Rodriguez caps 5-hit night with mammoth homer in High-A

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Rodriguez sets career high with 5 hits for Greensboro (Aug. 3)
For over three years, Endy Rodriguez had just one four-hit game as a pro, until he finally matched it on July 24. Then, 10 days later, Rodriguez not only tied his career mark but added the exclamation point with a towering ninth-inning home run -- his fifth knock of the evening.

The Pirates' No. 5 prospect was the catalyst in High-A Greensboro's 8-7 win over Bowling Green, with the solo blast -- his 16th homer of the year -- ultimately the difference. Rodriguez had also driven in a run in the first inning with a single and later added his 23rd double of the year, tied for second-most in the South Atlantic League.

The 22-year-old, acquired from the Mets prior to the 2021 season, currently sports a .950 OPS in 86 games, trailing only Brewers farmhand Jakson Reetz among Minor League catchers with at least 300 plate appearances this year. -- Jacob Resnick

Injury updates on C Henry Davis, 2B Nick Gonzales, OF Matt Gorski, 2B Ji-hwan Bae and RHP Brennan Malone (Aug. 3)
Davis (left wrist; No. 16 overall): Davis is up to hitting soft toss as he continues his progression this week.

Gonzales (heel; No. 27 overall): The Pirates anticipate Gonzales participating in game activity either this week or early next week. The team is still determining what that activity will look like (sim game, rehab assignment, etc.).

Gorski (quad; Pirates' No. 28): Gorski is on track to begin sim-game activities around the eight-week mark from when he sustained the initial injury. Gorski was placed on the seven-day injured list in late June, and then was transferred to the 60-day injured list in early July.

Bae (oblique; Pirates' No. 15): Bae has resumed low-level throwing. The team is optimistic that his injury will be in the four-to-six week timeframe.

Malone (right shoulder; Pirates' No. 26): The right-hander is still not throwing.

Nunez assigned to Double-A Altoona (Aug. 2)
Third baseman Malcom Nunez, whom the Pirates acquired along with right-hander Johan Oviedo in exchange for left-hander José Quintana and right-hander Chris Stratton, was assigned to Double-A Altoona, the team announced Tuesday. Nunez became the No. 11 prospect in the organization, per MLB Pipeline. In 85 games this season, Nunez is hitting .255/.360/.463 with 17 home runs and a 110 wRC+.

Bowen, Lopez record multihomer games (July 31)
They may sit at the back end of the Pirates' Top 30 Prospects List, but Jase Bowen and Dariel Lopez, Nos. 29 and 30, respectively, were at the forefront of the system with their simultaneous performances.

Both homered twice for their affiliates, Bowen with Single-A Bradenton and Lopez with High-A Greensboro. All four combined homers were of the solo variety and helped both teams to a series-ending victory.

The 21-year-old Bowen returned to the Florida State League this year after spending all of 2021 with the Marauders. He's handled the league quite well in his second go-round, now slashing .278/.358/.450 with 13 home runs.

Lopez, meanwhile, has made the jump to the South Atlantic League as a 20 year old and dominated. Despite taking all but three of his 341 plate appearances against older pitchers, Lopez is hitting .284 with an .824 OPS and 18 home runs, good for third in the league. -- Jacob Resnick

General manager Ben Cherington “hopeful” two top prospects will return (July 31)
General manager Ben Cherington said on 93.7 The Fan that he is hopeful Henry Davis (left wrist) and Nick Gonzales (heel) will return prior to season’s end. On Thursday, director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said that Gonzales was close to returning to “some type of game activity” in the next seven to 10 days. Tomczyk also added that Davis has resumed “gripping activities.”

Updates on Henry Davis, Nick Gonzales, Ji-hwan Bae, Brennan Malone and Matt Gorski (July 28)
Here are some updates on several Pirates prospects dealing with injuries, provided by director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk:

Davis (No. 16 overall, left wrist): Davis has resumed gripping activities and “dry swing” activities. Tomczyk elaborated that “dry swing” refers to swinging objects that are lighter than a standard heavy bat, such as a handle, fungo or short bat.

