Pirates Prospects

Pirates Prospect Watch: Gonzales and Head Continue to Slug

Published

6 months ago

April 17, 2024

Pittsburgh Pirates' Nick Gonzales celebrates as he crosses home plate after hitting a two-run home run off Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Colin Rea during the second inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh, Sunday, July 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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