Pirates Prospects

Pirates Prospect Watch: Shortridge Impressive in Debut, Gonzales Stays Hot

Published

7 months ago

September 21, 2023

For the second straight game, the Pittsburgh Pirates Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis put up double-digits against Rochester. Wednesday afternoon’s game was filled with more offense from the likes of Nick Gonzales, Canaan Smith-Njigba and Joe Perez.

The aforementioned names attributed to nine of the 14 runs scored for the Indians.

Aaron Shortridge was wild in his Triple-A debut but proved he could hang. In 5.0 innings pitched, Shortridge allowed one hit, one run, four walks, and struck out three.

Gonzales hit another triple in Wednesday’s game and finished his day going 3-5 with two RBIs. In addition, Smith-Njigba blasted his 15th homer of the season, and it was a towering shot.

On the third pitch of the at-bat, Smith-Njigba received an inside four-seam fastball and made a tremendous adjustment to send the ball 456 feet. In addition, the home run had an exit velocity of 106.7 mph.

The Indians won 14-11 after their bullpen nearly blew the game, something Pittsburgh Pirates fans have grown accustomed to this past year.

Indianapolis (68-76)

LF Canaan Smith-Njigba

Game stats: 3-5, a homer, and three RBIs
Season stats: .280/.364/.474, 15 homers, one triple, 26 doubles, and 72 RBIs (378 at-bats, or 102 games at Triple-A)

2B Nick Gonzales

Game stats: 3-5, a triple, and two RBIs
Season stats: .284/.386/.510, 13 homers, eight triples, 26 doubles, and 47 RBIs (359 at-bats, or 95 games at Triple-A)

DH Joe Perez

Game stats: 2-5, a homer, and four RBIs
Season stats: .268/.358/.440, 18 homers, two triples, 15 doubles, and 69 RBIs (425 at-bats, or 117 games between Double-A and Triple-A)

Shortridge made his Triple-A debut Wednesday afternoon, which could be why he walked four Rochester batters.

Despite only having an average of 92.1 mph on his four-seam, Rochester had difficulty making solid contact against Shortridge. Out of 39 total four-seams, Shortridge had 15 called strikes or whiffs, and just four were put into play.

The average exit velocity on Shortridge’s four-seam was 77.4 mph. In addition, out of 13 total balls put into play, Rochester averaged just 81.9 mph in exit velocity against Shortridge.

Thanks to the Indians’ offense, though, Indianapolis squeaked by Rochester by a score of 14-11.