Gonzales (No. 28 overall, right heel): Gonzales is at the Pirates' Minor League facility in Bradenton, Fla., and is projected to return to game activity in the next seven to 10 days. Tomczyk clarified that this game activity won't necessarily be a rehab assignment, but rather game activity with Single-A Bradenton.

Bae (No. 15 prospect in Pirates system, left oblique strain): The Pirates announced on Thursday that Bae had been placed on the seven-day injured list with a strained left oblique. Bae is hitting .297/.364/.450 with eight home runs this season.

Malone (No. 26 prospect in Pirates system, right shoulder): Malone had recurrent shoulder pain after returning to game action, and visited the team’s physicians in Pittsburgh. Malone is not pitching at the moment and the team is still in the process of learning more.

Gorski (No. 28 prospect in Pirates system, quadriceps): Gorski is at the Pirates' facility in Bradenton, Fla. He is making progress, but is not back to full baseball activities. -- Justice delos Santos

Fourth-ranked prospect Priester dominates in Double-A (July 24)
At the beginning of July, ?Quinn Priester? got touched up by the Harrisburg Senators, allowing three runs on five hits over four innings. In the rematch, it was Priester who came away smiling.

Baseball's No. 34 overall prospect struck out eight batters while allowing one unearned run on three hits over six innings as Double-A Altoona outlasted Harrisburg, 3-2, in extra innings.

Priester's day started on a tough note -- the only one he'd face. The right-hander allowed two singles around a sacrifice bunt in the first inning to plate the game's first run. After a leadoff single in the second, Priester got to work.

Pittsburgh's No. 4 prospect only allowed one baserunner the rest of the day, when he hit Gilbert Lara with a one-out pitch in the third inning. Including that plate appearance, Priester retired 14 of the final 16 batters he faced, walking Darren Baker with two outs in the sixth to snap a streak of 10 straight. Of those 10 straight outs, six came via strikeout, all swinging.

Though he took a no-decision, Priester posted his third straight outing without allowing an earned run and threw 50 strikes among his 84 pitches. Since giving up a total of five earned runs in his first three Double-A starts, Priester has dropped his ERA from 4.09 to 1.65 over his last three. -- Tyler Maun

Rodriguez continues power binge for Greensboro (July 24)
One day after his first multihomer game of the season, Endy Rodriguez went back for another.

Pittsburgh's No. 6 prospect clobbered two homers for the second straight game and reached base five times by adding two singles and a walk as High-A Greensboro fell to visiting Hickory in extra innings, 10-9.

Rodriguez got into his big day right from the start, clubbing a solo homer to left field in the bottom of the second inning. After flying out to right in the third, he reached in his next four trips to the plate. Rodriguez reached on a bunt single to third base in the fifth, lined an RBI single to right in the sixth and belted a solo homer to right-center leading off the ninth. In the 10th, Hickory passed on dealing with the slugger, issuing him an intentional walk.

The performance continued a surge at the plate for Rodriguez, who is now batting .351/.433/.772 in 15 games this month with six homers -- nearly equal to his seven total from April through June -- and 17 RBIs. -- Tyler Maun

Rodriguez displays power in first multihomer game at High-A level (July 23)
There was no power shortage in Endy Rodriguez’s bat.

The Pirates’ No. 6 prospect has continuously improved his power numbers over the years, but never accomplished a multihomer game past the Rookie level. Rodriguez finally achieved that, going 2-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs in High-A Greensboro’s 7-6 win over Hickory.

The 22-year-old’s power surge began in his first at-bat, crushing a long ball to right-center field in the second inning. Rodriguez was not finished there as he hit a two-run blast to center field in the fifth inning.

The catcher’s impressive night brought his homer tally to 11 and slash line to .276/.361/.491 on the season. -- Edwin Perez

Solometo notches best outing in young career (July 15)
It's hard to beat perfect.

The Pirates' No. 7 prospect Anthony Solometo came in relief to hold down the fort and did just that.

The second-round (37th overall) pick in the 2021 Draft was the final man out of the pen in Single-A Bradenton's 4-3 loss to Jupiter.

The 19-year-old tossed four perfect innings for the Marauders, fanning six along the way. This matched Solometo's longest outing and notched a career-high for strikeouts.

