9-29-21 – By Gary Morgan @garymo2007 on Twitter
No matter what happened, no matter who did what, this game was always going to be about the few innings the Pirates brass allowed Roansy Contreras to pitch as he made his Pirates debut, at PNC Park no less.
The Pirates number 6 prospect has thrown all of 3.2 innings in AAA, largely due to time missed nursing an elbow issue so to say his callup was a bit unexpected is close to an understatement.
Heading into this one the Pirates put him on a 65 pitch limit and he put up 3 scoreless, touching 97-98 on the gun and breaking off nasty sliders. The first inning was a bit shaky, and honestly it was good to see how he fought through it to keep the Cubs off the board.
All in all, a very successful debut for Contreras and while it wasn’t a long night, it was indeed positive. And this is a big reason why, he has a 20 MPH velocity difference in his off speed and fastball, with this kind of release point map.
When everything looks like it’s coming from the same spot then does something completely different, man that’s a thing of beauty. It’s always fun to see the kids come up and do it on the biggest stage in the world, especially when they look like they belong from the jump. Next year he’ll have more opportunity, more growth and who knows, maybe even many more nights on a big league mound.
Speaking of, how about Bryan Reynolds who is on an absolute tear right now, gunning for milestones. This one got him to .299 and damn near 25 HR.
The Bucs would come out of the 6th with a slim 2-1 lead and then Chasen Shreve and Nick Mears allowed the Cubs to retake the lead on this blast by their Contreras.
The score stayed 3-2 Cubs through the 8th and Kyle Keller was called upon to keep the Cubbies there in the 9th. He made it one hell of an adventure but got the Pirates to the bottom of the 9th down one with a shot to steal one.
Alas the Cubbies closed it out and the Bucs spoil Roansy night 3-2.
News & Notes
- Roansy Contreras is the highest ranked prospect (6) to make his Pittsburgh debut since Mitch Keller did the same in 2019.
- The Brewers Devin Williams will miss the rest of the season. Injuring himself punching a wall in celebration. What a blow for the Brew Crew.
- Bryan Reynolds was named team MVP, I know shocker.
- David Bednar was named the Steve Blass Pitcher of the Year.
- Jacob Stallings was named the best with the media, for whatever that’s worth. He’s always good for some nice quotes.
- Ke’Bryan Hayes was placed on the IL today, he’s been experiencing pain in his wrist, but in a different spot than the previous injury so his season is effectively over. His 2021 ends with a 2.3 WAR with a .257 Average and an OPS of .689. As rookie seasons go, not so bad. Take his injury time and plop in his 2020 numbers and it looks a whole lot more like a true complete work and probably more representative of the player. 4.2 WAR, .280 Average and an OPS of .772. You’ll take that 7 days a week and twice on Sunday folks. Still very positive on this kid even if he isn’t Ted Williams.
- Roansy was the corresponding move for Ke’Bryan Hayes today so the Pirates will want a replacement player, I wouldn’t be completely shocked if it was Cruz or Castro. Either one have been good in AAA since the call up.
- That’s loss number 99, brace yourselves for I told you so’s on the old social scene.
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