Pirates Prospect Watch: Gonzales Grand Slam; Solometo, Nicolas Shine

It was a big day for multiple Pittsburgh Pirates prospects on Wednesday in an action-packed night of baseball down on the farm.

Nick Gonzales clubbed a grand slam for Triple-A Indianapolis en route to a big win for the Indians.

On the mound, pitching prospects Kyle Nicolas and Anthony Solometo combined for 12 shutout innings as each starter threw six shutout frames.

There’s plenty more to dive into from Wednesday’s action. Here are the Pirates’ prospects who stood out.

Indianapolis (25-27)

LF Canaan Smith-Njigba

• Game stats: 2 for 5, one home run, three RBIs, one run
• Season stats: .241/.333/.542, five doubles, one triples, six home runs, 15 RBIs, three steals, 22 games

INF Nick Gonzales

• Game stats: 1 for 4, one home run, four RBIs, one run, one walk
• Season stats: .252/.337/.445, nine doubles, three triples, five home runs, 19 RBIs, one steal, 39 games

Smith-Njigba and Gonzales combined to drive in seven of the Indians’ runs in their dominating 13-1 win over the Toledo Mudhens.

Jared Triolo collected a pair of hits while Endy Rodriguez hit his third triple of the season. Pirates prospect Travis Swaggerty made his return to Indianapolis and went 0 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored.

Altoona (23-22)

RHP Kyle Nicolas

• Game stats: 6.0 innings, two hits, no runs, one walk, eight strikeouts
• Season stats: 3-5, 4.05 ERA, 21er/46.2ip, 49 hits, 20 walks, 56 strikeouts, 10 appearances/10 starts

1B Mason Martin

• Game stats: 2 for 4, one home run, two RBIs, one run, one walk
• Season stats: .216/.413/.529, five doubles, nine home runs, 26 RBIs, four steals, 32 games

Nicolas’ brilliance and Martin’s home run helped lead Altoona to a 4-3 win in 10 innings over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.

Matt Gorski also went deep for the Curve while Pirates prospects Lolo Sanchez and Jacob Gonzalez had two hits apiece.

Greensboro (24-21)

LHP Anthony Solometo

• Game stats: 6.0 innings, three hits, no runs, two walks, five strikeouts
• Season stats: 2-3, 2.77 ERA, 15er/48.2ip, 32 hits, 24 walks, 57 strikeouts, 10 appearances/10 starts

SS Tsung-Che Cheng

• Game stats: 2 for 4, one home run, two RBIs, two runs, one walk
• Season stats: .293/.399/.565, seven doubles, six triples, seven home runs, 23 RBIs, 12 steals, 40 games

Solometo and Cheng both continued their excellent 2023 campaigns in Greensboro’s 6-1 win over the Winston-Salem Dash on Wednesday.

Pirates prospect Jase Bowen clubbed his ninth homer of the season in the win.

Bradenton (24-23)

RHP J.P. Massey

• Game stats:  4.0 innings, three hits, one run, three walks, four strikeouts
• Season stats: 2-2, 2.58 ERA, 11er/38.1ip, 32 hits, 18 walks, 48 strikeouts, nine appearances/seven starts

C Geovanny Planchart

• Game stats: 1 for 2, one RBI, two walks
• Season stats: .224/.304/.296, four doubles, one home run, 17 RBIs, two steals, 32 games

Massey had another strong start on the mound while Planchart was on base three times, but the Marauders fell 2-1 to the Tampa Tarpons in 10 innings.

Pirates prospect Enmanuel Terrero went 2 for 5.