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Pirates Prospect Watch: Bubba Chandler Leaves Start Early

Bubba Chandler left his start early on Friday, after dealing with control problems. Chandler walked his first two batters, then issued three more walks with...

Top Stories

Prospect Watch

Pirates Prospect Watch: Sean Sullivan Throws Seven Shutout

Sean Sullivan led the Altoona Curve to a 4-1 victory on Thursday, pitching seven shutout innings against Akron. This was the longest outing of...

Pirates Prospect Watch: J.P. Massey Leads Greensboro to Victory

J.P. Massey had his best start of the season for Greensboro on Wednesday. The right-hander allowed one run on four hits in six innings,...

Pirates Prospect Watch: Braxton Ashcraft Strikes Out Ten in Seven Shutout Innings

Braxton Ashcraft had his best start of the year on Tuesday afternoon, tossing seven shutout innings for Altoona. The right-hander allowed four hits, one...

Scouting Notes

First Pitch

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Pirates played their 41st game of the season. The lineup that manager Derek Shelton submitted was the 40th different batting order. It makes you wonder if the offensive struggles might be due...

First Pitch: Evaluating a Plate Appearance Like a Game of Chess

I've been playing a lot of chess over the last two years. Last year, I decided to commit to getting better at the sport, if you want to call it that. It's not a physical competition,...

Scouting Notes

Player Features

Jack Brannigan is the Next Gold Glove Quality Third Baseman in the Pirates System

The Pirates have Gold Glove third basemen in Ke'Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo. They've got another candidate in the system in power hitter Jack Brannigan.

Mitch Jebb Brings Elite Speed and Swing Decisions to Greensboro

With so many three-true-outcome approaches in pro ball, 2023 second round pick Mitch Jebb brings a refreshing style of contact, speed, and hustle.

Columns

This weekend hasn't gone as perfectly as you'd hope for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates were set to throw the two best pitching prospects in the game on Friday and Saturday. Breakout starter Jared Jones was scheduled...

Williams: The Time to Upgrade the Pirates Offense Was During the Offseason

The Pittsburgh Pirates ranked 27th in wRC+ and 28th in wOBA in the combined 2022-2023 seasons. There's a chance those advanced offensive numbers won't register for you, even if the Pirates ranked at the bottom of the...

Williams: Knowledge, Understanding, and the Pirates Issues With Developing Prospects

The best story in the early part of the Pirates season has been Jared Jones. Drafted in the second round in 2020 out of La Mirada High School, Jones has exploded onto the scene with a 3.18...

Statcast Heroes

Statcast Heroes: A Pirates Themed Introduction to the New Bat Tracking Data

Major League Baseball released their latest massive update to the publicly available Statcast data, introducing bat-tracking data this week. For an intro to the concept, check out this primer from Mike Petriello of MLB.com. I'll be digging...
Every Wednesday, I’ll be recapping the weekly Statcast leaders at each level of the Pittsburgh Pirates system that has data available. That includes the Major Leagues, Triple-A, and Single-A. The results give a quick glimpse at players...

Statcast Heroes: Jared Jones, Bailey Falter, Paul Skenes, Eric Lauer, Omar Alfonzo

Each week in Statcast Heroes, I’ll be recapping the weekly leaders at each level of the Pittsburgh Pirates system that has data available. That includes the Major Leagues, Triple-A, and Single-A. The results give a quick...

Discussion

Saturday Sleepers

Saturday Sleepers: Charles McAdoo is Heating Up in Greensboro

In his fourth professional game, Charles McAdoo went 6-for-6 with two home runs. The game on August 8th, 2023 came almost a month after the...

Saturday Sleepers: Wilber Dotel Off to a Good Start in the Greensboro Rotation

Wilber Dotel makes his latest start for Greensboro this evening, after starting the 2024 season with 10.1 shutout innings, striking out nine in the...

Saturday Sleepers: Carlos Jimenez Has One of the Best Changeups in the System

In early 2022, I saw Carlos Jimenez pitch for the Bradenton Marauders. Of all the players who played in Single-A on that particular day,...

Saturday Sleepers: Valentin Linarez Added Velocity and Improved Control in 2023

Valentin Linarez had one of the biggest recorded velocity jumps in minor league baseball last year. Baseball America tracked the year-over-year four-seam velocity gainers from...

Saturday Sleepers: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 17 year old throw 100 miles an hour”

At the start of the 2023 international signing period, the Pittsburgh Pirates added David Matoma as their first signing out of Uganda. The right-handed...

Saturday Sleepers: Omar Alfonzo is a Catching Prospect to Follow

On March 26, 2023, the Pittsburgh Pirates sent Omar Alfonzo to big league camp for a day. A catcher entering his age 19 season,...

ARCHIVES

Pirates Prospect Watch: Bubba Chandler Leaves Start Early

Bubba Chandler left his start early on Friday, after dealing with control problems. Chandler walked his first two batters, then issued three more walks with...

2024 Pittsburgh Pirates Top 50 Tiered Rankings Version 2.0

We are about six weeks into the 2024 minor league season, and some trends are beginning to develop in the Pittsburgh Pirates system. Those...

Pirates Prospect Watch: Sean Sullivan Throws Seven Shutout

Sean Sullivan led the Altoona Curve to a 4-1 victory on Thursday, pitching seven shutout innings against Akron. This was the longest outing of...

Pirates Prospect Watch: J.P. Massey Leads Greensboro to Victory

J.P. Massey had his best start of the season for Greensboro on Wednesday. The right-hander allowed one run on four hits in six innings,...

Statcast Heroes: A Pirates Themed Introduction to the New Bat Tracking Data

Major League Baseball released their latest massive update to the publicly available Statcast data, introducing bat-tracking data this week. For an intro to the...

Pirates Prospect Watch: Braxton Ashcraft Strikes Out Ten in Seven Shutout Innings

Braxton Ashcraft had his best start of the year on Tuesday afternoon, tossing seven shutout innings for Altoona. The right-hander allowed four hits, one...

Pirates Prospect Watch: Bradenton is on a Ten Game Winning Streak

The Bradenton Marauders have won ten games in a row for the first time in franchise history, after sweeping all six games last week...

First Pitch: The Pirates Need to Stop Optimizing Their Lineup to Optimize Their Lineup

On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Pirates played their 41st game of the season. The lineup that manager Derek Shelton submitted was the 40th different batting...

Pirates Prospect Watch: Thomas Harrington Makes His Double-A Debut

Thomas Harrington made his Double-A debut for the Altoona Curve in game two of a double header on Sunday. Harrington, who was drafted 36th overall...

Williams: A New Pirates Generation

This weekend hasn't gone as perfectly as you'd hope for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates were set to throw the two best pitching prospects in...

Pirates Prospect Watch: Hunter Barco Throws Five Shutout Innings

Hunter Barco threw five shutout innings for Greensboro on Saturday night, lowering his ERA at the level to 1.65. The lefty pitched five innings...

Pirates Prospect Watch: Esmerlyn Valdez Hits an Inside the Park Grand Slam

In the first inning of Friday's Bradenton contest, Esmerlyn Valdez hit an inside the park grand slam. The Pirates signed Valdez in early 2021 as...
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