Greensboro Grasshoppers Success a Sign of Good Things to Come
On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Pirates finished a series win in St. Louis, but for the tenth time, they failed to secure a sweep. They fell to Adam Wanwright and the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0, and are the third team in Major League Baseball to reach the 80-loss mark this season. They followed it up by taking the first two games against the Arizona Diamondbacks, and open up play tonight at 46-80. Things look pretty grim for the Major League club, but down in the Minor Leagues, there is a different tune. A lot of the prospects that Ben Cherington has been acquiring over the last year and a half are playing 430 miles south in a little town in North Carolina. They are giving Pirates fans something to hope for as this rebuild takes shape.
That group is the Pirates High-A Affiliate Greensboro Grasshoppers, who enter play tonight at 60-36. They are currently in second place in the High-A East Division standings, but st 7.0 games back of first-place Bowling Green. The offense came out to play in their latest game, as they defeated that same Bowling Green team 11-6, wrapping up a six-game series where they went 2-4 against the top team. It is at this level where guys like Nick Gonzales, Quinn Priester, and Henry Davis are playing and they are gelling as a group. Hopefully for the Pirates future, they are learning to win together and can bring that winning with them to the Major League level. Today, we look at the success of the Greensboro Grasshoppers, and how they can give Pirates fans some hope moving forward.
Top Prospects Are Hot
The biggest positive coming out of Greensburg isn't necessarily that the team as a whole is having success, but that some of the Pirates top prospects are the catalysts for that success. It starts with Pirates 2020 first-round draft pick Nick Gonzales, who is the starting second baseman for the Grasshoppers. In his first year of pro ball, Gonzales is hitting .298 with 10 home runs and 31 RBI in 60 games played. He did spend nearly a month of the season on the Injured List after falling into a cold slump at the plate. It took him a little bit to get going after his return, hitting .176 in July and .265 in June, but he is back on track in August, hitting .373 with with four home runs and 12 RBI.
On the mound, Pirates #4 overall prospect Quinn Priester has gone from a slow start to being one of the most dominant pitchers in the High-A East Division. After posting a 7.71 ERA through his first two starts of the season, Priester settled down and has posted an ERA in the mid-threes or lower in every single month. He currently sits at 5-3 with a 3.08 ERA over 16 starts this season, and has dropped his career ERA to 3.11. He has struck out five or more batters in seven of those 16 starts and is pitching to a 3.18 ERA here in the month of August. He got roughed up a little bit last time out, allowing four earned runs in five innings, but before that he was pitching to a 1.44 ERA over his last four starts.
Even, prospects from this year's draft are making an impact, including first overall pick Henry Davis. In his first six games with the Grasshoppers, Davis is hitting .263 with two home runs and three RBI over 19 at-bats. He has been hitting the gaps well this season, as three of his first five hits in Greensboro have gone for extra bases (one triple and two home runs). Defensively, he still has some development to do as he had allowed two passed balls, but his arm strength is showing as opposing base stealers are 1-2 against him. Matt Frazier was another big producer for Greensboro, hitting .314 with 20 home runs and 50 RBI in 75 games, but he ended up getting promoted to Double-A Altoona. The top prospects are leading the way, but it is the total team effort getting it done.
Support Pieces Succeeding
Now you can have all the star talent you want on a team, but without good support system you aren't going to go to the next level. For the Grasshoppers, they have a good support group of players that are helping to supplement the high-level talent. At the beginning of the year, it was Aaron Shackleford leading the way, but as if late it is Will Mathiessen who has stepped up. After a sluggish start to the season, Mathiessen has turned it on in August, hitting .328 with five home runs and 24 RBI this month. Newly promoted Yoyner Fajardo is also giving the team a jolt right now, hitting .333 with two RBI over his first 27 high-A at-bats while playing both in the outfield and the infield.
The Hoppers have also had great work from their bullpen, and it starts with their closer Oliver Garcia. In 29 appearances, spanning 40.2 innings of work, he has gone 4-2 with a 3.32 ERA. He has gone 8-10 in save opportunities this season, and has struck out 43 batters while walking 27. In the starting rotation, one of those supplemental pieces has been right-hander Michael Burrows. Burrows has made 11 starts for the Hoppers and has gone 2-2 wit a 2.25 ERA over 44 innings of work. The Piratws are being careful with innings throughout the organization, and Burrows has been included in that. However, he has shown he can be a consistent presence on the mound and that he can miss bats. Opponents are hitting just .139 against Burrows and he has a career high 63 strikeouts in those 44 innings of work.
While the success of Greensboro may not have a direct impact on the Major League team, it is a sign of things to come. In a few years, when the Pirates are supposed to be competitive again, most of these prospects will be in the Big Leagues. If they can bring the winning that they are doing now to the Big Leagues, there could be a championship in Pittsburgh sooner than you think. Not everyone in Greensboro is going to work out, but hat is where complimentary pieces like the Russel Martins and AJ Burnetts of the world will fit in. Things may look grim now, but the future is coming and it is looking like there are good things ahead.
Comments
Post a Comment