Top 15 Plus 5 More Update

8-16-23 – By Justin Verno – @JV_PITT on Twitter

1-Paul Skenes–No stats

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WHIP	BB%	K%
CPX	1	0.00	1.96	3.03	0.00	0%	33.3%
A	1	0.00			1.000	0%

2-Endy Rodriguez

	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wRC+	BB%	K%
AAA	.268/.356/.415	.771	.147	.348	94	11.4%	14.9%
MLB	.239/.320/.433	.753	.194	.325	103	10.7%	30.7%
WEEK	.267/.421/.333	.754	.067	.351	121	21.1%	15.8%

3-Termarr Johnson–

	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wRC+	BB%	K%
A	.244/.419/.448	.867	.204	.413	142	21.8%	26.7%
A+	.162/.311/.324	.635	.162	.304	82	17.8%	24.4%
Week	.200/.333/.500	.833	.300	.370	124	16.7%	16.7%

4-Quinn Priester-

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WHIP	BB%	K%
AAA	87.2	4.31	3.86	4.29	1.36	9.3%	22.4%
MLB	23.2	8.75	6.35	4.92	1.90	13%	17.4%
Week	4	9.00	2.02		2.50	4.8%	19%

5-Liover Peguero–

	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wRC+	BB%	K%
AA	.260/.333/.453	.786	.193	.326	113	10.1%	18.2%
AAA	.259/.333/.556	.889	.296	.376	112	10%	10%
MLB	.254/.290/.492	.782	.237	.332	108	3.2%	36.5%
Week	.350/.381/.550	.931	.200	.398	152	4.5%	27.3%

6-Mike Burrow-(season over)

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WHIP	BB%	K%
AAA	6.2	2.70	7.39	6.22	0.90	8%	12%

7-Bubba Chandler–

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WHIP	BB%	K%
A	88	5.11	4.77	4.42	1.60	11.3%	26.3%
Week	3	6.00	4.06		2.33	18.8%	25%

8-Jared Triolo–

	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wWRC+	BB%	K%
A	.293/.403/.436	.839	.143	.382	116	15.7%	27.7%
MLB	.271/.341/.314	.654	.042	.297	84	8.3%	31.1%
Week	.308/.471/.538	1.009	.231	.439	180	17.6%	29.4%

9-Jared Jones–

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WHIP	BB%	K%
AA	44.1	2.23	3.42	4.15	1.08	8.9%	26.3%
AAA	43	5.44	3.84	4.44	1.35	10.2%	29%
Week	3	18.00	7.94		2.67	23.5%	35.3%

10-Yordany De Los Santos–

	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wRC+	BB%	K%
CPX	.328/.397/.463	.860	.134	.408	125	9%	14.1%
A	.211/.333/.305	.639	.095	.318	84	13%	40%
Week	.200/.350/.200	.550	.000	.296	71	19%	33.3%

11-Thomas Harrington–

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WHIP	BB%	K%
A	39	2.77	3.76	3.86	1.10	8%	26.7%
A+	62.1	4.48	3.93	4.11	1.43	6.6%	28.4%
week	5	5.40	3.12		1.80	12.5%	25%

12-Anthony Solometo–

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WHIPP	BB%	K%
AA	58.2	2.30	3.13	3.72	1.16	10.7%	29.1%
AAA	34.2	4.15	3.58	4.14	1.27	5.4%	25.2%
Week	1	27.00	17.26		5.00	12.5%	12.5%

13-Tony Blanco Jr–

	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wRC+	BB%	K%
DSL	.261/.343/.445	.788	.185	.374	106	11.7%	35%
Week	.250/.308/.667	.974	.417	.427	135	7.7%	46.2%

14-Zander Mueth-(NO STATS)

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	BB%	K%

15-Estur Suero-

	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wRC+	BB%	K%
SD CPX	.216/.306/.345	.652	.129	.313	65	10%	30.6%
PIT CPX	.227/.370/.318	.689	.091	.353	94	18.5%	22.2%
WEEK	.250/.368/.375	.743	.125	.366	101	15.8%	21.1%

MY FIVE

16- Hunter Barco

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WHIP	BB%	K%
CPX	7.2	1.17	2.40	3.10	0.78	6.9%	31%
A	2.2	3.38	2.31	3.25	2.25	14.3%	35.7%
WEEK

17-Carlos Jimenez

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WHIP	BB%	K%
CPX	4.1	4.15	8.12	8.36	1.85	28.6%	14.3%
WEEK

