Pirates Minor League report: Henry Davis posts first multi-home run game

Another week of action is in the books for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ minor league affiliates and several finished on a high note.

This past week featured not only the return of a top prospect, but it also featured a career milestone by a former first overall pick.

Let’s take a look in this week’s minor league report.

AAA: Indianapolis Indians (8-13)

It was not a good weekend for the Pirates’ Triple-A affiliate as the Indianapolis Indians dropped five-of-six games against the Memphis Redbirds this week.

Their only win came in Sunday’s finale as the Indians snapped the Redbirds 12-game winning streak with a 6-4 victory. The game headlined by a three-hit performance by infielder Josh Bissonnette, who went 3-for-4 with a triple, and a strong outing by No. 8 prospect Luis Ortiz.

Ortiz earned the win after allowing three hits and two earned runs over six innings of work. He’s now 1-1 with a 2.31 ERA in 23.1 innings.

Miguel Andujar also turned heads over the week as he went 8-for-21 at the plate with six RBI and, surprisingly, one strikeout in the series. He is slashing .306/.375/.514 so far this year which, if he keeps it up, could earn him a potential promotion.

The Indians return to Victory Field this week to host the Columbus Clippers.

AA: Altoona Curve (7-7)

The Curve made the most out of their second homestand of the season by taking four-of-five from the Bowie Baysox. The only loss coming in their first Education Day game on Wednesday, and Saturday’s penultimate game was washed out from the rain.

Henry Davis, the Pirates’ No. 3 prospect, smacked two home runs in Sunday’s 5-4 win, marking the first career multi-home run game for the 2021 first overall pick. He finished the series with five hits.

Domingo Leyba, a 28-year-old infielder, went 6-for-15 over the weekend with three RBI.

Starting pitching also excelled for the Curve. Kyle Nicolas, the Pirates’ No. 20 prospect, opened the series by allowing just three hits and one earned run in Tuesday’s opener. Jared Jones, the team’s No. 11 prospect, did not factor into the decision on Thursday but fired five innings with five strikeouts.

The Curve are on the road for the next two weeks in Reading and Richmond.

A+: Greensboro Grasshoppers (11-4)

The Greensboro Grasshoppers enter this week atop the Southern Atlantic League — North standings after pulling out four wins over the Greenville Drive. Among those wins was a 16-6 thrashing on Thursday.

Pitching was plentiful for Greensboro over the weekend. Po-Yu Chen opened the series with five strikeouts in five innings; Pirates’ No. 10 prospect Anthony Solometo racked up eight strikeouts in 4.1 innings; No. 7 prospect Bubba Chandler earned his first win on Thursday after picking up six strikeouts in six innings; and Chen closed out the weekend slate with five innings of one-run ball.

Braxton Ashcraft excelled once again, tossing four innings of two-hit ball with six strikeouts on Friday.

Jase Bowen collectively went 8-for-21 against Greenville with a home run and eight RBI. His best game came on Thursday when he went 4-for-6 with five RBI.

The Grasshoppers return home this week to host Rome.

A-: Bradenton Marauders (10-5)

The Low-A affiliate Bradenton Marauders also ended last week on a winning note, taking five-of-six against the Daytona Tortugas, which places them atop the Florida State League — West division.

Outfielders Tres Gonzalez and Enmanuel Terrero each collected 10 hits against Daytona. Gonzalez had a home run and eight RBI, while Terrero posted three doubles, a triple, two walks, and three RBI.

Termarr Johnson, the Pirates’ first-round pick last year and top overall prospect, made his long-awaited season debut on Friday and went 1-for-2 with two RBI. He followed that with a 1-for-3 line on Sunday with two RBI.

Needless to say, he hasn’t missed a beat.

Thomas Harrington, last year’s 36th overall pick, earned his second win of the year on Friday after throwing five innings of shutout ball. In that effort, he also collected four strikeouts.

The Marauders set their sights on Dunedin, who they face in a six-game road series this week.

That’s all for now. Let us know which prospects stood out to you in the comment thread below.