CLEARWATER, Fla. — The Pirates prospects fell by a final score of 5-3 to the Phillies prospects Friday afternoon in MLB’s spring breakout showcase contest at BayCare Ballpark. Casey Steward was the game’s winning pitcher, while Wilber Dotel suffered the loss.
Philadelphia took its lead for good in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to a solo homer from Carson DeMartini off Dotel. Pittsburgh prospects Tsung-Che Cheng and Esmerlyn Valdez both tallied an RBI in their team’s loss. Cheng was the lone Pirates prospect to tally multiple hits in the contest, finishing 2 for 4 with a pair of singles.
Here are the Post-Gazette’s three takeaways from the contest:
Not bad, Bubba
Bubba Chandler showed all in attendance why he is rated as one of the game’s top right-handed prospects, striking out four batters in his two perfect innings of work Friday afternoon. A pair of those strikeouts came against Justin Crawford and Eduardo Tait, two of the top 100 prospects in baseball, per MLB Pipeline.
“I actually told Justin when we were walking through the outfield, when they came out to warm up in the first inning, I was like, ‘Hey, first pitch changeup,’ ” Chandler said. “He was like, ‘Come on, Bub. Don’t do that.’ I was like, yeah, I can’t do that. [Catcher] Omar [Alfonzo] called a changeup, and I shook. I was like, ‘You know what? First batter, get all heaters.’ Respect for the game, but yeah, that was fun.”
Chandler’s four-seam fastball certainly did the bulk of work, generating two of his four strikeouts and reaching as high as 99.9 mph. But unlike his outing in last year’s spring breakout, which consisted of nothing but “heaters,” the right-hander mixed in his full arsenal against the Phillies prospects, also getting good results from his slider and changeup.
“Fastballs can get you through levels, but at the same time, in the big leagues, you've got to be able to mix, and that's kind of my thought behind everything,” Chandler said. “3-2, put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. I love my changeup. I can control it pretty well. Let's throw it 3-2. And Omar, me and him are on the same page. He called it — I didn't have to shake to it — and then I executed."”
In last year’s spring breakout game, Chandler came out of the bullpen to close the contest out for Pittsburgh. He said he enjoyed this year’s experience more as a starter and spoke highly of the event now having participated in it multiple times.
“Pitching in this is great,” Chandler said. “Like you saw today, I was amped up a little bit ... Today, it was like, ‘Alright, let’s throw. Focus on this, focus on this,’ but when I got out there, it was like ‘Screw that, let’s go compete,’ and I did.”
Southpaw struggles
Left-handed prospects Anthony Solometo and Hunter Barco both experienced their share of struggles Friday afternoon, allowing a combined three runs over 2 ⅓ innings of work.
Solometo’s outing started poorly, allowing each of the first four batters he faced to reach base. Devin Saltiban and Aroon Escobar both tagged Solometo for doubles in that stretch, giving Philadelphia a 2-0 lead. While Solometo was pulled after recording a strikeout against Dante Nori, leaving a pair of runners on with only one out, he returned to start the next inning, pitching a clean frame in the bottom of the fourth.
Barco replaced Solometo to begin the bottom of the fifth inning. Although the 6-foot-4 southpaw flashed his promise, reaching up to 96 mph with his sinker, he, too, was tagged for a run. Crawford connected on a 1-1 slider left over the middle of the plate, sending it to the left-center gap for a standup triple. He then came across to score in the following at-bat on a wild pitch.
Sloppy play
While some of the game’s future stars were involved in the action, Friday’s spring breakout between the Pirates and Phillies featured more than its share of sloppy mistakes. In total, five batters were hit by a pitch and eight reached base from a walk. Three wild pitches were thrown, and two errors were made in the field.
Philadelphia, despite being on the winning end of the contest, was responsible for the majority of these mistakes. Pirates pitchers issued just one walk and hit one batter. The Pirates mustered just four hits in their loss, compared to the Phillies, who tallied seven.
Injury note
Former first-round pick Termarr Johnson, who is rated the No. 82 prospect in baseball, per MLB Pipeline, was scratched from Friday’s breakout showcase due to a left foot bone bruise. Johnson informed reporters after the game the injury first surfaced last fall, during his time playing in the Arizona Fall League and international competition with USA Baseball.
“Just playing all of those games,” Johnson said. “ ... I think we’ll be good for opening day, but right now, I’m just trying to take some rest and get prepared for the season.”
Johnson said he’s been sidelined since March 7. He participated in minimal field activities Friday afternoon — fielding ground balls — with the hopes to add more to his workload in the near future.
The other game
Meanwhile in Grapefruit League action, the Pirates finished in an 8-8 tie with the Tigers on Friday evening at LECOM Park. Pirates starter Andrew Heaney struggled yet again on the mound, allowing four runs, two earned, on five hits over four innings of work. Two of the five hits Heaney surrendered were home runs. He struck out five batters.
Nick Gonzales and Jared Triolo each logged multi-hit efforts in the contest. Endy Rodriguez was responsible for the Pirates’ lone extra-base hit, a double. Gonzales drove home a pair of runs, while Oneil Cruz, Matt Gorski, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Andrew McCutchen, Bryan Reynolds and Alika Williams all tallied an RBI.
Up next
The Pirates will be back in action Saturday, as they take on the Orioles at LECOM Park with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. Carmen Mlodzinski will start for Pittsburgh, while Thaddeus Ward will start for Baltimore. The game will be televised on SportsNet Pittsburgh.
First Published: March 14, 2025, 8:31 p.m.
