Pirates Prospect Watch: Bido Dazzles, Smith-Njigba and Martin Homer

When it comes to pitchers amongst the Pittsburgh Pirates’ prospects, right-hander Osvaldo Bido might not be the first name that comes to mind.

Bido spent all of last season with Triple-A Indianapolis, finishing the year with a 3-8 record and a 4.53 ERA in 32 appearances/25 starts. He struck out 122 batters in 111.1 frames.

The Pirates gave Bido an opportunity to start Friday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays and he delivered as the Bucs were victorious.

Bido kept the Rays off the scoreboard and out of the hit column in his two innings of work. He walked one and punched out four batters.

Bido may have set the tone for the win, but he received some help later from some Pirates’ prospects later to ensure the victory.

Canaan Smith-Njigba slugged his second home run in his last three games played in the third inning. The outfielder continued his strong performance this spring, raising his OPS to a healthy .856.

Later in the game, Mason Martin displayed his impressive power with an eye-opening home run. Martin cleared the batter’s eye in straightaway center field. The blast measured 417 feet.

In Other News…

The trio mentioned above were not the only Pirates’ prospects who had a hand in the Pirates’ sixth win of the spring.

Right-hander Cody Bolton has looked good out of the bullpen and he finished off the victory by covering the final two frames. Bolton didn’t allow a base runner and struck out a pair en route to his second save this spring.

Serving as the leadoff hitter, Ji-hwan Bae went 1 for 2 with an RBI-double. He was also hit by a pitch, stole a base and scored a run for the Pirates.

Finally, Nick Gonzales, who has certainly been a bright spot for the Pirates this spring, contineud to shine. He registered another hard-hit single in his only at-bat. Gonzales bumped up his batting average to .409 and his OPS to 1.003.