Altoona Curve’s Alex Dickerson (Flickr.com/Gamma Man)
Before the Pittsburgh Pirates begin the second half of the season tomorrow in Cincinnati, it’s time to comb through and evaluate each of the Buccos’ minor league affiliates.
Indianapolis Indians (AAA) 61-38: As the record indicates, the Indians are leading the West Division of the International League by a wide margin, 13 games up on the second place Louisville Bats. Ivan DeJesus, who we’ve covered before, continues to hit at a high mark at .332 and has shown gap power with 17 doubles in 214 ABs. Matt Hague leads the teams in walks and RBIs with 54 in each category. In just 125 ABs following his callup, Andrew Lambo has nine dingers. That gives him 23 on the year between Altoona and Indy. Felix Pie’s average isn’t pretty at .254 but has stolen 31 bases. Outfielder Jerry Sands is hitting a paltry .206 and only 25 RBIs in well over 200 at bats.
Andy Oliver has a sub 3.30 ERA in 98 innings, striking out 105, but is walking far too many batters (86). It wouldn’t be surprising to see his ERA balloon in the second half of the year. Vic Black has been on fire his last 11 appearances, allowing just one earned run and punching out 17 over that span. Graham Godfey’s ERA is just below six and he’s allowed an ugly eight home runs in 34 innings.
Altoona Curve (AA) 42-53: The Curve sit in the basement of the Western Division in the Eastern League. Alex Dickerson is a player we’ve pointed out as struggling in previous articles but he’s heating up in these dog days of summer. After a .300 month of June, Dickerson has upped the ante even more with a ridiculous .442/.473/.712 slash in July. He’s hit as many long balls in July then he did in April and May combined, giving him 11 on the year. Also has a team-leading 25 doubles. Gift Ngoepe is struggling, hitting .177 and is tied for the team-lead in strikeouts with 82. 1B/DH Charles Cutler is hitting over .300 with a 1:1 K/BB ratio.
Jameson Taillon has a 3.75 ERA and struck out 93 in just under 100 innings of work. Nick Kingham has been up and down at AA but is coming off a six inning outing in which he allowed just one earned in six innings. Reliever Jason Townsend’s ERA is in the clouds at 9.39 with a WHIP over 2.1.
Bradenton Marauders (A+) 32-60: Not a good year for Bradenton as they sit 24 games out of first place. Stetson Allie is still showing gap power with eight doubles in 87 at bats but the home runs haven’t carried over from West Virginia. Just two so far. Outfielder Willy Garcia leads the team in home runs with 13 but has also struck out a team-high 111 times. Top shortstop prospect Alen Hanson is hitting .275 with 21 steals but struggling in July with just a .162 average and a single RBI. Shortstop is tough, but Hanson has been poor defensively. His 22 errors gives him a .943 fielding percentage.
Eliecer Navarro has an ugly 1-9 record but that doesn’t come close to telling the story. His ERA sits at 2.86 and his WHIP is a smidge over one. He has a strong 4.76:1 K/BB ratio. We told you about Orlando Castro’s dominant season in low A ball and he received a call-up to Bradenton a few weeks ago. It hasn’t been exactly pretty in four starts with a 6.00 ERA and seven walks in 18 innings. To put that in perspective, he walked just six batters in 74 2/3 at West Virginia.
West Virginia Power (A-) 49-44: The Power are 4.5 out of first in the Northern Division. Dilson Herrera’s average isn’t sparkling but he’s got seven home runs and 17 doubles to his credit, participating in the US/World Future’s Game this past week. He went 0-1 in that game. D.J. Crumlich and Kawika Emsley-Pai are showing good plate discipline with more walks than strikeouts but hitting .253 and .186 respectively.
Tyler Glasnow continues to carve up batters punching out 110 in 76 1/3. He had control issues in our last article about him but has settled down, walking only seven in his last 19 1/3 and hasn’t thrown a wild pitch during that time. Youngster Luis Heredia has a 4.79 ERA in five appearances (four starts).
Jamestown Jammers (Short Season A) 17-11: The Jammers’ sit 1.5 games ahead of Williamsport for first place in the Pinckney Division of the New York-Penn League, where many Pirates’ rookies reside. The highest round draft pick with the team is 3rd rounder JaCoby Jones, hitting .306 and nine RBIs in 49 ABs. 13th rounder Dan Collins leads the squad in home runs with six.
Fifth rounder starting pitcher Cody Dickson has struck out 20 in 14 1/3 though comes with the caveat of an ERA that sits at 5.02 (of course, the sample size is tiny so the ERA isn’t very relevant). Shane Carle has struck out 15 in 19 innings of work, walking just one batter. Carle was the Pirates’ 10th round selection in this year’s draft.
Dominican Summer League Pirates 1, 22-16: They are six games out of first place, behind the Rangers DSL affiliate. Julio De La Cruz is the youngest position player on the roster at 17 but leads the club in doubles (7) and RBIs (24). However, his average is under the Mendoza line at .198. Pablo Reyes leads the team in average, hitting .337. Luis Benitez has already racked up 21 steals with Tito Polo right behind at 18 swipes.
Jose Regalado would be considered the ace of the staff. The 22 year old is 5-2 with a 3.20 ERA. He’s struck out 37 in 39 1/3 and has only issued two free passes. Gerardo Navarro has been Rick Vaughn wild, walking 18 and throwing ten wild pitches in 19 2/3.
Dominican Summer League Prates 2, 18-19: The Pirates’ second DSL team is 5th of eight teams in the Boca Chica South Division and eight games out of first place. First baseman Carlos Munoz is having a spectacular season. In 152 PAs, he’s got a .493 OBP that at one point crept over .500. In his young career, he’s always shown excellent plate discipline (107 walks, 55 strikeouts lifetime) but what’s putting him over the top this season is a .385 average. Prior, the 19 year old had never been above .282. On the year, he has three home runs and ten doubles. Similarly, Michael De La Cruz is sporting a .490 OBP. And he’s just 16.
Starter Julio Vivas has struck out 40 in seven starts, giving up just one home run. Combined, the entire pitching staff has done a solid job. Their team ERA stands at 3.51.
