Pirates Prospect Watch: Young Bucs Held Hitless Wednesday

Wednesday, Nov. 1, the Salt River Rafters squared off against The Peoria Javelinas in Peoria. Pittsburgh Pirates prospects Carter Bins (C) and Jase Bowen (CF) were in Salt River’s starting lineup. 

In addition, there were no Pirates pitchers who played in Wednesday’s game. 

It was a game for the baseball purists. Through the first four innings, it was a 0-0 game. In the fifth inning, Salt River struck for two runs and then struck for another run in the sixth inning. 

Salt River’s pitching staff held Peoria to only two hits and won in shutout fashion, 3-0. In addition, Salt River is now 13-13 and has moved to 2.5 games back of first place. 

Bins

For the fifth time, Pittsburgh Pirates prospect Carter Bins started behind the plate. After a nagging injury to Bins, it was difficult for him to get any real-time as a catcher. 

It surprises me that he’s only played in five games as a catcher. Anyways, 

Bins struggled at the plate on Wednesday. The righty went 0-4 with two strikeouts. 

In addition, Bins’ average dropped to .333, and he holds an OPS of .979.

Bowen

Bowen has had a rough time in the past few weeks. The Ohio native either grabs just one hit or, in this case, none at all. Bowen did, however, draw a walk. 

In addition, Bowen went 0-3 at the plate with a strikeout and a stolen base (his third).

Bowen’s average dropped to .313 with an OPS of .898. Although these are great numbers, he has now dropped out of the top ten in OPS and is holding the tenth spot in average by a thread. 

Bowen now ranks 16th in OPS, tied for seventh in RBIs (16), fourth in hits (26), 24th in OBP (.380), and 14th in slugging (.518).