Endy Rodriguez cranks first Triple-A homer

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Rodriguez tallies first Triple-A homer (Sept. 28)
Endy Rodriguez clobbered his first Triple-A homer in Indianapolis' 11-3 loss to Columbus.

Pittsburgh's No. 6 prospect has been on a tear since joining the Indians on Sept. 20, and he continued his impressive introduction in the team's final game of the season. His blast came in the sixth inning on a solo shot to left field, and he ended the night with a single to center in the eighth.

Since being promoted, the 22-year-old is slashing .455/.435/.773. Rodriguez began the year with High-A Greensboro, and in his fourth professional season, he is inching closer to the Major Leagues. He batted .323 with 25 homers, 95 RBIs and 148 hits over his entire 2022 campaign. -- Ethan Sands

Pirates to promote Ji-Hwan Bae (Sept. 23)
The Pirates promoted Bae, the No. 11 prospect in their system per MLB Pipeline.

In 108 games with Triple-A Indianapolis, Bae hit .289/.362/.430 with eight home runs and 30 steals. Bae has played all across the diamond this year, seeing time at second base, shortstop, left field and center field. Read more >>

Priester puts on a show (Sept. 21)
Quinn Priester certainly looked comfortable in his Triple-A debut.

MLB's No. 46 overall prospect struck out six batters in five scoreless frames for Indianapolis, walking two batters and allowing just two hits.

Priester, who has now pitched at four different levels this season, was coming off a stellar campaign for Double-A Altoona, where he posted a 2.87 ERA in 15 games.

Peguero clobbers 10th homer at Double-A (Sept. 14)
Liover Peguero showed off his power and speed in Double-A Altoona's 8-0 win over Reading.

Pittsburgh's No. 4 prospect cracked his 10th homer with the Curve on a third-inning solo shot to left field. He followed that with a walk in the seventh and showed off his wheels by stealing second and third in the same at-bat, earning him his 26th and 27th stolen bases of the season. Peguero walked again in the eighth to end his night at the plate.

Although the 21-year-old has spent most of the season at Double-A, he did get a taste of the Majors as he made his debut on June 18 in a one-game stint. Two days later, Oneil Cruz made his seemingly permanent jump to the bigs and has been the driving force for the Pirates rebuild.

With Cruz playing shortstop and being just two years older than Peguero, Altoona's shortstop will need to continue to develop to make his case to join Cruz as a permanent Major Leaguer.

Peguero is slashing .258/.303/.390 with 10 homers, 27 stolen bases, 58 RBIs and 112 hits on the season. -- Ethan Sands

Priester fans seven in another shutout appearance (Sept. 9)
Quinn Priester had his best outing at Double-A.

Pittsburgh's No. 3 prospect was on a roll in Altoona's 3-1 win over Erie. He tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and two walks while fanning five batters.

The first-round (18th overall) selection in the 2019 Draft tossed his most innings on the season and sixth outing without allowing an earned run.

The 21-year-old began the season with the SeaWolves, but after a Spring Training injury, he made his first appearance of 2022 with Single-A Bradenton on a rehab assignment before rehabbing at Greensboro and rejoining the Double-A squad.

He's accumulated a 2.56 ERA over 77 1/3 innings this season while striking out 74 batters. -- Ethan Sands

Burrows placed on seven-day IL (Sept. 9)
Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk revealed that Mike Burrows, the Pirates' No. 8 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was placed on the seven-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation. Burrows had dealt with the problem a couple weeks ago, but the ailment crept back up again. Burrows is slowly working his way back from injury and could potentially pitch again this season.

Gonzales reaches five times on three-hit night (Sept. 4)
A lengthy stay on the injured list now behind him, Nick Gonzales looks to be back on track.

The No. 5 Pirates prospect doubled, singled twice and reached safely in all five plate appearances to lead Double-A Altoona past visiting Akron, 5-2. Gonzales was hit by a pitch, walked and also scored twice.

The 23-year-old was batting .242 with a .733 OPS on May 31, his final game before missing more than two months with plantar fasciitis. He began a rehab assignment on Aug. 6 and returned to Altoona on Aug. 12, going hitless in three at-bats. However, Gonzales has been on a tear since, slashing .328/.452/.582, including an 8-for-15 (.533) start to September.

