Pirates Pitching Prospects on the Move
The Pirates promoted minor league pitchers Connor Wietgrefe, Jack Anker, and Carlos Mateo.
After a busy start to the week, I took most of yesterday away from baseball.
Pirates Prospects, however, is designed to never take a day off. It doesn’t even take an hour off.
I woke up and learned from the site’s Twitter account that Estuar Suero retired.
As someone who spent over a decade in a slight panic that I’d miss posting any kind of news to the site, this was a weird feeling. I had that instant panic that I needed to jump into work mode almost immediately after waking up. That’s when I realized my panic was from being scooped by my own site.
Suero was originally acquired in the Rich Hill/Ji-Man Choi trade at the 2023 trade deadline. He was a very young prospect from the international ranks that season, with a lot of upside hopes for his power potential. He never put up numbers that carried that potential to the field.
The outfielder was also injured a lot the last two seasons, including an injury that had him on the IL when he retired. It’s possible he retired due to the injury.
Yesterday was actually a busy day throughout the Pittsburgh Pirates’ system. I want to comment on some of the movement, but first, something more serious.
One of the moves was Omar Alfonzo being placed on the temporary inactive list in Altoona.
After the recent earthquakes in Venezuela, a hotel that was holding the families of players in the area collapsed. Reports are that Alfonzo’s mother and sister are missing in the collapse. They were with Alfonzo’s father, former big league catcher Eliezer Alfonzo. The wife of former Pirates outfielder Gorkys Hernandez is also among the missing.
Hope for the best for the Alfonzo family, the wife of Hernandez, and all families affected during this tragic time.
There’s a reason baseball exists.
I sometimes get frustrated at the fact baseball is nothing more than a distraction, with too many people spending their life focused on distractions. I’m saying that as someone who has run a site for nearly two decades which distracts from real life matters. I’ve even had to take a few breaks in part to catch up on real life and avoid my brain being exclusively filled with baseball knowledge.
But sometimes, the serious matters are unavoidable.
Sometimes, the chaos of this universe is relentless.
Distractions are needed, and baseball has always been one of my favorite escapes. If you’re reading this, that’s probably true for you as well.
Following the Pirates is almost like controlled chaos. It might rarely be comforting, but the level of chaos is predictable. When the Pirates win, it’s a different feeling. It’s like a momentary exception where every bad thing in the universe feels like it can be overcome.
At its best, I think professional sports serve to provide that level of escape, especially during times of unthinkable tragedy.
I also believe that the appeal of baseball prospects is a contingency plan. It’s a hope for the future when even the escape from the present serves as a reminder that the universe remains undefeated.
The Pirates won yesterday, finishing the first half with a 41-40 record. So, there’s a bit of a feeling like the universe has been defeated, or at the least, knocked back on its heels.
There were also a few moves on the prospect side that stood out if you’re also watching for the future.
Right-handed pitcher Jack Anker was promoted from Bradenton to Greensboro. The 2025 sixth rounder had been on fire with the Marauders over his last ten starts, combining for a 3.02 ERA in 41.2 innings, with a 39:7 K/BB. He will now face the challenge of the hitter friendly confines in Greensboro.
Anker made his debut on the road, allowing one run in four innings, with three walks and four strikeouts. He had 15 whiffs, which led the system yesterday from the Majors through the DSL.
Carlos Mateo was promoted from the FCL to Bradenton. I’ve talked about Mateo a few times, including in yesterday’s article about the best fastballs in the system. Mateo’s fastball is not only the fastest recorded pitch in the system this year, but also has the highest whiff rate for fastballs. That did come against FCL hitters. His performance against Low-A talent will be fun to watch.
Best Fastballs in the Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League System
The latest addition to the new PiratesProspects.com is the addition of a sortable Pitch Data table.
Connor Wietgrefe continued the chain of pitching moves, going from Altoona to Indianapolis. The 2024 seventh rounder had a 2.88 ERA in 50 innings over his last ten starts in Altoona, while striking out 60 during that span. He recently capped off his Double-A time with one earned run in 23 innings over his final four starts, along with 29 strikeouts.
The Triple-A debut from Wietgrefe didn’t go as well. The lefty pitched six innings, allowing five earned runs, with a walk, eight hits, and three strikeouts. Wietgrefe has been getting a lot of swing and miss this year, including the second-highest whiff total in the system during yesterday’s games. His fastball sat 90 MPH, and he picked up four whiffs on his changeup, with three from the slider.
The Pirates placed Spencer Horwitz on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain. They recalled Jack Brannigan from Altoona to take his spot. I have a feeling Brannigan is only a temporary addition until Konnor Griffin is ready to return from his rehab work. Griffin hit a home run and tripled for Altoona in seven innings during his first rehab appearance on Wednesday night.
As for yesterday’s games, I continue to be amused that Brandon Lowe and Murf Gray are neck-and-neck for the system home run lead. They both hit their 19th homers of the season yesterday. Lowe hit his 19th homer for the Pirates in the early innings of their afternoon game. Later that evening, Gray hit his 11th homer for Greensboro and 19th on the season. That home run was actually the Minor League Play of the Day.
I did a little bit of work on Pirates Prospects yesterday, running a large data download for the next addition to the site.
Earlier this week I added Minor League Splits and sortable Pitch metrics.
The next addition might not be ready until next week. Then again, it also might be ready tomorrow.
Until then, the site will keep updating.
And I’ll keep updating the site with new things to update.
The next time I go live…
-Tim Williams