Pirates Minor League Report: Mike Burrows Fans 11, Top Hitters Shine

Pirates’ right-handed pitcher Mike Burrows, the No. 15 prospect in the system, made a pair of starts last week and excelled, allowing one run in 9.2 innings and fanning 18 batters, 11 of them on Sunday, May 11.

Burrows made his big league debut in the Bronx last September and has excelled with Triple-A Indianapolis to start the season, putting together a 2.63 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 27.1 innings pitched.

Other noteworthy pitching performances include 2023 12th round pick Khristian Curtis, who allowed two runs in seven innings between two starts, beginning the month of May on a hot streak after a brutal April. Hung-Leng Chang pitched five innings of one-run ball, fanning six batters for the Greensboro Grasshoppers on Thursday, May 8, while Garrett McMillan and Clevari Tejada turned in five scoreless for Greensboro and Bradenton, respectively, the following day. 

The strong performances on the mound continued with a rebound start from Thomas Harrington (4.1 innings, one earned run, seven strikeouts), as well as six innings and eight strikeouts for Wilber Dotel in Altoona, while Hunter Barco allowed his first run of the season in a 4.1 inning outing for Triple-A Indianapolis.

At the plate, Pirates 2022 first round pick Termarr Johnson hit a pair of homers on the week. Braylon Bishop and Kervin Pichardo each notched four hit games, the former slugging two homers and the latter hitting three doubles.

2024 first round pick Konnor Griffin went 4-for-4 with a double and a homer on Friday, May 9 and picked up three more hits on May 7, batting .409 on the week; Lonnie White Jr. hit a home run and logged a three hit game.