Pirates Prospect Watch: Bowen, Brannigan Pick Up Hits

The Salt River Rafters squared off against the Mesa Solar Sox Monday night after a scheduled day off on Sunday. Pittsburgh Pirates prospects Jase Bowen (RF) and Jack Brannigan (SS) started for Salt River. 

In addition, Pirates prospect Cameron Junker made a relief appearance.

The Rafters came into Monday night’s game on a four-game losing streak and were looking to turn things around. However, some bad pitching from the Rafters deflated any chance of breaking the streak. 

Salt River’s bullpen imploded in the sixth inning and allowed seven runs to score. The Solar Sox came back from a 7-3 deficit in a hurry. 

Eventually, the Solar Sox bested the Rafters by a score of 10-8. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t have any way of obtaining advanced numbers Monday night. No exit velocities or any other advanced numbers will exist in today’s recap.

Bowen

The Ohio native batted second in the Rafters lineup and had a rough night at the plate, going 1-5 with a single. In addition, Bowen struck out twice.

However, Bowen upped his hit total to 24, placing him in sole possession of second place in total hits for the fall league. In addition, Bowen is tied for first in games played (17) and is atop of the fall league in total at-bats (69).

The Pittsburgh Pirates prospect is getting a full workload and then some.

Brannigan

Brannigan picked up a hit Monday night, but the same issues keep popping up for him, and that’s strikeouts. The Notre Dame product went 1-3 with a single, two runs scored, a hit by pitch, a stolen base, and two strikeouts. 

The strikeouts are becoming a big concern for Brannigan in the fall league. Counting the two Ks he had on Monday, Brannigan has struck out 23 times (second worst) in 51 at-bats. If my math is right, that’s about 45.1% of the time.

The power is there, and so is the talent. It may be a case of fatigue, but these strikeout numbers are something we can’t ignore. 

Junker

Unfortunately for Junker, he was a part of the sixth-inning debacle for Salt River. Junker came in relief for Carlos Meza, who had already given up four earned runs (five in total) for the inning. 

Junker struggled and, as a result, allowed another two earned runs of his own on two hits and a walk. In addition, Junker struck out two Solar Sox in the inning.