Bradenton’s pitching staff got a major makeover on Tuesday. The biggest news was Levi Sterling and Reinold Navarro being promoted to Greensboro, along with lefty reliever Isaias Uribe. The Marauders added two of this year’s college draftees, righties Bryson Moore and Alex Overbay (son of . . . you know). Moore was the seventh-round pick out of Florida State; Overbay came in the eighth round 8 from Arizona State. The Pirates also promoted righty Claudio Estelie, who spent the season in the FCL. As if that wasn’t enough, the Marauders picked up two rehabbing pitchers, Garrett McMillan, who’s been out all year, and Po-Yu Chen. Another rehabber, Sean Sullivan, moved up to Altoona.
Sterling and Navarro, we’ve been following closely lately. Their departure will leave the Marauders needing some innings. Sterling easily led Bradenton in starts (21) and innings (96). Navarro was second in innings (69.1) and third in starts (14 — he also made seven relief appearances). Moore and Overbay will be making their pro debuts. Moore goes heavily with breaking balls. Overbay throws 95-97 mph with a slider, cutter and change that show promise, but . . . yes, you guessed it, he’s had control problems.
The less familiar guys are Uribe and Estelie, but they’re worth keeping an eye on. Uribe was a maybe-prospect as a starter back in 2023, but he missed all of 2024, returned briefly in early 2025, and then missed the rest of that season. As a reliever, he’s throwing a sinker 94-96 and has a slider with good spin. He only returned this year a few weeks ago and threw six innings for Bradenton, allowing two hits and two walks, and fanning seven. I saw several of his outings, and he looked surprisingly good given all the missed time. It’d be a plus if he handled Greensboro well.
Estelie was an older Dominican signing at age 20 in January 2025. He’s a skinny 6’5” and should have projection left. He sits at 92-94 now, getting a little higher, and leans heavily on a slider that’s very effective at times. Estelie didn’t pitch much in the DSL in 2025, but the Pirates pushed him to the FCL this year and had a 4.26 ERA in 31.2 IP, with 5.4 walks and 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings. That may not sound impressive, but the league ERA was 5.76, and the BB/9 was 6.4. The Pirates seem to be pushing Estelie pretty aggressively.
The Pirates have activated two of the three college position players they signed out of this year’s draft, 2nd-round pick Chris Rembert and 9th-round pick Tre Phelps. Rembert has one double and six walks. His eight strikeouts have been on the high side (in this very limited sample) for a hitter whose contact ability was his main asset.
Phelps has had more trouble. He has just one hit, a home run, in 23 ABs. That’s a BA of .043. He’s struck out six times. Phelps has hit the ball hard some of the time, including at least three times on Tuesday with no results. He has six walks and four hit batsmen. He got hit a lot in college, including 35 times this year (yes, that’s three - five). Good way to get on base, not such a good way to make a living.
Judging from recent comments by Ben Cherington, 1st-rounder Derek Curiel probably won’t make an appearance this season.
The big hitter with the Marauders continues to be catcher Richard Ramirez. He hit two more long balls on Tuesday, giving him 17 on the season. He’s now batting 272/331/541 on the year. Despite missing the early part of the season, he’s fifth in doubles (23) and fourth in home runs. Ramirez does still chase a lot, but it seems like time to see whether his approach will work at Greensboro, especially since this is his second year in Bradenton. Like Axiel Plaz, Ramirez is eligible for the Rule 5 draft this off-season, so it’s possible the Pirates may bank on the historical reluctance teams have to select lower-level catchers.
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