18-Jun-Seok Shim-

	IP	ERA	FIP	xFIP	WHIP	BB%	K%
CPX	7	3.86	3.25	2.16	0.71	7.7%	46.2%
Week	1.2	10.80	3.36		1.20	14.3%	28.6%

19-Tsung-Che Cheng

	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wRC+	BB%	K%
A+	.308/406/575	.980	.266	.435	164	13.8%	18.5%
AA	.286/.318/.381	.699	.095	.316	91	5.1%	19.6%
Week	.316/.350/.579	.929	.263	.406	150	4.8%	23.8%

20-Enmanuel Terrero-NO STATS

	BA/OBP/SLG	OPS	ISO	wOBA	wRC+	BB%	K%
A	.271/.378/.423	.801	.151	.380	121	13.7%	26.2%
Week

A Few quick thoughts-

OK, we’re back Sorry about the break, but I always take a breath after the trade deadline.

Speaking of the trade deadline, Estuar Suero acquired in the Rich Hill and Ji-Man Choi trade makes his debut in the Pirates top 15 on Fangraphs. Sure it’s due to Tank Davis graduating but the kid has a good deal of upside and is one to keep an eye on. I mention him because he is now the youngest young Buc on FG top 30. Kid has easy power. Should be fun kid to watch.

Weclome!

Paul Skenes made his pro debut. Barco made his pro debut, his first outings since TJS. Shim made his way back to the mound. Jimenez made his 2023 debut. All in all there was a lot to tune into this week.

Shim and Jimenz struggled to find the zone, but that’s not all that surprising.

Barco looks great, kid has a lot of movement and I’d call his first few outings a success despite some control in his A ball debut.

Skenes was unchallenged at that level and we finally get to actually watch him on the mound this Tuesday!

Keeping up with the Jones

At first glance it looks like Jones had a rough outing, and I imagine if you asked him he wouldn’t exactly be too happy with it.

The stat line certainly shows it was a rough one. And I- by no means am trying to make excuses for him, BUT…I’ve said time and time and again that prospects don’t learn on a linear. And games like this one are a prime example of why, lets delve in a little.

Jones best two pitches are his 4-seam fastball that plays 95-100 MPH and a wipe out slider. His CB has some upside and his pitch mix is rounded off by his change up, a pitch that has really taken off this year. The change is still a work in progress and at times can be a tad flat. But all in all it’s a pitch that has flashed as a plus offering.

Then in his last outing something odd popped up on Baseballsavant.com pitch tracker. A sinker? I’ve not heard or seen him adding a sinker. Upon taking a closer look at the velo, spin rates and break it becomes clear that the likely hood of it being a sinker was sunk.

Savant had him throwing 39 “sinkers” .

1 change up and 1 slider.

Velocity ranged from 98.7-88.5 MPH on those pitches while the spin rated varied from 1599 up to 2616. I would think that there were some change ups that were identified incorrectly. As for the rest? I’m not sure, but two guys I trust and follow on Twitter, @__Murhphy88 and @NolaJeffy suggested that due to velocity and spin rates it looked like a two seam fastball. (full disclosure, I would not have taken a peak without their suggesting it) Jared Jones doesn’t have a lot of two seam fastball tracked, at least that I could find.

While a two seam fastball is a likely candidate, there are other possibilities here. Different grips. The change up is an interesting pitch to watch guys learn due to having so many grips. Those of us that remember watching Ty Glasnow pick it might remember him adding the circle grip. The grips can change the shape and even velocity. Is he toying with adding a power change? Is he going from a circle to a C-change?

What can we conclude with that? I’m not entirely sure, but it could point to Jones looking to add one more pitch to his mix. I can’t get to it being a sinker as Savant has listed. As the two gents above point out(those are two must follows by the way) the two seam FB seems the most likely candidate when we consider the velo and spin rates.

What’s my point, you might be asking yourself? That whatever Jones was doing here, adding a pitch? Playing with a new grip? Whatever it was, was something new he was working on. This is one of the major reasons prospects have ebbs and flows and ups and downs. It’s why their path is not a linear grade.

Jared’s usage of his change up has increased since joining AAA, and at times looks brilliant. If they have him learning one more pitch I have to wonder, is this the ‘one last thing’ they’d like him to play with before they buy him a bus ticket to Pittsburgh? A FB that can hit 100. A wipe out slider. A change that can play. A pinch of the curve ball. Sprinkle in a two seamer? And see you in Pittsburgh. Sounds just delightful.