Down On The Farm: Indinanapolis Indians Season Preview
The Pittsburgh Pirates are performing above many expectations early this season going 11-11 in their first 22 games. However, the eye is still on the future and for the first time since the 2019 season, the Minor Leagues are set to start back up, with Opening Day scheduled for May 4th. This will give guys at the alternate training site a chance to play in actual games again, and show off their talents to try and climb the ladder. With the Pirates in a build for the future mode, Triple-A Indianapolis is going to be more important than ever in terms of developing players to be Major League ready. Brian Esposito returns for his third season at the helm of the Indians with Joel Hanrahan as his pitching coach and John Nunnally as his hitting coach.
While not as exciting as some of the team's in the lower levels of the Minor Leagues, Triple-A will have some players who are going to make an impact on the Pirates this season. Guys like Cole Tucker, Miguel Yajure, and Oneil Cruz should all start there this season, and all three of those players could impact the Pirates this season. With a few top prospects and several players who had solid Spring Trainings, there will be a lot to watch at the Triple-A level. The full roster has not yet been announced, and will most likely come sometime this week, but we can make some assumptions as to who will be playing against the Iowa Cubs on May 4th. Today, we give you our Triple-A Indianapolis season preview as they look to get back to baseball in 2021.
Guys to Watch:
Many of the guys to watch at the Triple-A level are guys that could be in Pittsburgh as early as this season. The Pirate's #4 overall prospect Oneil Cruz leads the list of players to watch and will be bouncing around between a couple of different positions this year. His primary position is shortstop, but with the Pirates having an influx of Middle Infielders, the team has also been trying him out in the outfield as well. His offense has been undeniable throughout his Minor League career, and in 2019 he hit .298 with eight home runs and 34 RBI in 73 games played. He has some pop in his bat and is looking to shake off injury troubles and off-the-field issues to be a star for the Pirates down the road.
Another guy Pirates fans will be keeping their eyes on at Triple-A Indianapolis is Cole Tucker, a guy who has already made his MLB debut. Tucker had problems offensively this Spring Training, hitting just .174 with an RBI. The Pirates sent him to Bradenton to work on his offensive game, and he should start the year once again at Triple-A Indianapolis. Tucker has seemingly moved back to the infield at shortstop, where he is much more comfortable defensively, and that alone may help him focus more on his offensive game. Tucker has a career .215 average at the Major League level with three home runs and 21 RBI in 37 games played. These are just two of the many players that will impact the Pirates sooner rather than later as they try to help the Pirates get back to winning.
A Peek At The Starting Rotation
On the pitching side, there isn't nearly as much prowess in Triple-A as on the offensive side, but there are still some fun pitchers to watch. Without currently knowing the make-up of the roster, I would tend to guess that the rotation will include #14 overall prospect Miguel Yajure, Cody Ponce, Chase De Jong, Steven Wright, and 2020 Minor League Rule 5 Draft pick Jeffrey Passantino. Four of the five starters have at least some Big League experience and are looking to show they can impact the Pirates sooner rather than later. The most exciting of these guys for me is a guy we have already seen pitch in the Majors this season in Miguel Yajure. He pitched well in his lone start of the season, going 4.1 innings while giving up four runs, three of those coming in the fifth inning. However, at 22-years-old, he still has some development to do at Triple-A before he can join the rotation full-time.
Another guy I'm looking at to have a big year is a guy the Pirates did not get a chance to evaluate in Spring Training. Jeffrey Passantino came over from the Chicago Cubs in the Rule 5 Draft and has quickly climbed the Minor League ladder. He climbed four levels of the Cubs Minor League system in 2019 and went 6-2 with a 3.03 ERA. He made his Triple-A debut at the end of the season last year and made two starts, allowing two runs over nine innings of work. At 25-years-old, Passantino is on the cusp of breaking through to the Big Leagues and should get a full season as a Triple-A starter in 2021. If he continues to succeed, he could be a guy we see in a Pirate uniform at the end of this season or the middle of next season.
Prospects Fighting For Their Lives
While there are many prospects in Triple-A fighting to make the MLB for their first time, there are also those prospects fighting for their baseball lives. Guys who have either been fluctuating up and down between the Major Leagues and Minor Leagues, or players that are just aging out of prospect status. One guy that comes to mind is Tribe's first baseman, Will Craig. Craig has been with the Pirates since the 2016 season, and has either been blocked or hasn't blown the Pirates away. He is a career, .259 hitter with 51 home runs and 264 RBI in 449 career games with a TON of strikeouts. Craig has shown power in his career, with 23 home runs in 2019, but has shown little to excite the team and had a subpar Spring Training hitting just .241 with a home run and an RBI. Craig is looking to put it together this season, and finally, earn that extended look in the Big Leagues.
Reliever Matt Eckelman is another guy in this category who has been in the Pirates system since 2016. He is in his age 27 season and still hasn't been given as much as an invitation to Big League Spring Training. However, don't let that fool you as he has been a workhorse in the Minor Leagues. He has held every role you could possibly hold, being a starter early in his career and now serving as the Indians closer. Eckelman is 16-15 with a 3.43 ERA and 41 saves over 233.1 innings of work in the Minor Leagues. He is an imposing force at 6'3, 281 pounds, and uses that size to get his fastball consistently in the upper 90s. Indianapolis is going to be an important training ground for these young Bucs over the next couple of seasons, and we will likely see many future Pirates stars come across Victory Field.
The Indianapolis Indians will open their season on May 4th, 2021, when they take on the Iowa Cubs. The Pittsburgh Pirates (11-11) bring Interleague play to PNC Park for the first time in 2021 when they host the Kansas City Royals (14-7) at 6:35 pm. Tyler Anderson (2-2, 3.92) makes his fifth start of the season for the Pirates as he goes against Jakob Junis (1-0, 3.17) for the Royals. You can watch the game on AT&T Sportsnet 2, listen on 93.7 The Fan, or follow along with us on Twitter at @Buccos_Cove.
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