Through The Prospect Porthole: Preparing To Reshuffle The Pirates Minor League Players

2-8-22 By Craig W. Toth (aka @BucsBasement On Twitter) Exactly one month from today the Minor League Baseball Season will officially open for 90 affiliated teams across the United States. For the Pirates this means the Bradenton Marauder, the Greensboro Grasshoppers and the Altoona Curve players will officially take the field for the first timeContinue reading “Through The Prospect Porthole: Preparing To Reshuffle The Pirates Minor League Players”

Through The Prospect Porthole: Andres Alvarez Is The Forgotten Infielder In Greensboro

1-7-22 By Craig W. Toth (@BucsBasement on Twitter) Prior to the start of the 2021 Minor League Baseball Season much of the focus concerning Pirates Prospects in the Farm System was pointed squarely at Greensboro’s roster; and with good reason. Quinn Priester, Carmen Mlodzinski, Michael Burrows, Omar Cruz, Braxton Ashcraft and Tahnaj Thomas lead theContinue reading “Through The Prospect Porthole: Andres Alvarez Is The Forgotten Infielder In Greensboro”

Pirates Top 30 Prospect Trend Report

9-21-21 – By Justin Verno – @JV_PITT on Twitter The big news of the day? While there aren’t any FV bumps for any of the Bucs prospects the Pirates system now ranks as the second best system on Fangraphs. The Rays had a few guys graduate making room for the Bucs system to jump upContinue reading “Pirates Top 30 Prospect Trend Report”

Enmanuel Mejia May Have Signed Late, But He Is Quickly Catching Up To Speed

When evaluating baseball players using statistics there are usually two main trains of thought; the old school driven evaluators, where win-loss records, ERA, Batting Average, RBI and Home Runs rule the day, and new age analysts that dive into FIP, Spin Rates, OPS+, wRC+, Launch Angles and Exit Velocities dominate the conversation. I, myself, fallContinue reading “Enmanuel Mejia May Have Signed Late, But He Is Quickly Catching Up To Speed”

Michael Burrows Is Often Left Out Of The Rotation Of Future Conversations

On July 7th of this year, right-handed pitcher and Pirates Prospect, Michael Burrows took the mound for the Greensboro Grasshoppers at First National Bank Field as they faced off against the Asheville Tourists on a fairly hot and steamy Wednesday afternoon. In 5.1 innings of work and on 86 pitches, Burrows would strike out 10Continue reading “Michael Burrows Is Often Left Out Of The Rotation Of Future Conversations”

Jack Herman Is Benefiting From A Hard Reset

9-9-21 By Craig W. Toth (aka @bucsbasement on Twitter) As soon as the Minor League Baseball season was officially canceled on Tuesday June 30th, 2020, fans, as well as scouts and amateur/professional experts, knew there was going to be an effect on development; especially on the individual level. Not every player would have the opportunityContinue reading “Jack Herman Is Benefiting From A Hard Reset”

Catching Up (Pun Intended) On A Few Recent Acquisitions At A Pretty Important Position

Over the past few day I have spent a decent amount of time perusing the annals of Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects dating all the way back to about 1983; mostly focusing on catchers, as General Manager Ben Cherington has apparently made it a mission within his overall rebuilding of the Farm System to bring in someContinue reading “Catching Up (Pun Intended) On A Few Recent Acquisitions At A Pretty Important Position”

Punished Because Of Position-Jared Triolo

8-25-21 By Craig W. Toth (aka @bucsbasement on Twitter Almost two weeks after he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Houston University for the full slot value-$870,700-associated with him being the 72nd Overall Pick (Competitive Balance Round B), Jared Triolo dug into the box on a sweltering Sunday afternoon at Monongalia County Ballpark inContinue reading “Punished Because Of Position-Jared Triolo”

Matthew Fraizer Continues To Mash In Altoona

Baker Bowl (aka National League Park, Philadelphia Park or Philadelphia Base Ball Grounds/Park) was home to the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League from April 30, 1887 until it closed its gates on June 30, 1938. Unofficially though, many used the term “Bandbox”-a compact cardboard box designed to hold a hat-to describe the stadium, whereContinue reading “Matthew Fraizer Continues To Mash In Altoona”

Facing The Challenges Of Promotion Head-On – Blake Sabol

8-11-2021 By Craig W. Toth (aka @bucsbasement on Twitter) For the past month or so, and possibly longer, Pirates Fans have been clamoring for a number of players in Pittsburgh’s Farm System to be promoted up the ladder to the next level; bringing them noticeably closer at times to the day when they could findContinue reading “Facing The Challenges Of Promotion Head-On – Blake Sabol”