Pirates Minor League Report: Big League Debuts Approaching?

Pirates’ affiliates won both of the games they played on Wednesday night, with top prospects Thomas Harrington and Nick Yorke each turning in excellent performances. Given how fellow prospect Billy Cooke got called up to the big leagues following a hot stretch at the plate, Yorke could be bound for Pittsburgh soon.

Triple-A Indianapolis picked up a 6-4 win, with Yorke going 4-for-4 and coming a triple shy of the cycle. The former first round pick is hitting .375 with an OPS of .986 in 36 games with Indianapolis.

Right-hander Thomas Harrington allowed two runs in the first inning then settled down to blank Rochester from there, completing 6.2 innings on an efficient 86 pitches. Harrington’s case for a big league call up is a bit more tenuous because there’s less of a need for his immediate services—not to mention the complications of opening a 40-man roster spot for him—but with a 2.64 ERA overall this season and a 3.51 margin in Indianapolis, he seems close to ready.

Endy Rodríguez doubled for Altoona, his first hit since returning from Tommy John surgery, while Kervin Pichardo hit a pair of doubles and Tsung-Che Cheng recorded three hits. Left-handed starter Dominic Perachi allowed seven hits but just two runs in five innings, benefitting from seven strikeouts and strong defense behind him in order to limit the damage.

Here are the stats from Wednesday’s noteworthy performances.

Triple-A Indianapolis (71-66)

2B Nick Yorke

• Game: 4-for-4 with a double and a homer.
• Season: .307/.387/.458 with 33 doubles and 12 homers in 119 games between the Pirates and Red Sox organizations.

RHP Thomas Harrington

• Game: 6.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 K’s.
• Season: 112.1 IP, 2.64 ERA, 110 K’s in 21 appearances (20 starts) throughout the Pirates organization.

Double-A Altoona (59-75)

SS Tsung-Che Cheng

• Game: 3-for-4 with a double.
• Season: .218/.321/.343 with 18 doubles and 11 homers in 122 games.

3B Kervin Pichardo

• Game: 2-for-4 with 2 doubles.
• Season: .251/.305/.376 with 14 doubles, 2 triples and 11 homers in 115 games.