Pirates Prospect Watch: Gonzales and Head Continue to Slug

Pirates’ minor league affiliates kicked off a new week of games with a rough 1-3 showing, although plenty of prospects made their mark regardless of the difficult outcomes.

Triple-A Indianapolis picked up the only win of the day, outlasting the St. Paul Twins 10-6 despite committing four errors and allowing 11 hits. Among the headliners for Indianapolis’ offense was 2020 first round pick Nick Gonzales, who ended the day a home run short of the cycle. The Bowie Bay Sox lambasted the Altoona Curve on the way to a 10-4 final. The game was tied 4-4 at the seventh inning stretch, but the Bay Sox obliterated Altoona’s bullpen during their final two innings at the plate.

Greensboro fell 5-4 in ten innings, saving the game with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth, but they couldn’t pull out a walk-off win. Bradenton’s miserable season continued, as the Marauders lost 5-2 despite a pair of excellent pitching performances. 

Here’s a look at the performances of note from Pirates’ prospects on Tuesday.

Triple-A Indianapolis (7-9)

2B Nick Gonzales

• Game: 4-for-5 with a double and a triple.
• Season: .397/.441/.619 with 9 doubles and a home run in 15 games.

CF Ji-hwan Bae

• Game: 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
• Season: .529/.636/.824 with 2 doubles and a homer in 5 rehab assignment games between Single-A Bradenton and Triple-A Indianapolis.

Double-A Altoona (4-5)

SS Tsung-Che Cheng

• Game: 3-for-3 with a home run and a walk.
• Season: .273/.500/.409 with a home run in 7 games. .

1B Aaron Shackelford

• Game: 1-for-4 with a walk.
• Season: .233/.314/.500 with 2 homers and 2 doubles in 5 games.

High-A Greensboro (6-4)

CF Hudson Head

• Game: 1-for-2 with a homer—his second in as many games—and a walk.
• Season: .143/.379/.571 with 3 homers in 8 games.

DH Josiah Sightler

• Game: 1-for-2 with a double and a walk
• Season: .138/.306/.207 with 2 doubles in 9 games.

Single-A Bradenton (1-9)

RHP Carlos Jimenez

• Game: 3 IP with 0 ER and 5 K’s.
• Season: 4.2 IP, 3.86 ERA, 7 K’s..

LHP Magdiel Cotto

• Game: 2 IP, 0 ER, no baserunners allowed and 3 K’s.
• Season: 8 IP, 1.13 ERA and 8 K’s in 4 appearances.