Thursday’s Spring Breakout Game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Baltimore Orioles provided a look at many highly touted prospects. It was the biggest game between the two franchises since Game 7 of the 1979 World Series. Maybe it wasn’t the same for older fans without Earl Weaver baiting the umpires. The event attracted an enthusiastic crowd, who jostled for autographs before the game. Also in attendance were Jim Leyland and Joe Torre, who sat together stone-faced and silent as though they were managing one of the teams.
Impressions From The Pirates’ Spring Breakout Game
The proverbial small sample size makes evaluating the participants difficult, if not impossible. Nevertheless, here are some impressions from Pittsburgh’s 3-1 victory. (from now on, the Pirates and Orioles prospects teams will be referred to as the Pirates and Orioles, even though they’re not the Pirates and Orioles. It’s easier.)
Cherington’s Plan is Working
When Ben Cherington took the Pirates’ general manager’s job late in 2019, he set out to rebuild the farm system. He acquired Liover Peguero, David Bednar, Endy Rodriguez, and Jack Suwinski well by trading Starling Marte, Joe Musgrove, and Adam Frazier. However, he got almost nothing for Josh Bell, Clay Holmes, Richard Rodriguez, and Jacob Stallings. Unless Roansy Contreras finds himself, the Jameson Tallion deal won’t yield much. Of the Pirates’ 27-man Spring Breakout roster, only Abrahan Gutierrez, Estuar Suero, and Jhonny Severino were acquired in trades. The rest were draftees or international signings.
Thus, if Pirates fans feel Cherington doesn’t measure up to Trader Jack McKeon, they should be satisfied with the glimpse of the farm system provided by the Spring Breakout Game. Billed as a battle between Major League Baseball’s top two farm systems, it was easy to see that the Pirates have come about their number two ranking honestly.
Skenes Shows His Stuff
Here’s the part where this writer shows off his advanced degree from the Greater Pittsburgh Institute for Stating the Obvious. Paul Skenes is good. Real good.
Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick in 2023’s draft, started the Spring Breakout Game on the mound for the Pirates. In what had to have been a first in baseball, the crowd sat reverently silent and still during his inning. Perhaps they were that much into seeing Skenes, or they just wanted to hear the pop of the catcher’s mitt. In any event, Skenes didn’t disappoint. He needed just 10 pitches to dispose of the first three Orioles prospects. One had to feel sympathy for the first batter, Enrique Bradfield, who looked at a 101-mph fastball, then swung through two more that measured 101 and 102.
The highly anticipated matchup was the next one when Jackson Holliday stepped up to bat for the Orioles. Skenes again brought the heat, throwing fastballs at 101, 102, and 101 that missed the strike zone. In between, Holliday fouled off a change-up. With the count 3-1, Skenes got Holliday to miss a 91-mph slider and then a 90-mph change. Skenes showed himself to be much more than a fireballer with that sequence. After Connor Norby broke his bat on a routine grounder to third, Skenes’s night was over. Skenes wanted another inning, but the Pirates proceeded carefully with him. Besides, they had other pitchers to show off.
The Pirates Have More Hot Pitching Prospects Besides Skenes
The Spring Breakout Game showed that the Pirates are stockpiling hard throwers. Maybe, come July, Marco Gonzales and Martìn Pèrez will be dealt with in the usual trade deadline exodus. However, the next time that happens, it might be to make room for prospects ready to make meaningful contributions rather than giving up on the season.
Again, it’s hard to evaluate pitchers based on such a small sample size. The Pirates used six pitchers in this seven-inning Spring Breakout Game. Only Hunter Barco pitched two innings. The others had only one inning of work. Nobody had to go through the Orioles order more than once. Ironically, Braxton Ashcraft, who surrendered the Orioles’ only run, got the win, showing that won-loss records can sometimes be misleading. Besides Skenes, the Pirates pitchers who impressed the most were Patrick Reilly and Bubba Chandler, who pitched the sixth and seventh innings.
Reilly, throwing in the upper 90s with movement, struck out all three batters he faced, although the third batter, Braylin Tavera, struck out on a pitch-clock violation. Chandler also threw in the high 90s, recording one strikeout, hitting an unfortunate Creed Willems with a 98-mph heater, and retiring the other two batters on relatively harmless hit balls. We didn’t see Anthony Solometo, who was out with the flu, and Tom Harrington, who was nursing a minor injury. Taking advantage of the opportunity in their place was Khristian Curtis, who pitched a scoreless inning despite two walks. That’s noteworthy only because Curtis, a 12th-round pick in 2023 from Arizona State, was on a mound for the first time anywhere as Pirates property in this Spring Breakout Game.
All told Pirates pitching held the Orioles to one hit, a bunt single by Bradfield.
Pirates’ Offense and Defense Get an Incomplete Grade
Not that the Pirates batters were tearing the cover off the ball against Orioles pitchers Cade Povich and Trace Bright, who went three innings each. The Pirates had only five hits, two by Jase Bowen. One run scored on a balk when Povich was one strike away from ending the second inning.
Jack Brannigan at third base and Tsung-Che Cheng at shortstop are reputed to be stellar fielders. However, the Pirates defense wasn’t tested much. Brannigan was challenged only when he snagged an errant throw from catcher Gutierrez.
The Last Word
The Spring Breakout Game between the Pirates and Orioles successfully gave MLB a marquee preseason event. Originally planned as a tournament, one wonders whether it will be expanded. If so, you’ll find no complaints here.
Main Photo Credits: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
