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Showing posts from April, 2024

Season storyline: Quinn Priester rejoins Pirates

Quinn Priester makes MLB return Former top prospect called up to majors following injury to Marco Gonzales The Pittsburgh Pirates’ rotation to start the year he been a welcome surprise. Between Martin Perez holding a 2.55 earned run average (ERA) and Jared Jones setting the baseball world on fire to start his career, the rotation has kept them in most games this season. After Marco Gonzales landed on the injured list because of a left forearm muscle strain, Quinn Priester will be the next man up to continue the success. Priester’s first major league stint was not what Pirates’ fans had been hoping for. The former top prospect had lost some of his velocity and his good breaking stuff was not enough to make up for a fastball that was too hittable. The strikeouts were also not enough to make up for how hard he was getting hit in 2023. Albeit in a small sample size, Priester may be on the verge of a resurgence after working on those problems. After being drafted at ...

Season storyline: Andrew McCutchen hits career home run No. 300

Cutch enters rare air as fourth player to hit 300th homer with Pittsburgh Andrew McCutchen blasted his 300 th home run against the Phillies on Sunday By Aidan Treu Andrew McCutchen sat at 299 home runs coming into the 2024 season. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ legend tried to put the milestone out of his mind to stay focused, but everyone was thinking about it. Prior to this year three players had clubbed home run number 300 with the Pirates. All it took was a beautiful day in Philadelphia and an already sizeable Pirates’ lead for Cutch to join the party. McCutchen joins All-time Pirates’ greats Willie Stargell and Ralph Kiner having completed the feat. The other player, Jeromy Burnitz, did so in his swan song season in 2006, his only career season with the Bucs. Stargell (475) and Kiner (301) remain the only two players to have at least 300 home runs with the Pirates. Between his earlier tenure with Pittsburgh and his recent return, McCutchen has 216 homers with the...

Prospect highlight: Termarr Johnson

Termarr Johnson opens season in A-ball Pirate’s second base prospect begins year in High-A Greensboro By Aidan Treu Termarr Johnson, the Pirates’ top hitting prospect, will begin the 2024 season with the Greensboro Grasshoppers with his sights set on a promotion to AA Altoona. After putting up an .820 on base plus slugging percentage (OPS) between low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro a year ago, he will return to the Grasshoppers’ hitter friendly ballpark. The second baseman has been universally lauded for his hit-tool, while his power has also taken a jump since he was drafted. MLB pipeline referred to Johnson as, “a potential No. 1 overall choice because he might be the best pure prep hitter in decades,” before the 2022 draft, and that he could be “a 25-30 homer threat in the big leagues.” While his bat to ball skills have not led to otherworldly contact numbers, as evidenced by his .240 career minor league batting average, the second baseman is getting on bas...