Welcome to In The System, our new daily analysis of the latest throughout the Pirates' organization!
Each morning, we'll spotlight an individual player or performance from the previous day/night, in addition to offering convenient links to find all the information anyone could want on Class AAA Indianapolis, Class AA Altoona, high Class A Greensboro and low Class A Bradenton throughout the season.
Player: Logan Hofmann
Position: Pitcher
Bats/throws: Right/right
Age: 21
Size: 5-10, 190 pounds
MLB organizational rank: Unranked
Affiliate: Bradenton
The fifth-round pick of the 2020 amateur draft, Hofmann was the final player the Pirates took in Ben Cherington's inaugural draft class. While his fastball sits in the low-90s and he has a small frame for a pitcher, the heater gets good spin and his curve has 12-to-6 break, which is what drew the Pirates to him.
While he probably profiles better as a reliever, he has shown he can go multiple innings, like Wednesday night. While he was charged with three unearned runs because of three errors by shortstop Dariel Lopez, Hofmann still turned in a good night, striking out five over three innings pitched. He walked a pair and allowed two hits.
The Pirates' 2020 draft was definitely pitcher-heavy, with Nick Gonzales being the only position player they took. Hofmann may not have the same upside as a Carmen Mlodzinski or Jared Jones, he has two potentially plus pitches, even if he's not as hard of a thrower as some other pitchers in the system.
ELSEWHERE
• Greensboro won in extra-innings, 8-5, Wednesday over the Hickory Crawdads, thanks in part to a big day by Jared Triolo. The third baseman went 2-for-5 on the day with three RBIs, a welcome sight after starting the season slow. He's batting just .222 with a .515 OPS at the moment, but coming into the year he seemed to be in position to potentially crack the Pirates' top 30 prospect list. There's still plenty of time for that to happen.
• Travis MacGregor went five innings in a start for the first time since 2018. The right-hander struck out seven over his five frames for the Curve Wednesday, allowing one hit and two walks.
After missing all of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery, MacGregor has dropped down prospect charts, but I was told he drew interest during the Rule 5 draft last year. He's being given another chance to try to stick as a starter.
• Travis Swaggerty is forecasted to be out "longer than seven days" with a right shoulder injury, according to director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk. Swaggerty sustained the injury diving back to first base on a pickoff throw.
Liover Peguero is also on the injured list with a right knee injury. The Pirates want to make sure he doesn't suffer a soft tissue injury running with different mechanics, so they're shutting the shortstop down for a bit.
OFFICIAL LINKS
YOUR TURN: We'd love to hear from you, too, especially if you make it out to see any of these prospects and affiliates play. Feel free to file your own original scouting reports and other observations in comments.