A quick look at the farm system of the Pirates:
Triple-A Indianapolis –
Indy improved their record to 7-8 on the season after a 9-1 victory over Louisville. Matt Hague, who has struggled since being sent down from Pittsburgh, led the way for the Indians with three hits, two runs and two RBI. Jeff Clement and Starling Marte also added two hits each. Clement has impressed so far this year, hitting .333 in Indy. After a scorching hot start, Marte has come back to earth bringing his batting average to .276. A June/July call up is still possible. Jo-Jo Reyes earned the victory (2-0) surrendering just three hits over a scoreless five innings.
Double-A Altoona –
The Curve’s game on Saturday night was postponed due to rain, but they will be back in action today as they take on Richmond. Former first round pick Tony Sanchez is off to a hot start for the 6-8 Curve, hitting a cool .282 in 11 games. Sanchez and Pirates are both hoping he progresses this year and can arrive in Pittsburgh as early as September, if not open next year as the starting catcher.
Aaron Poreda leads the staff with a 2-0 record and a 1.64 ERA on the season.
Class-A West Virginia-
The West Virginia Power fell to Charleston last night by a score of 4-1. I had a good friend who attended the game to take a look at Pirates 2011 draft pick Josh Bell. Bell, if you recall, was selected in the second round of the draft, but was considered by many to be the best high school bat in the draft. He told teams he wouldn’t sign if they selected him because he was going to go to the University of Texas. Pittsburgh took a chance on him and he signed. Bell went 1-3 on the day with a walk. The young outfielder is hitting .273 on the campaign with one home run and 11 RBIs.
Stetson Allie, one of the Pirates’ big pitchers in the system, has had trouble getting it going early on. Allie has allowed four runs in just .2 innings pitched. More concerning is the lack of control that Allie has showed. Over the same time, he has also issued eight walks.
Class-A Bradenton –
Bradenton fell to Fort Myers 8-6 on Saturday night. The two players everyone has their eyes on in Bradenton are Jameson Taillon and 2011 No. 1 overall pick, Gerrit Cole. Cole, who pitched Friday night, has an 0-0 record in three starts this season, posting a 5.25 ERA. His seven earned runs over 12 innings is concerning, but his nine strikeouts are a nice touch.
For Taillon, he has an 0-1 record and a 2.63 ERA so far on the campaign. Taillon has showed the powerful stuff that made the Pirates make him a former first round draft pick out of high school by striking out 18 over 13.2 innings. Expect both Taillon and Allie to get promotions soon.
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