The seventh overall pick in the 2020 Draft is up to .271 with an .823 OPS, 23 extra-base hits, 27 RBIs and 39 runs in 61 games in his first Eastern League campaign. -- Michael Avallone

Rodriguez clubs two HRs -- one lefty, one righty (Sept. 1)
After a red-hot August, Endy Rodriguez is not slowing down anytime soon in September. The Pirates’ No. 6 prospect smacked two homers -- one from the left side of the plate, one from the right side -- and added two walks in a three-RBI effort in Double-A Altoona’s 13-7 win over Akron.

After flying out in his first at-bat, the 22-year-old reached base in his next four trips to the plate, including a dinger to right as a left-handed hitter in the third inning and a long ball to left from the right side of the plate in the fourth. It’s the third time this season and the fourth time of his career that Rodriguez has notched a multihomer game. The switch-hitting slugger added two six-pitch walks to cap off his big day.

In his 18 games since joining Double-A, Rodriguez has hit .362 with a 1.240 OPS, seven homers, 20 RBIs and as many walks (11) as strikeouts. -- Stephanie Sheehan

Johnson puts on a show with Single-A Bradenton (Aug. 31)
Reaching four times in four plate appearances, 2022 first-round pick Termarr Johnson recorded his first perfect day at the plate in a pro game he started. He collected his first Florida State League extra-base hits with a pair of doubles, singled, stole a base and walked a run in during the Marauders' 8-7 win over the Twins-affiliated Fort Myers Mighty Mussels.

Two of the hits off the bat of MLB's No. 30 prospect registered a triple-digit exit velocity. The left-handed hitter drilled an opposite-field two-bagger at 102 mph in the second inning, and his single through the right side two frames later was recorded at 105.4 mph.

The big performance followed a night when Johnson entered Bradenton's game as a pinch-runner and scored in the seventh, then ripped a single that allowed a run to score in the eighth, boosting Bradenton to an 11-9 comeback.

Coming into the past two games, though, Johnson's off-the-charts hitting tools had been quiet since the middle infielder's Aug. 24 promotion from the Rookie-level Florida Complex League. He singled in his Marauders debut, then fell into a 0-for-8 spell over his next three games. After the perfect day at the dish, he's 5-for-16 (.313) at the higher level. -- Josh Jackson

Chandler tosses hitless performance at Single-A (Aug. 23)
Bubba Chandler is continuing to prove that he can be an asset in the batter's box and on the mound.

Pittsburgh's No. 7 prospect displayed his prowess on the bump in his latest appearance.

Single-A Bradenton leads Dunedin 5-0 through six innings, but the game was suspended due to lightning.

Although his stats won't become official until after the game is completed, the third-round (72nd overall) selection in the 2021 Draft tossed five hitless innings, allowing just two walks while fanning five over his scoreless outing.

The 19-year-old has had back-to-back scoreless performances and eight total on the season, but this is only his second hitless outing of the year.

Chandler was promoted to Single-A on July 12 after six outings at the Rookie level in his first professional season. -- Ethan Sands

DSL Pirates toss no-hitter, get no-hit in loss (Aug. 18)
There were two no-hitters thrown in the Dominican Summer League. They just so happened to be in the same game.

Cubs Red defeated Pirates affiliate PIT Black, 2-0, in a seven-inning contest that featured zero hits for either side. Six pitchers combined on the feat: Juan Bello, Wilber Rodriguez and Yohan Crispin for the Cubs; Jonathan Salazar, Dioris Valdez and Hader Blanco for the Bucs.

Cubs Red’s only two runs of the game each came in the bottom of the first inning and were on a pair of errors. Leadoff hitters Darlyn De Leon walked to open the frame and moved to second on another free pass by Joan Delgado two batters later. When De Leon and Delgado pulled off a double steal, a throwing error by catcher Richard Ramirez brought De Leon in from third. Two batters later, Delgado also scored on a throwing error by PIT Black shortstop Kelvin Diaz. Full story »

Ji-hwan Bae reinstated from seven-day injured list (Aug. 18)
Bae, the Pirates' No. 11 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was activated off the seven-day injured list and returned to Triple-A Indianapolis's starting lineup. Bae went 1-for-3 in his return with a walk.

