Pirates Prospect Watch: Ro Day in Indy; Altoona Walks it Off

Thursday night was a rather bland day for covering Pittsburgh Pirates’ prospects. A few stood out Thursday night, with Dariel Lopez going 2 for 4 and Indianapolis’ pitching staff striking out 15. Friday night was a completely different story with these Pirates prospects. Which prospects stood out? Let’s head on down to the farm and have a look-see.

Indianapolis Indians

RHP Roansy Contreras

• Game: four innings pitched, three hits, one earned run, no walks, and nine strikeouts
• Season at Triple-A: 2.76 ERA, 29.1 innings pitched, 12 walks, 40 strikeouts

INF Diego Castillo

• Game: 2 for 4 with a run scored and a strikeout
• Season at Triple-A: .250/318/.400 with one home run and three RBIs in 20 at-bats

Indianapolis nearly had a shutout with a 6-1 victory over Louisville. Contreras was the biggest story of the night, with nine strikeouts in four innings pitched. Could this start be the last “Ro Day” in Triple-A?

Altoona Curve

INF Jared Triolo

• Game: 1 for 4 with an RBI triple
• Season: .271/.371/.374 with five homers and 32 RBIs in 350 at-bats

C/INF/OF Blake Sabol

• Game: 1 for 3 with an RBI
• Season: .273/.344/.471 with 12 homers and 50 RBIs in 297 at-bats

Altoona had some late-night heroics in the bottom of the ninth. Triolo knocked in Grant Koch with an triple to tie the game and then Sabol hit a deep fly ball for a walk-off sacrifice fly. Altoona won 2-1 over Akron.

Greensboro Grasshoppers

INF Dariel Lopez

• Game: 2 for 4 with an RBI
• Season: .294/.332/.510 with 19 homers and 49 RBIs in 337 at-bats

RHP Justin Meis

• Game: 5.2 innings pitched, five hits, three earned runs, two walks, and five strikeouts
• Season in High-A: 5.97 ERA, 37.2 innings pitched, 20 walks, and 38 strikeouts

Greensboro was cruising until the sixth inning when Meis gave up a three-run homer. One bad pitch was the story of this game, and Greensboro fell to Bowling Green 5-2. Lopez continued to impress with yet another multi-hit game.

Bradenton Marauders

RHP Valentin Linarez

• Game: six innings pitched, two hits, one run (zero earned), three walks, and five strikeouts
• Season: 4.37 ERA, 70.0 innings pitched, 35 walks, and 77 strikeouts

INF Juan Jerez

• Game: pinch-hit RBI triple in the top of the 10th
• Season: .211/.280/.353 with four homers and 30 RBIs in 190 at-bats

Bradenton went into extras and came out victorious after a pinch-hit RBI triple from Jerez and a throwing error from the catcher in the top of the 10th. Linarez shoved for six innings as the Marauders beat Fort Myers 4-3.