Pirates 2024 Minor League Recaps: Bradenton Part 2, Pitchers

High variance strategies produce some successes

Carlson Reed Photo Credit: WTM

The Pirates, in drafting pitchers, seem to be focusing on high-risk, high-reward strategies. One is adding prep pitchers, which in and of itself is a high variance scheme. The other is going for college pitchers with good arms but histories of control and/or injury problems. These approaches are going to produce some flops, but the question is whether there are enough successes to make it worthwhile. The 2024 Bradenton pitching staff did have some pitchers move forward.

The Marauders’ pitching overall was borderline average. In the ten-team Florida State League, they were 6th in ERA, 7th in K/9, and 8th in WHIP. Control was an issue, as they allowed the third-most walks. Some of the numbers resulted from high-risk pitching projects that weren’t working out.

Starters

The Marauders started the season with a rotation made up of pitchers who all brought some upside with them: Carlson Reed, Michael Kennedy, Carlos Jimenez, Khristian Curtis, Antwone Kelly, and Hung-Leng Chang. They all came with question marks, and all but Reed and Jimenez missed time with injuries. What they ended up with was probably a very good outcome, with two starters — Reed and Kennedy — looking very promising and the rest variable.

Reed was the most unequivocally successful. He came with control questions and the hope that his long, lean frame would give him some projection. The latter didn’t materialize, as his fastball was mostly in the low 90s, although it sometimes reached higher. Reed’s slider, though, missed a ton of bats, and his change is good, too. The control didn’t come around initially, and through the end of May, he had trouble with walks and high-pitch counts. Still, hitters didn’t have much success squaring up against him, so the most earned runs he allowed in a game was three, and that only once. Starting in June, Reed’s control improved markedly, and by August, he was in Greensboro, where he took an even bigger step forward. On the entire season, opponents batted .173 against Reed and slugged an anemic .249. He had a K/9 of 11.1 at Bradenton, with an ERA of 2.43.

Kennedy, the sole lefty starter, had a different profile. He typically throws only 89-90, so the question is whether his advanced command will be sharp enough to make up for it. Sometimes, he’s missing just a little, which he can’t afford. He got off to a strong start, missing plenty of bats, through mid-May. From then through mid-June, he started getting hit around and had an ERA of 5.87 over six starts. Whether it was health-related was unknown, but he went on the IL from mid-June through early August. Kennedy returned with four strong starts, then moved up to Greensboro for two dominant starts in which he fanned 15 over 10.2 IP.

Michael Kennedy Photo Credit: WTM

Of the others, Jimenez was maybe the most interesting. It was his third try at Bradenton, although he missed part of 2022 and most of 2023. He has very good stuff, with a lot of movement and a plus change, but command is a major issue. In his first four starts, he lasted just 9.2 IP and walked 13. From that point, he pitched mostly in long relief and gradually made progress, although walks remained a problem. (In one game, he walked eight while getting only five outs.) In July and August, he had a combined ERA of 1.89, then he finished the season in Greensboro. The intriguing thing about Jimenez is whether he could break out as a full-time reliever, like Luis Peralta did. Despite all the time at Bradenton, he just turned 22.

Of all the six original starters, Curtis could have the highest ceiling. He’s somewhat similar to Reed, but he sits in the mid-90s. His control is shaky but not disastrous; he walked 4.7 per nine innings. Curtis has a significant injury history, which could account for a tendency to fade after the first couple of innings. He had an ERA of 2.25 in the first two innings and 6.55 in the next three. He missed about seven weeks starting in late June.

Kelly and Chang struggled a bit more. Kelly has better stuff, including a mid-90s fastball, than his 8.5 K/9 suggests. He had trouble with walks, 4.4 per nine, and finished with a 4.43 ERA. He went on the IL in late June and missed two months, returning for three rough starts. Chang was impressive early, with an 0.84 ERA in his first four outings, but it was 6.07 after that, as his stuff proved too hittable.

The Marauders used 42 pitchers during the 2024 season, about a quarter of which were rehab appearances that typically soaked up “starts.” They also got nine starts from Connor Oliver, a lefty whom the Pirates acquired from the Royals for Colin Selby, who in turn ended up with Baltimore. Oliver served as a swingman and wasn’t especially effective, with a 5.24 ERA.

Some late-season reinforcements included Zander Mueth, probably the top prospect on the Florida Coast League Pirates, and lefty Connor Wietgrefe, this year’s 7th-round draft pick. Mueth was tough to hit, allowing just eight hits in 22.2 IP, but he walked 24, so he’ll have an obvious priority when he likely returns to Bradenton in 2025. Wietgrefe pitched well, giving up just six hits and two walks in ten innings while fanning 13. He’s a likely bet for a rotation spot at Greensboro to start next season.

Zander Mueth Photo Credit: WTM

Relievers

The Bradenton bullpen was heavily comprised of college pitchers from the Pirates’ 2023 draft. The list, with draft round in parentheses: Peyton Stumbo (20), Hunter Furtado (6), Garrett McMillan (14), Landon Tomkins (10), Magdiel Cotto (11), Tyler Kennedy (19) and Danny Carrion (9). Furtado and Cotto are the lefties. Cotto, Tomkins and McMillan have been the most successful so far.

Cotto allowed just 28 hits in 48 innings with the Marauders, although he walked 25. He fanned 49 and had an ERA of 2.63. He didn’t fare well after a late-season promotion to Greensboro, but it was just seven innings.

Garrett McMillan Photo Credit: WTM

Tomkins had a 3.86 ERA with the Marauders, but his other numbers were better: 1.13 WHIP, 2.8 BB/9 and 9.4 K/9. He had a rough time, though, in nine games with Greensboro.

McMillan had a 2.92 ERA and 1.28 WHIP for Bradenton, with a 9.7 K/9. He really got interesting after a promotion to Greensboro, where he dominated in 21 innings, including three starts. It’ll be worth checking whether the Pirates try him as a starter next year, or send him to Altoona.

Magdiel Cotto Photo Credit: WTM

Furtado and Kennedy have two of the better arms in this group, but control problems did them in. Furtado walked 51 in 47 innings. Kennedy walked 43, hit nine, and threw 13 wild pitches in 22 innings.

Carrion missed about half the season with injuries, but he and Stumbo gave the team some innings. Stumbo had a 4.92 ERA, Carrion 4.74.

The Marauders’ best reliever was Mike Walsh, a ninth-round pick in 2022. He missed the bulk of 2023 with an injury and also missed over a month in 2024. In 20 games with Bradenton, he put up a 0.98 ERA and minuscule 0.69 WHIP. He finished the season in Greensboro.

Until the Pirates made some end-of-season promotions from the FCL, the Latin American presence on this pitching staff was limited to Jimenez, who signed way back under Neal Huntington,* and Yoldin De La Paz and Luigi Hernandez. (Kelly hails from Aruba, which probably shouldn’t be considered Latin America.)

De La Paz is a small, finesse lefty who had a 1.19 ERA in 22.2 IP with Bradenton. He got rocked after a promotion to Greensboro. Hernandez was part of the contingent on the staff that couldn’t find the plate. He walked 56 and hit 13 in 57 innings.

*Toward the end of Huntington’s tenure, the Pirates signed several pitchers from Latin America that provided some evidence of progress on that front: Luis Ortiz, Jimenez, Wilber Dotel, Valentin Linarez, and one or two others. That progress promptly stopped when Ben Cherington came along. It’s doubtful whether the recently fired Junior Vizcaino was the sole reason for the collapse of the team’s Latin American scouting program.

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