The Pirates took a bad loss last night, blowing a big lead to the Phillies. Joe Block has the story.
In the series finale tonight, the Pirates will send righty Luis Ortiz [4-5, 4.98 ERA] to the mound for the final road game of the season. He’ll face the Phils’ right-hander Zack Wheeler [13-6, 3.64 ERA]. It’s a 5:40 airtime, 6:05 first pitch from Citizens Bank Park on WCCS.
Even as the MLB regular season comes to a close this weekend, the prospect watch gears up again as the Arizona Fall League debuts on Monday. The Pirates will send a number of young players to the AFL. MLB Pipeline has its eye on Jack Branigan, the 2022 third round draft pick out of Notre Dame who gave up two-way playing as a pitcher and infielder to concentrate on playing the field, most often third base at Greensboro. Other Pirates prospects playing for Salt River Rafters will be outfielder/first baseman Jase Bowen, catcher Carter Bins, and pitchers Nick Dombkowski, Alessandro Ercolani, J.C. Flowers, Cameron Junker, and Tyler Samaniego.
