6-6-23 By Craig W. Toth (aka @BucsBasement on Twitter)
Every single one of you that is reading this blog post is doing so one some sort of an electronic device; from an IPhone to an Android, or a Tablet to a Computer. It’s just kind of how things work nowadays; except when they don’t.
Many times our electronics will simply freeze up. And, no matter what we try, the only way to get them up and running again is to do a hard reset; in essence shutting down the mechanism, in order fix the issue.
This past week my body-along with my mind-needed one of these.
For those of you that have been following along with this little hobby of mine-and Gary Morgan’s-you know that not only do I write down my thoughts on the Pirates Organization here, but I also make a weekly appearance on Ethan Smith’s Locked On Pirates podcast every Thursday, record my own podcast-Bucs In The Basement-on Tuesday and have started a secondary podcast on the same feed to cover Pittsburgh’s Minor League Affiliates; aply named Minor League News and Brews.
In an attempt to provide the best product(s) that I possibly can, I watch every Pirates game-either live or recorded, tune in the majority of the Indians, Curve, Grasshoppers, Marauders games each week, scour stat sheets and read countless articles in the morning and evening.
This is done on top of working a regular 40 work week at my actual job, raising three beautiful children, trying to be the best husband I can and of course being active/engaged in all of their activities and interests.
Some may think that writing these posts and putting out a minimum of three podcasts a week is as simple as just sitting down and recording or typing up your thoughts on a subject.
You couldn’t be more wrong. After watching, reading and studying each team it is time for prep work; which encompasses outlining a script, attempting to book a guest-that includes even more prep work through the development of interview questions-and then editing or producing the post or podcast.
It’s a labor of love; and believe me I didn’t let you in all of this for support, sympathy or anything of the sort.
It’s merely a long winded explanation why this blog post didn’t come out last week and the Minor League News and Brews episode of the Bucs In The Basement Podcast wasn’t published on Saturday.
I worked myself into a illness that started on Tuesday, and am finally coming out of today; that made me fairly useless in every aspect of life.
But, I digress; as I get back to doing something I truly enjoy…providing updates on Pirates Prospects.
Week of May 23rd Through May 28th
1) Anthony Solometo-LHP (Greensboro)
Solometo is a young man, who has impressed in nearly everyone of his outings thus far this season; allowing more than 2 runs in only one his starts, while striking at least 5 seven times-five in a row at this point.
This is not to say he hasn’t had any rough patches-as evidenced by a four run outing back on April 13th, or a six walk performance on May 12th. However, the six strikeout, one walk, zero earned run and 3 hit start this past week is more indicative of the type of pitcher he has for the Grasshoppers.
On the year, the 20 year-old has posted a 3.16 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP with 52 strikeouts and only 2 homers allowed, across 42.2 innings of work for High-A Greensboro.
2) Thomas Harrington-RHP (Bradenton)
Harrington has been excelling in his first taste of pro-ball since being last season, with the 36th Overall Pick; and much like Solometo there have only been two bumps in the road.
During his most recent start for the Marauders, Harrington only needed 68 pitches to navigate 6 innings against the Jupiter Hammerheads; as he struck out 3, walked one and only allowed 2 hits.
On the season Harrington owns a 2.77 ERA with a 1.103 WHIP with 40 strikeouts in 39 innings.
One thing of note should be his stats against younger versus older batters; with only 21 at bats separating the two.
Hitters that are younger than Harrington have a .214/.275/.321 slash line, while those who are older are slashing .297/.357/.453 off of the former Fighting Camel. Just something to pay attention to as he likely faces off against more of the later in Greensboro.
3) Jared Jones-RHP (Altoona)
At this point Jones has only pitched 28.1 innings due to a stint on the IL. However, when he is on the bump for Altoona he has been fairly dominant, to the tune of a 2.54 ERA with a 1.20 WHIP and 33 strikeouts.
One downside of this injury-aside from the limited overall innings-has been building his pitch count to that of a starter.
After beginning the season with 70 plus pitches in each of his first three outings, Jones has gone 37, 54, 56 and finally 73 over his last four outings; still not making it more than 5 innings.
4) JP Massey-RHP (Bradenton)
Massey struggles with control. He has since before he was drafted. In 38.1 innings this season he has 18 walks, and has 3 batters with 6 wild pitches to boot. He also has 48 strikeouts.
There is no denying the athleticism, and potential to succeed. However, as I have stated before…he’s also 23 in Low-A; which is nearly a year older than the average hitter he is facing.
5) Aaron Shackelford-2B/1B/DH (Indianapolis)
At the moment the Pirates don’t have an answer at 1st Base beyond 2023. Carlos Santana is 37 years old. Ji-man Choi hasn’t stepped on the field since April 13th. He’s a free agent after this year.
No, I am not saying Shackelford is the answer; still, wouldn’t it make sense to find out?
