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: Max Kranick
Position: Starting pitcher
Bats/throws: Right/right
Age: 23
Size: 6-3, 210 pounds
MLB organizational rank: 28
Affiliate: Indianapolis
The new minor league format lines up pitcher schedules like traditional college aces. Now, Tuesdays are the big day of the week when teams will trot out their best pitching prospects. This week, it was Kranick, in his first start at the level, that impressed the most among a strong group of Pirates' minor league hurlers.
Kranick yielded a run on four hits with six strikeouts over five innings. He ran into immediate trouble, allowing consecutive singles to the first two batters he faced, but retired the next 13 in order before allowing a solo shot to Oscar Mercado in the fifth inning.
His addition to the Class AAA roster comes at the same time as some bad news regarding Miguel Yajure, who is experiencing some elbow discomfort. Kranick wasn't exactly lighting things up with Altoona. He held a 4.02 ERA with 16 punchouts in 14 2/3 innings.
ELSEWHERE
• The other big-name Pirates prospects to pitch Tuesday are the best two hurlers in the system: Roansy Contreras and Quinn Priester. After a rough outing in his previous start, Contreras bounced back with eight strikeouts over six scoreless innings for the Curve. Priester did not fare as well for Greensboro. He allowed five runs on eight hits and a walk with just three strikeouts over four innings. Priester had made back-to-back scoreless starts before struggling Tuesday.
• Something has gotten into Bligh Madris. On a night when all 10 of the Pirates' top 30 prospects to get in a game combined to go 4-for-35, Madris continued to slug for Indianapolis. His average actually dropped to .368 with a 1-for-3 night, but that one hit was a go-ahead, RBI-single in the eighth inning. The Pirates should be on the look out for outfield help all year. And Madris may eventually provide an in-house and unexpected solution.
.@ContrerasRoansy strikes out the side in the sixth inning. He has eight strikeouts through six scoreless innings. We head to the seventh still leading 2-0.
— Altoona Curve (@AltoonaCurve) June 2, 2021
LISTEN: https://t.co/aioWvW3Svf pic.twitter.com/1HwOIxmE34
• Jared Jones, the fireballing 2020 second-rounder, recorded all three outs via strikeout in his lone inning for Bradenton on Tuesday. He yielded an unearned run on a pair of hits in his second professional outing.
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.