Pirates Farm Report: Braxton Ashcraft shows potential against Portland

Welcome to the first week of June! It’s time to take another look around the Pirates farm system, which saw mixed results across the board.

AAA: Indianapolis Indians (24-31)

It was an unsuccessful week for the Pirates Triple-A affiliate as the Indians were swept in six games by the Omaha Storm Chasers.

Despite the sweep, outfielder Matt Gorski continued his offensive surge, homering twice and collecting six RBI in the series. On top of that, he ended the set with a three-game hitting streak in tow.

Gorski is hitting .279 with a .924 OPS this season, which has caught the attention of Pirates GM Ben Cherington. He said on his weekly radio show that he is a great story and a “really good athlete.” He cited Gorski getting more work at first base, which could warrant a promotion, should he continue this hot streak.

Speaking of hot streaks, Henry Davis is slated to return to the Pirates on Tuesday after a productive run in Triple-A. He was demoted May 3 after a cold start to the year, but is hitting .296 with 17 RBI in 23 games with the Indians. Jason Mackey with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette confirmed Davis’ return late Sunday evening.

AA: Altoona Curve (16-35)

After taking two of the first three games from the Portland Sea Dogs, Altoona dropped the final three contests, losing the series, 4-2.

Infielder Tsung-Che Cheng picked up a hit in four of the six games, including a game-tying single Saturday night. Also from that game, Po-Yu Chen tossed six innings of solid relief, allowing just one earned run over six innings and striking out five. He started the outing with an ERA over seven, but got it down to 5.16 on Saturday.

Speaking of dominant pitching, Braxton Ashcraft, the Pirates’ No. 6 prospect according to MLB Pipeline, boasted a strong outing Friday night against the Sea Dogs. He struck out seven and allowed just one run and three hits in six innings. He has allowed 18 earned runs in nearly 47 innings this season with Altoona and could find himself in Indianapolis soon.

As a team, Altoona is statistically one of the worst in the Eastern League. As of June 3, the Curve are 11th in batting average (.221), 5th in strikeouts (464), and last in home runs (33) this season.

They’ll look to turn things around this week when they welcome Richmond to PNG Field.

A+: Greensboro Grasshoppers (29-21)

The Grasshoppers are still leading the charge in the South Atlantic-North division after taking three games from Asheville this weekend.

Greensboro kicked off the rain-shortened five-game series with three straight wins, outscoring Asheville 38-11 in that stretch. The Tourists claimed the final two games before Sunday’s finale was postponed due to inclement weather.

One thing that’s clear after this weekend: Charles McAdoo needs a promotion. He collected 13 hits against Asheville and is hitting .333 with a .944 OPS. He ended May hitting .357 with 23 RBI, showing he can be put to the test against Double-A pitching.

Pirates No. 2 prospect Termarr Johnson is starting to find his rhythm at the plate. He collected a hit in four of the five games against Asheville with three extra-base hits. Johnson also worked 23 walks in the month of May.

A-: Bradenton Marauders (21-30)

After finding some consistency in the final weeks of May, Bradenton took a step backwards over the week, dropping five of six to Fort Myers on the road.

The Marauders biggest problem this season has been strikeouts as they currently lead the Florida State League with 578. Dunedin follows with 546.

The odd thing about them is that they are in the bottom of the league in nearly every stat... except home runs, as they are fourth with 32.

It will get tougher for Bradenton this week as they welcome 34-17 Clearwater to LECOM Park for a six-game set.

That’s all for now! We’ll be back next week with more from around the Pirates’ farm system.