ALTOONA, Pa. -- At long last, the promotions those have been waiting for have happened as Roansy Contreras, Oneil Cruz as well as six others have been promoted to Class AAA Indianapolis for the remainder of the International League season.
Contreras and Cruz will be joined by four others on the Pirates' top-30 prospect list according to MLB Pipeline. First baseman Mason Martin (No. 17), outfielder Cal Mitchell (No. 18), infielder Rodolfo Castro (No. 25) and outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba will join the aforementioned prospects, as will Yerry De Los Santos and Osvaldo Bido.
Cruz hit .292 with 12 home runs, five triples, 12 doubles and 40 RBI despite missing a large chunk of the season due to a forearm injury. Contreras started 12 games with a 3-2 record while amassing a 2.65 ERA, 76 strikeouts and 12 walks. The No. 6 ranked prospect for the Pirates spent July and most of August on the injured list and upon his return gave up five runs in three starts and accumulated 11 strikeouts.
Martin started the season on an absolute tear hitting 19 home runs form May to August before significantly slowing down hitting only three the rest of his time with Altoona. Martin would finish with 22 home runs, 75 RBI and a .243 batting average. The issue with Martin, though, is his strikeout rate as he had 161 strikeouts with the Curve.
Mitchell had a strong season with Altoona, hitting .280 with 12 home runs and 61 RBI while playing well defensively and routinely making plays just like the one below.
Outfield play has been a weakness for the Pirates of late and now that Mitchell is only one step away, there's a possibility he could end up in Pittsburgh at some point next season.
It's weird to mention this will be the Triple A debut of Castro as well even though he's been promoted to Pittsburgh multiple times, but alas the curious case of Castro skipping Indianapolis comes to an end. Castro has struggled mightily in September managing only five hits coupled with two in Altoona in August. Even with the struggles, Castro managed 69 hits, 12 of which were home runs as well as 47 RBI and a .243 average.
Smith-Njigba came to the organization via the Jameson Taillon trade and has impressed ever since. He hit .274 while walking 45 times and hitting 11 doubles. Like Mitchell, this trajectory could have Smith-Njigba in a Pirates uniform next season. He'll most likely get an invite to Major League spring training and be able to display the qualities that have made him the No. 27 ranked prospect in the system.
The two that round out the package of call ups are De Los Santos and Bido. De Los Santos was 3-2 out of the bullpen with a 2.04 ERA in 12 appearances with Altoona. De Los Santos was 4-2 with a 1.44 ERA in 37 appearances for Greensboro. He struck out 92 hitters between High A and Double A and opponents hit a paltry .183 off him with the Grasshoppers and .177 with the Curve.
Bido started 19 of the 21 games he appeared in for Altoona accumulating 91 strikeouts in 93.2 innings of work.
The projected lineup with the call-ups for the Indians:
1. Cruz, DH
2. Smith-Njigba, LF
3. Marcano, SS
4. Martin, 1B
5. Castillo, 3B
6. Mitchell, RF
7. Castro, 2B
8. Oliva, CF
9. Hudson, C
MORE MINOR-LEAGUE NOTES
• Altoona's season finished with a 58-59 record and the Curve allowed the second-most runs in the league with 591 surrendered by the pitching staff. The only team behind them was Hartford -- Colorado Rockies affiliate -- with 675 runs allowed. For as good as their lineup was on paper, the performance just wasn't quite able to translate at times on the field and it showed in the win column this season.
• The Marauders limp into the playoffs losing five out of their last six, though, they've had the playoffs locked up since last week. Bradenton begins a best-of-five series against Tampa -- Low A affiliate of the Yankees -- today and will be home for the first two games of the series before heading to George M. Steinbrenner Field for the remainder of the series.
• Greensboro split with Hudson Valley to round out the regular season, but they did manage to clinch a playoff berth and will face Bowling Green in the High A East championship. Both teams have scored a total of 723 runs, though, the Grasshoppers finished nine games behind Bowling Green in their division this season.
OFFICIAL LINKS
• Affiliate scores
• Indianapolis
• Altoona
• Greensboro
• Bradenton
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.
