Pirates Prospect Watch: Matt Gorski Flirts With Cycle

Pirates’ minor league affiliates won just one of five games on Saturday, with their struggles playing out in whack-a-mole fashion. When their pitchers excelled, they couldn’t get runners on base; when they put up runs, their pitchers did too.

The Indianapolis Indians won a 16-10 track meet, with Matt Gorski completing the hardest part of a cycle… logging a double, a triple and a titanic home run but failing to record the elusive single. Henry Davis hit a pair of home runs, continuing to round into form at the plate.

Thomas Harrington pitched four perfect innings, maintaining his flawless ERA to start the year, but the Altoona Curve managed just three hits in their 4-0 loss to the Akron Rubber Ducks. 

The Greensboro Grasshoppers’ bats fared even worse than that in the matinee of their doubleheader, with Hudson Head’s single the lone base hit in a 3-0 loss. They woke up at the plate in the nightcap, but the pitchers couldn’t hold up their end of the deal in a 7-5 loss.

Single-A Bradenton rounded out the slate with a 10-9 loss, falling via walk-off in the tenth inning after erasing a five run deficit in the eighth.

Here were the top performing Pirates’ prospects on Saturday.

 Triple-A Indianapolis (19-21)

1B-CF Matt Gorski

• Game: 3-for-5 with a double, a triple, a homer and a walk.
• Season: .260/.292/.490 with 6 doubles, 4 triples and 3 homers in 30 games.

DH Henry Davis

• Game: 2-for-4 with 2 homers and a walk.
• Season: .257/.435/.543 with a double and 3 homers in 10 games.

Double-A Altoona (9-29)

RHP Thomas Harrington

• Game: 4 IP, 0 ER, 5 K’s.
• Season: 10 IP, 0.00 ERA, 12 K’s in 3 starts between Single-A Bradenton and Double-A Altoona.

CF Tres Gonzales

• Game: 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.
• Season: .228/.297/.283 with 3 doubles and a triple in 30 games.

High-A Greensboro (22-16)

SS/DH Termarr Johnson

• Day: 2-for-5 with 2 doubles and 2 walks.
• Season: .175/.383/.254 with 4 doubles, a triple and a homer in 36 games.

3B Charles McAdoo

• Day: 1-for-3 with a three-run triple and a walk.
• Season: .308/.384/.550 with 7 doubles, 2 triples and 6 homers in 33 games.

Single-A Bradenton (17-21)

1B Axiel Plaz

• Game: 1-for-4 with a homer and a HBP.
• Season: .222/.353/.481 with a double and 2 homers in 10 games between rookie ball and Bradenton.

LF Braylon Bishop

• Game: 2-for-3 with a triple and 2 walks.
• Season: .238/.467/.333 with a triple in 9 games.