Pirates Prospect Watch: Contreras Makes Another Start on Road to Redemption

It was Paul Skenes’ day, but plenty of other fireworks exploded for the Pittsburgh Pirates and their farm system. 

One of the Pirates’ key pieces moving forward, Roansy Contreras pitched Saturday night, and despite having early struggles, he settled down. 

Despite Skenes having a bad night, the Curve didn’t disappoint the record amount of fans at People’s Natural Gas Field. 

Let’s take a look at some of these Pirates’ prospects and head down to the farm.

Indianapolis (58-65)

SS Nick Gonzales

• Game stats: 1-4, one homer, one run scored, one RBI
• Season stats: .265/.383/.452, eight homers, five triples, 18 doubles, and 33 RBIs (279 at-bats, or 74 games in Triple-A)

RHP Roansy Contreras

• Game stats: 5.0 IP, six hits, two earned runs, no walks, and six strikeouts
• Season stats: 0-0, 2.50 ERA, 18.0 IP, six walks, and 17 strikeouts in five games (four starts)

Contreras struggled early in his start for Indianapolis but settled down after he gave up a solo homer in the third inning. Contreras would end the day with six strikeouts.

In addition, Contreras’ fastball averaged 92.2 mph and had an average exit velocity against of 87.5 mph with seven balls put into play.

The Indians fell to the Cubs 4-3. Gonzales homered, and Ryan Vilade drove in Indianapolis’s only other RBI of the game.

Altoona (56-60)

DH Joe Perez

• Game stats: 3-3, one homer, two runs scored, two walks, and two RBIs
• Season stats: .270/.345/.450, 16 homers, two triples, 14 doubles, and 58 RBIs (367 at-bats, or 100 games between Triple-A and Double-A)

C Carter Bins

• Game stats: 3-5, one run scored, one RBI
• Season stats: .164/.261/.246, one homer, two doubles, and seven RBIs (61 at-bats, or 19 games between FCL, Low-A, and Double-A)

A record-setting crowd in Altoona came to see Paul Skenes’ pitch but stayed for the on-field fireworks in the bottom of the ninth.

Coming up to the plate, Bins delivered a line drive up the middle, scoring Matt Gorski. That walk-off homer gave the Curve a 9-8 victory over the Rubber Ducks.

In addition, Skenes’ Double-A debut didn’t go to plan as he went just 0.2 innings and gave up four earned runs on three hits.

Greensboro (63-53)

RHP Santiago Florez

• Game stats: 2.0 IP, two hits, no runs, one walk and three strikeouts
• Season stats: 5-2, 6.18 ERA, 39.1 IP, 21 walks, and 40 strikeouts in 34 games (no starts)

RHP Jake Stevenson

• Game stats: 2.0 IP, one hit, no runs, three walks, and two strikeouts
• Season stats: 2-0, 1.88 ERA, 24.0 IP, 18 walks, and 25 strikeouts in 21 games (one start)

The Grasshoppers offense had no answer for Hurston Waldrep as he struck out ten batters in 4.2 innings. The two runs Greensboro scored in the fourth inning occurred due to errors.

Po-Yu Chen struggled as he allowed four runs in three innings of work. The Grasshoppers fell 4-2 to Rome.

Bradenton (67-51)

LF Sergio Campana

• Game stats: 3-4, a triple, run scored, and an RBI
• Season stats: .203/.393/.313, two triples, three doubles, and four RBIs (64 at-bats, or 23 games)

CF Lonnie White Jr.

• Game stats: 2-5, a homer, two runs scored, and two RBIs
• Season stats: .277/.415/.467, seven homers, one triple, 12 doubles, and 36 RBIs (184 at-bats, or 50 games between the FCL and Low-A)

The Marauders’ three-game winning streak ended Saturday night against Jupiter.

Bradenton nearly made a comeback in the ninth inning, down 8-5; White Jr. hit a two-run homer to cut the lead to 9-8. With a runner on first, Charles McAdoo grounded out to end the game.