Notes: Bucs Keep Losin'; ASG, Draft, More Young Guns; Injury Report, Minor & MLB News

All Star break...we needed it! Pity it ended so soon.

Notes:

• San Fran came visiting after the ASG break. The G-Men swept the Bucs; each game featured one bad inning of pitching, one bad inning of fielding and many bad innings of batting to take their toll.
• The number one's keep coming: RHP Quinn Priester is expected to make his MLB debut against the Cleveland Guardians on Monday. The rumor mill has C/1B Endy Rodriguez and IF Liover Peguero will be joining him.

Quinn Priester - 2019 Bowman's First

• The Bucs activated OF/DH Andrew McCutchen (elbow) from the 10-day IL and optioned IF Rudy Castro (.228 BA) to Indy.
• RHP Roansy Contreras has been sent to the Florida Complex League, the rookie training grounds, so looks like they're not trying to tune but rather rebuilt his approach and mechanics.
• BTW, Ben Cherington said on his Sunday radio show that they do expect Henry Davis to catch some this year (he's spent all but an inning as a RF/DH) when the coaching staff feels he's ready, so the Austin Hedges era continues at Shelty's discretion... And they also expect Endy Rodriguez to get the call to the big club and catch some, too. Expectations v reality...
• The Pirates announced their 2024 schedule.
• LHP Jose Hernandez and RHP Wil Crowe began their rehab stints at Indy.
• LHP Rob Zastryzny has cleared waivers and been assigned to Indy.
• OF Travis Swaggerty completed his rehab at Greensboro and is back with Indy. 
• Bradenton 2B Temarr Johnson, who has been on a tear this month, left the game Sunday with an apparent calf/knee injury suffered while batting. It appeared minor, so hopefully it was just a cramp issue.

Temarr Johnson - 2023 MLB Pipeline

• RHP Bear Bellomy, 25, a reliever who was briefly on the radar but struggled the past two seasons at Altoona, was released. LHP Anthony Solometo took his spot and joined the Curve rotation; he was on the development squad for a short time due to a roster crunch.
• BaseballAmerica released its latest top 100 list, with five Pirates pups included: #6 - RHP Paul Skenes; #28 - C/RF Henry Davis; #55 - C/1B Endy Rodriguez; #75 - RHP Jared Jones and #97 - 2B Termarr Johnson. 
•  1B Josiah Sightler is the Florida State League Player of the Week (he hit .522, but is a 23-year-old playing in Bradenton; he should be moving up the ladder soon) while RHP Kevison Hernandez, 20, took home the Dominican League Pitcher of the Week award after working 5-1/3 scoreless frames with three hits and 10 K.
• Upper St. Clair dude and brief Bucco Sean Casey was hired by the NYY as their new hitting coach; they let the old one go after a misfiring Gotham attack...and yes, Shelty, some teams do switch coaches in the middle of the season given cause.
• OF Ben Gamel (Pirates 2021-22/.242 BA) had his contract sold by Tampa Bay to San Diego, moving from one AAA roster to another.

Ben's movin' again - 2021 Topps 70

• OF Jake Marsinick was DFA'ed by Texas. The Rangers were his 10th organization in 14 seasons as a pro, including a short 2022 stay with the Pirates when Jake was on the IL longer than the roster. The Dodgers signed him to a major league deal to become his 11th club. 
• The Padres released RHP Blake Cederlind, who the Bucs released in May.
• Draft, continued: The Pirates chose Oregon State 1B Garret Forrester (3rd round - #97). The 21-year-old hit 10 HRs/12 2Bs/w 52 RBIs in 61 games. They followed with RHP Carlson Reed (4th round - #104), West Virginia closer with a line of 2-1-7/2.61 with 60 strikeouts in 38 innings. The next six selections were spent on pitchers, all college arms with high strikeout numbers who project as relievers and mixed peripherals with four righties with no jump-out-at-ya names. After taking nine pitchers with their first 11 selections of the draft, the Pirates selected five pitchers and five position players on the third day. The top HS pick (#497) was Daniel Duvet, a 3B with power. He's considered a tough sign and is projected to keep his commitment to Miami. Pirates draft picks Jim Callis of MLB.com ranked the Pirates draft class as #8.
• Draft signings: 2nd-round pick IF Mitch Jebb of Michigan State (#42 overall - signed for $1.65M, slot value/$2,045,900); 4th-rounder RHP Carlson Reed of WVU (#104 overall - signed for $600K, slot value/$646,900); 5th round RHP Patrick Reilly of Vandy  (#140 overall - signed for $455,600, full slot value); 7th-round pick LHP Jaden Woods of Georgia (#197 - signed for $273,800, full slot value); 10th round selection RHP Landon Tomkins of Louisiana Tech (#287 overall - undisclosed, slot value/$171,200 )
• Local draft notes: Grand Canyon University shortstop Jacob Wilson was selected sixth overall by the Oakland A’s; he's ex-Bucco SS Jack's kid. South Park HS/Seton Hill U's LHP Kevin Vaupel was chosen by the Miami Marlins in the 16th round (#473). Vaupel slashed 6-1/2.04 with a 1.11 WHIP in nine starts.

The All Star trio - 2023 Pirates

• All Star Stuff: Mitch Keller worked the second inning, using just 11 pitches. He gave up a solo shot to Yandy Diaz and fanned Adolis Garcia. The Renegade, David Bodnar, warmed up but wasn't called, though an ex-Buc was the man of the hour and MVP. Rockies C Elias Díaz, a first-time All-Star at age 32, took the O's Félix Bautista deep with a runner aboard in the top of the eighth to put the Senior Circuit in the lead for an eventual 3-2 win at T-Mobile Park, the NL’s first Midsummer Classic victory since 2012. As an opening act, Vlad Guerrero Jr. won the Home Run Derby, outslugging Randy Arozarena by a 25-23 tally. He joined his dad, Vlad Sr., as the only father-son duo to take the title.