Notes: 4-2 Week; Still Making Moves; Kells 200; 1st Wins & Saves; AFL Roster, Minor Finales; Ol' Bucs

On the road again...

Notes:

• The Pirates opened the week at Wrigley Field. Par for the course, they were clocked, 14-1; Chicago is now 10-1 v the Bucs. The Cubs banged 4 HR's, including the franchise's 15,000th dinger. The second game was another home run derby (Josh Palacios, Connor Joe & Jared Triolo for Pgh), and the Pirates flipped the narrative to come out on top, 13-7; the Steeler offense should show so strong! The bullpens made the rubber match a thrilla, but Palacios swatted a three-run, ninth-inning pinch hit homer to give the good guys an eventual 8-6 win and the series. Then it was off to Cincy and GABP. Good start there; Endy Rodríguez, Henry Davis, Jared Triolo and Ke'Bryan Hayes banged solo shots to power a 7-5 Bucco dub. The bats were slow to wake up in the second match, but when they did...it was the first time in Bucco history when the club overcame a nine run + deficit when they roared back from a 9-0 hole for a 13-12 victory behind Alfonso Rivas, Bryan Reynolds and Jared Triolo. The Bucs kept the two-of-three vibe going, coming out on the short end of a 4-2 decision Sunday.

Dauri Moreta is back - photo Pirates

• RHP Osvaldo Bido was recalled from Indy and LHP Bailey Falter was placed on the 15-day IL.
• The Pirates called up RHP Dauri Moreta from Indy and placed RHP Colin Holderman on the 15-day IL with a right thumb sprain.
• Earlier in the week, the club called up RHP Kyle Nicolas, optioned RHP Thomas Hatch to Indy and moved Cutch to the 60-day IL. Nicolas, 24, was a part of the Jake Stallings deal. His '23 numbers are ugly (4-7-2/5.20), but the team converted him from starter to reliever recently, liked the much improved results, and brought him up for a look.
• Mitch Keller posted his 200th strikeout of the season against the Cubs on Wednesday. He's the sixth Pirate since 1900 with at least 200 K in a year, along with Bob Veale (1964-'66, '69), Ollie Pérez (2004), AJ Burnett (2013), Francisco Liriano (2015) and Gerrit Cole (2015).
• Hunter Stratton picked up his first MLB win on Friday against the Reds. He gave up his first run, too, so he also earned his first career blown save. 16 hours later, MLB's official scorer took the dub away and gave it to Ryan Borucki, calling Hunter's outing "brief and ineffective" It might be technically defensible but taking away a kid's first win...?
• The Pirates named their Arizona Fall League roster for the Salt River Rafters: IF Jack Branningan, OF/1B Jase Bowen, C Carter Bins, RHP's Alessandro Ercolani, JC Flowers & Cameron Junker and lefties Nick Dombkowski & Tyler Samaniego.
• The Indy player award winners: OF/1B Miguel Andújar was named MVP, RHP Quinn Priester Pitcher of the Year, RHP Hunter Stratton Reliever of the Year; LHP Cam Alldred Unsung Hero (Pitchers), IF Chris Owings Unsung Hero (Position Players), OF Ryan Vilade Gold Glove, and IF Josh Bissonette Community Champion. Their season ended Sunday; Indy finished the season with a 70-78 record.

Indy MVP Miguel Andujar - photo 2023 Pirates

• The Class AA Altoona Curve ended the season with a 67-68 overall record, going 34-34 in the first half, then 33-34 in the second half to finish in third place in the Eastern League's SouthWest Division. 
• IF Nick Gonzales, 24, hit for the cycle on Tuesday and has been raking at Indy, batting over .300 with seven homers since being sent down in early August.
• RHP Aaron Shortridge, 26, has been called up to Indy from Altoona for a taste of the AAA life. He was 11-8/5.01 as part of the Curve's rotation. Aaron was red hot in August and not so much in September, but has won six of his last seven decisions.
• IF Tsung-Che Cheng, 22, was named to the Hi-A South Atlantic (Sally) League All-Star squad. He hit .308 with nine long balls at Greensboro before being promoted to Altoona in mid-season. He batted .251 with four homers in 66 Class AA games. So was OF/UT Jase Bowen, 23, who hit .258 with 23 bombs; he was then sent to the Curve in time to get into eight games.
• 2B Termarr Johnson, 19, was named to the Florida State League All-Star team. While with Bradenton (Johnson's now in Hi-A Greensboro), he hit .244 w/13 HRs in 75 games. Temarr was the Bucs top pick in 2022 and the fourth selection overall. 
• Milwaukee 1B Carlos Santana, a Bucco up til the deadline, became the 10th big league switch hitter to swat 300 HRs on Saturday.
• OF Jordan Luplow was DFA'ed by Minnesota, the third team of the season, along with Atlanta and Toronto, to let him go. He's developed into a platoon guy, batting .250/122 OPS+ v LHP this year but just .191/37 OPS+ v RHP. He cleared waivers, was sent down and called back up. so busy week for J-Low. Jordan started his big league career with the Bucs in 2017-18 and has played for six MLB clubs in his seven campaigns.