The Week in Bradenton: Progress From Some SPs
Wyatt Sanford rebounds from a bad week.
Bradenton’s lineup for the last week or two has been dominated by guys there on rehab, which isn’t terribly interesting. They’ve mostly moved on now, though, so the prospects and maybe-prospects are getting the playing time back. Except for Axiel Plaz, that is. He’s on IL-7 right now, possibly as a result of being hit on the hand last Tuesday.
With the team’s two best hitters being promoted a couple of weeks ago and the rehabbers heading out, the Marauders will need some new folks to head the offense, apart from Plaz once he returns. The obvious candidates are Wyatt Sanford and Yordany De Los Santos, in addition to the newly arrived Edward Florentino.
Sanford followed his big first week by going hitless in his second. In fact, he went 0-for-27 over eight games. He finished last week by going 7-for-14 with three doubles in his last four games. He’s now batting .254/.389/.458 with eight walks and ten strikeouts since he got to Bradenton. Sanford continues to run the bases aggressively, adding ten steals in a dozen tries, making him 23-for-26 on the whole season.
De Los Santos has been gradually coming around with the bat. After struggling at this level for parts of the last two seasons, he’s now hitting .243/.316/.409 in a league that averages .233/.335/.354. His 17 doubles lead the league, and he also has six home runs. He’s stolen 21 bases, although he’s been caught seven times. The red flag is that he continues to swing and miss a lot, with a strikeout rate of 28%. De Los Santos has a persistent habit of stepping in the bucket, leaving him frequently victimized by sliders from RHPs, since he pulls off the pitch. (Jhonny Severino has the same problem, but unlike De Los Santos, isn’t hitting at all otherwise.) De Los Santos is splitting time at short evenly with Sanford, which shows the Pirates are still hopeful about him as a prospect.
The starting pitching has picked up a bit, mainly because Matt Ager, last year’s sixth-round draft pick, seems to be recovering from a very rough start to his career. He started two games last week against a good-hitting Tampa team, allowing one earned run and two hits over seven total innings. In his last 11 innings, he’s given up two earned runs and five hits. The stuff isn’t overwhelming; he’s struck out eight.
Soft-tossing lefty Victor Cabreja, the converted reliever, continues to do a solid job. He gave up one run over five innings in his lone start last week. He’s gone exactly five in all but one of his last six starts, which, given the Marauders’ pitching problems, has no doubt been very helpful. He has a 2.57 ERA in that time.
Clevari Tejada leads the team with 14 starts and continues to be up and down, with a 4.76 season ERA. He’s only 20. Tejada had one of his best career starts last week, going five shutout innings while allowing just one hit and two walks.
One of the team’s other regular starters, Peyton Stumbo, is moving up to Greensboro. Hopefully, Zander Mueth will be replacing him after a couple of rehab outings in the FCL.
The FCL Pirates have also had a couple of starters who seem to be making progress, one being last year’s 37th overall pick, Levi Sterling. Like Ager, Sterling got off to a very rough start in his pro debut, a lot of it due to control issues. Also like Ager, Sterling doesn’t overwhelm hitters, although at 6’5” and still only 18, he seems a good candidate to add velocity.
After a bad blowup three weeks ago, Sterling’s last two starts — one two weeks ago and the other on Tuesday of last week — have gone well. In nine innings total, he allowed a run on five hits and four walks, with seven strikeouts. Sterling did not pitch yesterday; with Tuesday being his normal day, that might or might not mean something.
Lefty Reinold Navarro came back on Saturday after a little over two weeks off and threw two hitless innings. He walked two and got all six outs on strikeouts. In 19 innings so far, Navarro has given up a whopping five hits, along with 13 walks. He’s fanned 32. The thing to root for with this guy right now is innings, more innings.
One pitcher who’s not getting innings is Gavin Adams. Drafted in the 8th round last year, the Pirates knew he’d be coming off Tommy John, but a power arm made it a worthwhile gamble. He’s made five starts in the FCL so far, but he’s lasted only five and a third innings total and walked 13. The triple-digit velocity has been there, but now he hasn’t pitched since June 6. He’s not on the IL.
With Florentino gone, the FCL outfield is pretty thin. Estuar Suero is struggling more than ever with the bat, with a .528 OPS and a near-50% K rate. He hasn’t played since June 5 and isn’t on the IL, so there’s probably some instructional stuff going on.
The one outfielder to follow at this point is Cristian Jauregui. He’s a speedy guy from Cuba who has some gap power and has shown pretty good strike zone judgment. He’s currently hitting .258/.395/.355 with a 13% walk rate and 21% K rate. He also has five steals in six tries. He’s played center in the past, but this year he’s playing in the corners. I’ve seen him run some roundabout routes, so that may be the reason. I’ve seen him sting the ball some, so he’s not getting by on infield hits, which some guys do at this level.
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"In 19 innings so far, Navarro has given up a whopping five hits, along with 13 walks. He’s fanned 32."
Covering Complex ball has to be so much fun. ;)