Gonzales notches walk-off ground-rule double (Aug. 17)
Nick Gonzales was a man on a mission in Double-A Altoona's 3-2 win over Harrisburg.

Pittsburgh's No. 5 prospect had his best game since returning from a rehab assignment on Aug. 12.

The seventh overall selection in the 2020 Draft began the night with a single to right field in the first inning. His next few hits would have the same trend but different impacts. The 23-year-old followed with a double to left and came around to score the tying run in the third. On the first pitch in the eighth, he clocked his 10th double of the season with a knock to center.

With the score tied after nine frames, the designated hitter got one more chance at the plate, with Jared Triolo starting at second base. When his team needed him most, Gonzales came through with a first-pitch walk-off ground-rule double over the left-center wall to secure the victory in extra innings. --Ethan Sands

Injury updates on Davis, Bae and Malone (Aug. 17)
Todd Tomczyk, the Pirates’ director of sports medicine, provided updates on several prospects:

No. 1 prospect Henry Davis (left wrist) has resumed all baseball activities -- catching bullpen sessions, blocking balls, throwing to bases, running the bases and hitting. Davis is building up, and his return to game action is being determined.

No. 11 propsect Ji-hwan Bae (oblique) is ahead of schedule and the team envisions him returning to game action in the next couple days.

Brennan Malone (right shoulder) underwent shoulder surgery and will miss the remainder of the season.

Gonzales activated from 60-day IL (Aug. 12)
Second baseman Nick Gonzales, MLB Pipeline’s No. 26 overall prospect and the Pirates' No. 2, was activated from the 60-day injured list and rejoined Double-A Altoona after a rehab assignment at lower levels. He had been sidelined since the end of May with a heel issue. In 43 games with Altoona before the injury, Gonzales posted a slash line of .247/.366/.377 with four home runs and four steals. He was 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his return but reached base against Binghamton on a hit-by pitch.

Ortiz tosses second immaculate inning en route to eight Ks (Aug. 9)
Luis Ortiz had his best outing of the year, and along the way he threw his second immaculate inning in 25 days.

Pittsburgh's No. 24 prospect fanned a season-high eight batters over six scoreless innings in Double-A Altoona's 6-0 win over Binghamton.

The 23-year-old previously threw an immaculate inning during the Curve's 4-2 victory over Richmond on July 15.

The Dominican Republic native lowered his ERA to 4.89 and is up to 103 strikeouts on the season. More »

-- Ethan Sands

Rodriguez, Nunez debut for Altoona (Aug. 9)
Endy Rodriguez is done tearing up the High-A level as the catcher/outfielder was promoted to Double-A Altoona, where he debuted Tuesday and went 1-for-3 as the designated hitter. The Pirates' No. 5 prospect batted .302/.392/.544 with 16 homers and 55 RBIs in 88 games for High-A Greensboro this season.

The 22-year-old Rodriguez wasted no time acclimating to Double-A, as he smacked an RBI double in his third plate appearance vs. Binghamton in the sixth inning:

Corner infielder Malcom Nunez (Pittsburgh's No. 11 prospect) also debuted for Altoona on Tuesday, going 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. The Pirates acquired Nunez from the Cardinals in the José Quintana trade on Aug. 2. Nunez batted .255/.360/.463 with 17 homers and 66 RBIs in 85 games for Double-A Springfield this season. -- Jake Rill

Gonzales collects two hits, stolen base in rehab (Aug. 8)
In his second rehab start since being sidelined at the beginning of June with a heel injury, second-ranked Pirates prospect Nick Gonzales collected two hits, two RBIs and a stolen base with the FCL Pirates in the club's 11-6 win.

After striking out in his first at-bat, MLB’s No. 26 overall prospect smacked a two-run triple to center in the third frame. He followed it up with a single to right and a stolen base in the sixth. Before being placed on the injured list on June 1, the 23-year-old was batting .247/366/.377 with four homers, eight doubles, 15 RBIs, 25 walks and four steals in 43 games with Double-A Altoona. -- Stephanie Sheehan