Currently he is batting .268 with a .942 OPS, 8 homers and a137 wRC+; including 4 long balls over the past week.
Sure he has a K-rate that is a little high-landing at 27.5%; but he is also 17% of the time.
At 26 years-old I’m not sure how much more he can prove at the level.
Give him a shot. If it doesn’t work out, I’m not sure exactly what it would hurt.
Week Of May 29th Through June 4th
1) Anthony Solometo-LHP (Greensboro)
Here he is again. At this point it’s almost expected.
Solometo followed up a 6 inning shutout start, with another 6 inning shutout; almost matching last week’s numbers. In both games he allowed only 3 hits, but walked one more-2 to one-and struck out one less-5 to 6. Yet, I feel like it’s pretty much just splitting hairs.
He now has a 2.77 ERA with a 1.15 WHIP and 57 strikeouts in 48.2 inning.
And honestly, I can’t wait to see him challenged in Altoona.
2) Jared Jones-RHP (Altoona)
Second verse, same as the first.
Jones has fully worked his way back from the IL, by tossing season highs in innings (6) and pitches (80). He did allow a run on 2 hits and 2 free passes, while striking out three; but he also showed he could battle.
Ever since he was drafted, scouting reports have profiled Jones as potential reliever due to his smaller frame; yet, Ben Cherington and company have always given him the opportunity to work himself into a role in the rotation.
On top of that they have continued to be aggressive with his assignments; moving him up a level each year, in spite of him being at least 3 years younger than the average competitor.
This season in Altoona he is 3.6 years younger than the average Double-A player. Nevertheless, he regularly achieves success.
Could he still end up in the bullpen? Absolutely.
That’s simply not the plan at the moment.
3) Tsung-Che Cheng-SS/2B (Greensboro)
From the chatter on Twitter this past week it seems like some may just be getting familiar with the potential of this International Signee; who was added to the Pirates Organization back in 2019, when he was just 17 years-old.
As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, Cheng is someone that I have had my eye on since 2021; and had first written about back in January of 2022.
Obviously, I’m not a scout, or even an expert on prospects; but every once in a while this blind squirrel finds a nut. Which is what I believe has happened with Cheng.
Thus far this season, the now almost 22 year-old Taiwanese ballplayer has been nothing short of dominant at the plate for the Grasshoppers.
Clearly many will point to the uptick and power due to him already eclipsing his career best in homers-with 7-in 263 less plate appearances; however, it goes without saying that the hitter friendly South Atlantic League Ballparks may have something to do with this.
Even so, for me it’s the advanced approach at the plate that continues to pique my interest.
While in the FCL back in 2021 Cheng had a 19.1% BB to 8.9% K-rate. Then last season in Low-A Bradenton he regressed a little bit, as evidenced by his 20.7% K to 13.8% BB-rate. Now, it seems to have corrected back to what could be the norm for him. At the moment he has a 17.4% K to 15.9% BB-rate.
4) Quinn Priester-RHP (Indianapolis)
Sometimes struggling with adversity and/or bouncing back from a rough outing can tell you more about a player than having them cut down opposing lineups like a hot knife through butter.
Sure, it would be nice if one of your top pitching prospects never had to face any type of misfortune. But, let’s be honest, how often does that really happen?
In his last outing, prior to this past week, Priester was chased from the mound by the Columbus Clippers after less than two innings and 59 pitches; having given up 5 earned runs on 4 hits with 6 walks.
So, how did he react? Well, he went 6 innings on 92 pitches, while striking out 6, walking 3, allowing 4 hits and not giving up a single run.
On the year he currently owns a 4.38 ERA with a somewhat concerning 1.442 WHIP.
Let’s see how he reacts to this moving forward.
5) Jared Triolo-3B/SS (Indianapolis)
During the offseason, Triolo was the most surprising of the additions to the 40-Man this past November, in my opinion; not that it wasn’t justified.
At the time his glove was arguably the best in the Pirates Farm System; and, his bat was more than serviceable-not overwhelming.
Unfortunately, after scuffling through Spring Training-ultimately resulted in him being sent to Minor League Camp-Triolo suffered a hamate bone injury; which required surgery, and delayed the start of his season for over a month.
After a quick rehab assignment with the Low-A Marauders, Triolo joined the Indianapolis Indians on May 9th in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Over his 92 plate appearances, Triolo has slashed .284/.413/.378 with a 112 wRC+. Not surprisingly the power is not there yet. It’s a pretty common side-effect of a hamate injury. What is surprising is his seven errors in just over 200 innings between third base and shortstop; seeing as he only had 12 errors in 900+ innings with the Curve last year.
CONCLUSION
There you have it! My Top 5 Pirates Prospect Performers for the last week of May and the first week of June 2023.
Now remember, let me know if I missed anyone, and who your Top 5 would be. And, be sure check back each and every Tuesday-hopefully-during Minor League Baseball Season!
Steel City Pirates 