Single-A Bradenton hosts June’s Pipeline Game of the Month
The journey from highschool draftee to large leaguer can usually be a protracted and lonely one. Even with the proliferation of prospect rankings, a participant taken early within the first spherical can largely disappear from public view, not less than when it comes to watching him in motion.
For not less than a day, although, the MLB Pipeline Game of the Month goes to open a window into the method these younger gamers are going by way of. We’re heading to Bradenton, Fla., on Thursday evening at 6:30 p.m. ET, because the Marauders, the Single-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, host the Dunedin Blue Jays.
This first Game of the Month glimpse on the Florida State League might be accessible totally free on MLB.com and the MLB Pipeline homepage and will also be considered by way of MLB.TV, MiLB.TV and the First Pitch app.
The star of the present might be Termarr Johnson, the No. 4 total decide of the 2022 Draft and the Pirates’ No. 1 prospect. Johnson, who’s No. 20 on our Top 100, was slowed a bit of bit out of the gate with a hamstring challenge and took a short while to get his ft beneath him as soon as he returned to the lively lineup. But the left-handed-hitting center infielder, who many scouts felt was the very best pure prep hitting prospect that they had seen in current reminiscence, has discovered a little bit of a groove of late.
From the center of May till the tip of Bradenton’s sequence this previous Sunday in Tampa (Yankees), Johnson has posted an OPS north of .900 and slugged his first two homers of the season. His .406 on-base share for the season would put him seventh within the FSL if he had sufficient at-bats to qualify and even regardless of his gradual begin has posted a really stable 129 wRC+ (weighted runs created plus)
Johnson will not be the one ranked prospect who’ll be within the ballpark. In addition to Johnson, the Marauders’ lineup may even characteristic No. 26 prospect Shalin Polanco, one of many Pirates’ large worldwide signings in 2021, making his full-season debut. The visiting dugout will characteristic Blue Jays No. 5 prospect Tucker Toman, who was taken with the No. 77 total decide in final yr’s Draft, No. 16 Adrian Pinto and No. 20 Manuel Beltre.
As a part of the MLB Pipeline Game of the Month, you’ll want to observe the @MiLB and @MLBPipeline Instagram feeds. On the @MiLB aspect, we’ll convey followers contained in the ballpark with a pregame tour of LECOM Park, and over on @MLBPipeline, I’ll have a stay Q&A with Johnson. Later down the road, circle again to MLB.com/Pipeline for interviews with different prospects.
