Prospect tracker

1 Henry Davis, C, High-A Greensboro: In six games played in the Pirates’ organization, Davis is hitting .478 with three homers and seven RBIs. Since being called up to Greensboro last week, he has homered in his last two games and is now 5-for-12 with three extra-base hits. His first at-bat there resulted in a triple off the center field wall, and he was thrown out at home trying to stretch it into an inside-the-park homer. It’s a heck of a start for the first overall pick.

2 Quinn Priester, RHP, High-A Greensboro: Priester put it all together in his last start. He pitched seven shutout innings with two walks and 10 strikeouts. That’s a career high in strikeouts, tied for a career high in innings pitched and just his second shutout outing of the season. He now has a 2.80 ERA and 68 strikeouts in 74 innings pitched. Opponents are hitting .219 against him. He’s picking up a ton of steam.

3 Oneil Cruz, SS, Class AA Altoona: Cruz has been out since the end of June with a right forearm injury. He’s really close to coming back, though, his manager Miguel Perez said this week, and should rejoin the team sometime in the next week or so.

4 Nick Gonzales, 2B, High-A Greensboro: With Davis joining the club and Priester going nuts, Gonzales is almost an afterthought in Greensboro recently — which is funny because he’s bumped his numbers up this week, going 8-for-23 over his last five games. He’s now slashing .280/.353/.478 on the season. Solid production indeed.

5 Liover Peguero, SS, High-A Greensboro: Peguero has had a tougher go of it in terms of volume, but he seems to be getting more consistent, too. He now has hits in five of his last six games, including a three-hit night last Sunday. His numbers are slightly worse than Gonzales’, slashing .261/.319/.440, but it’s also easy to forget he’s just 20 years old.

6 Roansy Contreras, RHP, Class AA Altoona: Contreras is in the same boat as Cruz. He’s been out since late June but is close to a comeback. Perez said it’s unclear right now whether he will take a rehab assignment in Low-A Bradenton or simply rejoin the Curve, but he will likely get back on the mound sometime in the near future.

7 Anthony Solometo, LHP, Florida Complex League: Another debut on this list for a 2021 draft pick. Solometo hasn’t made an appearance yet in the Pirates’ organization, but many of his fellow draftees have, so it likely won’t be long.

8 Bubba Chandler, RHP/SS, Florida Complex League: Chandler, the Pirates’ third-round pick in the draft, has taken eight at-bats so far and is 1-for-8 with a single. He has yet to get on the mound for the FCL Pirates.

9 Tucupita Marcano, INF, Class AAA Indianapolis: Has struggled to get his legs underneath him a little bit at Indianapolis. He’s now 15for-75 in 19 games with the Indians with two doubles, a triple and a homer. Still plenty of time, and understandable given that he’s still 21 years old, but surely the Pirates would like to see him go on a nice run here to end the season.

10 Carmen Mlodzinski, RHP, High-A Greensboro: He’s back. After a shoulder injury held Mlodzinski out since July 10, he finally returned to the mound on Sunday and pitched two shutout innings with two strikeouts, a walk and a hit. He still has just a 2.51 ERA this season with 56 strikeouts in 43 innings. Will be interesting to see if he can continue that form post-injury.

Other notables

Outfielder Lonnie White Jr., the Pirates’ compensatory B pick in the 2021 draft, also debuted in the FCL this week, going 2-for-2 with a double in his one game. Right-hander Miguel Yajure made his return to Indianapolis on Thursday after right forearm soreness took him away from the Indians in May. He pitched four innings, allowed one run on two hits and a walk and struck out six, tied for his season-high in Ks this season.

First baseman Will Matthiessen had a pretty absurd Sunday for High-A Greensboro. In a doubleheader, he went 5-for-8 with two homers, two doubles and eight RBIs. He is slashing .225/.305/.423 with 10 homers in 53 games with Greensboro, but what a stretch it’s been for him lately.

Outfielder Jack Herman began the season in Greensboro, was demoted to the FCL and now has joined Low-A Bradenton. In 29 games with the Marauders, he is now slashing .261/.328/.504 with seven homers and 26 RBIs, and he added a four-hit night Tuesday.