In his first professional season, the young prospect has split his appearances, allowing no earned runs in three outings and allowing an earned run or more in three performances this season through six total outings and 19 1/3 innings pitched. -- Ethan Sands

Gonzales out of walking boot (July 13)
INF Nick Gonzales (heel), the Pirates' No. 3 prospect, is no longer using a walking boot after utilizing one for several weeks, per director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk. Gonzales’ rehab may be transitioned to Florida sometime soon, per Tomczyk. In 43 games this season, Gonzales is hitting .247/.366/.377 with four home runs with Double-A Altoona. -- Justice delos Santos

Davis to be shut down for several weeks (July 13)
Henry Davis, Pittsburgh’s No. 1 overall prospect per MLB Pipeline and the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 Draft, will be shut down for several weeks as he recovers from a left wrist injury, per director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk. Davis was placed on the seven-day injured list with a left wrist injury July 8, the same wrist that was hit by a pitch earlier this season, causing him to miss several weeks. In 41 games this season, Davis is hitting .268 with seven home runs. -- Justice delos Santos

Priester puts name in win column for Altoona (July 10)
In his abbreviated season, ?Quinn Priester? has been taking steps forward. In his fourth Double-A start, he took a big one.

Baseball's No. 35 overall prospect dealt five scoreless innings, striking out six and scattering four hits, to nab his first win of the season while leading Double-A Altoona to an 11-1 rout of Akron.

Priester got half his eventual hit total out of the way by allowing singles to the first two batters he faced before retiring the next three RubberDucks batters. In the second, he again allowed two baserunners by yielding a one-out single and two-out hit batsman but got out of trouble.

From there, Pittsburgh's top pitching prospect cruised. After Brayan Rocchio singled to right to open the third, Priester retired the next nine in a row, four via strikeouts. Rocchio, who also had one of Akron's singles in the first, was the final out of Priester's afternoon when he bounced to second to close the fifth.

All told, Priester threw 65 pitches, 45 for strikes, and got five groundouts against two on the fly.

Priester got a late start to the season thanks to an oblique issue that sidelined him out of Spring Training. He returned with a flourish, dealing the first three innings of an eventual no-hitter for Single-A Bradenton in his season debut on June 9.

Through four starts with Altoona, the right-hander is now 1-1 with a 2.81 ERA. -- Tyler Maun

Chandler continues two-way dominance (July 8)
Solid at the plate? Check. Strong on the mound? Check.

No. 8 Pirates prospect Bubba Chandler continued his excellent run through the Florida Complex League with another dominant pitching performance, tossing four hitless innings with seven strikeouts in the FCL Pirates' 7-5 win over the FCL Orioles.

Chandler, Pittsburgh's third-round pick in 2021, has yet to allow a run in 15 1/3 innings over six appearances. Armed with a mid-90s fastball, the righty has struck out nearly 16 batters per nine innings as well.

That isn't close to where the book on Chandler ends, though. In eight games as a designated hitter this season, the switch-hitter has belted three home runs and sports a 1.098 slugging percentage. While other recently-drafted players have entered the pro ranks with two-way backgrounds before honing in on one side of the ball, Chandler is hoping to make it a part of his game in the long-term. -- Jacob Resnick

Gorski transferred to 60-day injured list (July 6)
Outfielder Matt Gorski, the Pirates’ No. 29 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was transferred from the 7-day to the 60-day injured list. Per director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk, the quad injury is not a long-term concern, but it will require rehab. In 67 combined games with High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona, Gorksi is slashing .294/.375/.664 with 23 home runs and 17 steals. -- Justice delos Santos

Gonzales transferred from 7-day to 60-day injured list (June 21)
Nick Gonzales, the Pirates’ No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was transferred from the 7-day to the 60-day injured list. Gonzales hasn’t played since May 31 and has been battling heel discomfort, but he was originally considered day to day. In 43 games this season, Gonzales is hitting .247/.366/.377 with four home runs and four steals. -- Justice delos Santos

Peguero optioned to Double-A Altoona (June 20)
As expected, ?Liover Peguero? was optioned back to Double-A Altoona with SS Oneil Cruz and OF Bligh Madris being called up. In what will likely be his lone Major League game this season, Peguero collected his first hit and first walk. -- Justice delos Santos