With the full-season minor league teams having every Monday off this year, we get to do weekly recaps based on the action from Tuesday to Sunday each week. Below you’ll find a list of the top hitters and pitchers for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the last week. The batters are sorted by OPS and they each had at least 20 plate appearances last week. The pitchers are sorted by ERA and they pitched at least four innings.
Top Hitters
- Fabricio Macias, Greensboro – In last week’s article, we noted that Macias (pictured above) had the fifth best week and it was his third straight week making the top ten. He has now made it four straight weeks with the top performance in the system last week. He hit .435/.480/.826 in 25 plate appearances, with three doubles, two homers and seven RBIs. He has a .923 OPS in 39 games this season.
- Sammy Siani, Bradenton – He hit .350/.552/.700 in 29 plate appearances last week, with two homers and eight walks. He has an .836 OPS this season.
- Will Craig, Indianapolis – Craig hit .364/.462/.773 in 26 PA’s, hitting three homers. His .977 OPS could get him back on the 40-man roster for the third time.
- Hudson Head, Bradenton – Head batted .350/.458/.700 in 24 PA’s, with two homers, seven RBIs and four walks. He has an .850 OPS this year.
- Blake Sabol, Bradenton – Sabol caught this past week, a new position for him. He also did well at the plate, hitting .353/.522/.588 in 23 PA’s.
- Jared Triolo, Greensboro – It’s taken him some time to really get going in pro ball. He’s putting up average results, especially for a high draft pick. This week was better than average, with a .333/.381/.722 slash line in 21 PA’s.
- Liover Peguero, Greensboro – The young top prospect earned the seventh spot for the second week in a row. This time he did it with a .300/.364/.650 slash line in 23 PA’s. He has an .804 OPS in 30 games.
- Calvin Mitchell, Altoona – He had the best week for the Curve, hitting .333/.391/.619 in 23 PA’s, with two homers. He finished eighth here last week. He has ten doubles and six homers this season.
- Maikol Escotto, Bradenton – He didn’t finish ninth last week, which would have been a cool coincidence. Escotto hit .300/.375/.500 in 24 PA’s this past week.
- Alexander Mojica, Bradenton – Five players from Bradenton made this list, proving to be a good week for them. Dariel Lopez would have made this list if he had one more PA, while Jase Bowen finished one spot behind Mojica, so it was even better than it looks. Mojica grabbed the tenth spot with a .250/.409/.438 line in 22 PA’s.
Top Pitchers
- Omar Cruz, Altoona – Pirates had two pitchers throw six innings without an earned run, though neither threw shutout ball. Cruz gets the top spot because he allowed just one run. He gave up five hits, with no walks and two strikeouts in his Double-A debut. Cruz finished ninth last week here.
- Eddy Yean, Bradenton – Yean earned Pitcher of the Week honors in the league formerly known as the Florida State League. He had an impressive outing that was only marred by two unearned runs. He allowed one hit, with no walks and nine strikeouts.
- Alex Manasa, Greensboro – Like Yean, Manasa has struggled this year, but this is his second straight week making this article. He tossed 4.2 innings, facing the minimum, while the only runner he allowed reached via hit-by-pitch. He had four strikeouts.
- Jared Jones, Bradenton – Jones had an outstanding start, even if he went just four innings. He struck out 11 batters, giving up two hits and a walk. He has 33 strikeouts in 18.2 innings this season.
- Carmen Mlodzinski, Greensboro – He’s been strong all year in every start. This past one was one run on two hits, with no walk and nine strikeouts, in six innings. He has a 1.72 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP and 46 strikeouts in 31.1 innings.
- Domingo Gonzalez, Bradenton – He moved into a relief role, following Jared Jones this week. All Gonzalez did was give up a solo homer over five innings, with seven strikeouts. The homer was the only hit he allowed.
- JC Flowers, Greensboro – Flowers had the second best week in last week’s article and he basically fell into a five-player tie for sixth place this week. He gave up two runs (one earned) over five innings, with four hits, no walks and two strikeouts. He has a 1.80 ERA and an 0.77 WHIP in 35 innings this year.
- Travis MacGregor, Altoona – He grabbed tenth place last week with a better outing than what got him tied for sixth this week. MacGregor allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits, two walks and three strikeouts, in five innings. He also hit three batters in this game.
- Luis Ortiz, Bradenton – Ortiz gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits, two walks and four strikeouts in five innings. He has a 4.05 ERA in 26.2 innings, with 31 strikeouts this season.
- Roansy Contreras, Altoona – He allowed one earned run over five innings, though he gave up four runs in this outing. We sort by ERA, so he’s part of that five-way tie for sixth. Contreras just moved into the top 100 prospects for Baseball America. He had the eighth best week last week.
