August usually means roster changes in low Class A. Draftees start appearing, some guys may get promoted from the complex leagues after their seasons stop in July, and rehabbing players appear in greater numbers because there’s no complex league team to go to. Bradenton’s had all of this.
The Pirates signed only three college position players from the 2026 draft. They also signed two prep position players, but their prep draftees never appear in games outside of the bridge league (This isn’t true with some other organizations). Top pick Derek Curiel could go to Bradenton or Greensboro to start his career, but as of Tuesday, he hadn’t been assigned yet. The other two college hitters, though, have gotten into a few games with Bradenton. That’d be second-rounder Chris Rembert and ninth-rounder Tre Phelps. No pitching draftees have made their debuts yet.
The sample size is puny, but Rembert and Phelps strike me as having almost opposite approaches. Rembert appears to wait until the ball is well into the hitting zone, which would help him make contact. That’s consistent with scouting reports that say he mainly hit to the opposite field. Apart from the question of whether he’ll hit for power, that leaves me a little concerned about how well he’ll do routinely facing pitchers who throw in the mid- and upper-90s. Phelps appears to have a very quick bat and takes a big cut. His biggest issue is likely to be chasing.
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Position players on rehab have taken up part of the Marauders’ lineup recently. Wyatt Sanford has moved on to Greensboro and Robert Hassell III moved up to Altoona. Nick Yorke just headed back to Indianapolis on Tuesday. That leaves Nick Cimillo, who recently started a rehab.
I thought maybe once the rehab guys moved along, the Pirates might bring back Johan De Los Santos. He was reassigned to the FCL when Sanford started his rehab. On Tuesday, though, they reassigned Fredderick Ovalle and moved Kendrick Herrera to Bradenton. Herrera was a big signing for the Pirates in January 2024, and he’s a good defensive shortstop. He hasn’t hit well, though, and has been relegated to a utility role, with a lot of time at first base, which is something of a sign that an infielder is getting pushed off the prospect track. Herrera had just a .555 OPS in the FCL this year.
The Marauders have had a lot of rehabbing pitchers move through, but the only one there now is Sean Sullivan. He’s looked good at times in AA when he’s been healthy, but he struggled with injuries all last year, and his time this year has been limited to two recent rehab outings.
Bradenton added two pitchers from the FCL a few days ago, righty Wifrailyn Jaquez and lefty Tony Gonzalez. They got moved up despite some pretty bad stats in the FCL. Jaquez looked good in his first game for the Marauders on Sunday. He left with two outs and two on in his third inning, and Gonzalez let both runners score. Jaquez isn’t a big guy, but he was throwing 95-97 mph, mixing in a slider, curve, and cutter. He’s still 19.
Gonzalez was an older signing at 21. That was just over a year ago, but the Pirates seem to be pushing him aggressively, usually an indication that they think a guy has some potential. He has pretty good size for a lefty and probably some projection. His stuff is puzzling. He sits at 89-91 mph, but the pitch trackers characterize all of those pitches as changeups. I’m guessing there isn’t much separation between his fastball and change — I’ve seen him several times now and he seems to throw both — and the trackers can’t handle it. Anyway, after the rough outing in relief of Jaquez, the Pirates reassigned Gonzalez back to the FCL.
One guy who’s a mystery right now is Carlos Mateo. The official roster lists him as “active,” but the Marauders’ regular “roster moves” email said a week and a half ago that he was placed on IL-7. I’m hopeful that this is all an indication that he’s expected back at some point. It’d be a shame otherwise because he seemed to be putting things together.
One non-Marauders note: I caught Felix Doroteo in a one-inning outing during bridge league. He’s the guy the Pirates got from the White Sox for Jose Urquidy. He’s 6’6”, 195, so you can pretty much write the script. He throws hard, supposedly 96-97. No gun readings from Pirate City, but he looked consistent with that. His mechanics were erratic, so the control wasn’t good, which of course was the scouting report. He fooled a couple hitters with his change, which could be his best pitch based on the tiny sample size. If he fills out some, he may get better control over his mechanics.
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