikeout rate above 30% this year. Venezuelan right-hander Santiago Suarez was having a strong year, but has been on the injured list since the beginning of May.
Aidan Smith | OF | 4
Santiago Suarez (7-Day IL) | RHP | 8
Gary Gill Hill | RHP | 11
Adrian Santana | SS | 17
T.J. Nichols | RHP | 20
Emilien Pitre | 2B | 22
Bradenton Marauders: 39-41
Last Week: 4-2
Opponent: St. Lucie (Mets)
Quick Overview:
The Bradenton Marauders were one out away from climbing back to .500 over the season, but ended up blowing a 5-0 lead in the 9th to stay two under. That said, the loss managed to give all four full-season clubs an identical 4-2 record over the previous week. As it stands, the Marauders aren’t in first place of the Florida State League’s West division, but the only team ahead of them is the Lakeland Flying Tigers who clinched the first half title. So, that puts Bradenton in the pole position two games ahead of third place Tampa Tarpons.
From a prospect perspective, this matchup won’t have the same draw as the Pirates and Mets Double-A affiliate’s matchup. 15th ranked prospect Trey Snyder was a prep shortstop taken in the 2024 MLB Draft in the 5th round (144th overall). He’s doing well with striking out only 19.2% of the time while having a 14.3% walk-rate, and swiping 23 bags on the year. So far he’s carrying a 93 wRC+ through 69 games.
The Mets 2024 Draft leaned heavily on college picks, who have found themselves largely playing (and excelling) in High-A or above.
Jeremy Rodriguez | SS/2B | 10
Trey Snyder | SS/3B | 15
Daiverson Gutierrez | C | 19
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Kiley McDaniel weights in with his final draft prospect ranking. It’s worth reading if you are an ESPN subscriber as he gives the best and worst case scenarios for his top prospects.
His top three, all 55 FV, are in order Anderson, Holliday, and Willits. He notes that Willits is the kind of player who tends to be undervalued by the industry as he doesn’t have one flashy tool, but is very good to excellent across the board. And he’s 17. McDaniel compares him to Kevin McGonigle, the Tigers prospect from last year’s draft.
50 FV tier in order: Hernandez, Arnold, Doyle, Parker, Carlson, and Arquette. Since Arquette is being frequently mocked to the Pirates, partially because they supposedly are leaning to college to beef up the team around Skenes, I’ll note that McDaniel says the downside risk with Arquette is that he has to move to third base and doesn’t have the bat to ball skills or pitch recognition to be a dominant major league hitter. He didn’t use this comp, but the risk is that he’s Jeff King. The upside is that he stays at short and hits 30 HRs a year.
I continue to hope that the Pirates go straight best player available, and take one of the high school shortstops depending on how the draft falls. And they should take Willits if he is there.
Edit: One more thing. National writers who say that the Pirates are going college may not be recognizing that the new scouting director took a huge gamble last year with Griffin at 9 —- a risky, un-Piratey thing to do —- and it’s paid off big time so far. So I am hoping that this is a new tendency, and that they’ll take a similar approach this year, depending on how the first five picks play out.
Sorry if this is old news, but just saw Oneil is in the derby. That might be fun!!