Busy Week: Draft, All Star, MLB, Team Notes (Yah, More Moves)

Pirates, MLB, All Star game & Denver doings...

Pirates/MLB Notes:

• LHP Sam Howard went on the 10-day IL (retro to 7/10) with a right oblique strain. RHP Nick Mears was recalled to replace him. UT Phillip Evans has been reinstated from the concussion IL and SS Cole Tucker was optioned back to Indy to clear roster room.
• Bryan Reynolds set a personal best with his 17th homer of the season; he had 16 as a rookie in 2019.

An impressive streak ends - photo Pittsburgh Pirates

• Kevin Newman's club-and-NL (to start a season) record 76 consecutive games without an error at short ended Friday night when a grounder clanged off his glove.
• The Pirates went into All Star break after a four game set with the Mets; they return to action with a three-game series against them (weather permitting), the first time since 1958 that the Bucs have played a team seven straight times during the regular season. And they started off with a little preview of Saturday's fireworks show when the two teams staged a Friday Night fight (well, dance, anyway) during the Bucs' 4-1 victory.
• Hanny is tinkering with Mitch Keller's head and mechanics in little bits and pieces, and it seems to be working. Mitch is 1-0/1.80 with a 1.15 WHIP, no homers yielded, 24 strikeouts and seven walks in 20 innings/six outings (four starts) at Indy. So far, so good...
• The Kiwoom Heroes of the KBO (Korean Baseball League) have acquired 1B Will Craig, who saw the writing on the wall in Pittsburgh.
• The AAA season will be extended by 10 games, bringing it up to a 130-game season. That helps to give the minor league gang a little more development time, especially as the September rosters will be capped at 28 players this year (plus, we believe, taxi squad members).
• Of all the rules put in place last year, Rob Manfred said the two most likely to be revisited and possibly eliminated are the seven-inning double headers and the extra inning ghost runner. Talk has also bubbled up in favor of banishing the shift.

Draft:

• The Pirates selected North Carolina commit LHP Anthony Solometo of Bishop Eustace Prep (NJ) in the second round (37th pick). He is thought to be the best HS lefty available and said that he expects few problems signing. Solometo, like first pick Henry Davis, fills an organization need for a system that's lefty-thin.
• OF Lonnie White Jr., a two-sport (WR in football) Penn State commit from Malvern Prep (PA), was selected in the "B" Comp round (64th pick). He'll be the biggest challenge to get to strike a deal with the Bucs. Once again, he's a pick that would help bolster the farm which is iffy in elite outfield prospects.
• North Oconee HS (GA) RHP/SS Bubba Chandler went in the third round (72nd pick). He's a Clemson commit as a QB, but sounds ready and willing to sign with Pittsburgh. 
• With first rounder Davis, the Pirates have drafted four of Baseball America's top 32 prospects. The FO began its at-or-under slot grab bag in the following rounds to build a bankroll for the top four. The standout third-day pick (14th round) was OF/LHP Braylon Bishop, a Top 100 prep prospect with an Arkansas commit who the Pirates will try to flip, although he may be a tough kid to sign.
• Pittsburgh did land a homie: Bethel Park HS/Eastern Michigan RHP Justin Meis was taken in the 10th round (283rd pick) and signed on Friday. A strong showing in the Cape Cod wooden-bat league helped his cause.
• Other local guys picked in the first two days: Mars HS grad and CWS champ RHP Will Bednar, Bucco reliever David's bro, was drafted 14th overall by the San Francisco Giants late Sunday night. Second day WPIAL picks: 
  Hopewell HS/Ohio U LHP Joe Rock was selected by the Rockies in Comp Round B; 

  Bethel Park HS/Gardner-Webb RHP Mason Miller was taken in the 3rd round by the Athletics; Miami selected Fox Chapel HS/Seton Hill LHP Patrick Monteverdi in the 8th round & 
  Latrobe HS/Kansas State OF/DH Zach Kokoska was taken in the 10th round by the Rockies.

All Star Game:

The All Stars - photo Mary DiCicco MLB Photos/Pirates 

• OF Bryan Reynolds was named as a starter in CF, joining 2B Adam Frazier in the opening NL lineup. Bryan replaced the injured Ron Acuna Jr. on the scorecard. Fraze went 1-for-2 with the NL’s first hit and a couple of glovely plays while Reynolds went 0-for-2 with a fly out to the RCF fence. The AL won its eighth straight All-Star match by a 5-2 score. Vlad Guerrero Jr. homered and took the MVP; Shohei Ohtani started and won, pitching and batting leadoff.
• The Mets' Pete Alonso defended his HR Derby title; he banged 74 dingers in three rounds. He defeated Baltimore's Trey Mancini with 23 homers in the final round. Pgh Connection: ex-Pirates coach Dave Jauss, now NY's bench coach and occasional BP hurler, pitched to him.
• Bucco fast riser RHP Quinn Priester worked 2/3 of an inning during the Futures Game, putting up a zero with a strikeout and walk. The 20-year-old Pirates #3 prospect is working at Hi-A Greensboro.