AFL Update: Fall League winding down as Siani, pitchers continue strong play

A week left in the AFL

Nov 11, 2024

There is a week left in the Arizona Fall League, with the Scottsdale Scorpions still having an outside shot of making the playoffs, sitting at a 12-14 record.

A lot has to happen, but there is a shot.

Among the Pirates playing, this was the first full week without Termarr Johnson, who shifted focus to the Premier12 tournament.

Sammy Siani is still the top-performing hitter, as he picked up another six hits on the week, including his third home run of the fall.

Siani hit 6-15 with four runs, four RBI, two stolen bases, and the home run. He was also one of three representatives in the Fall Stars game, picking up a pair of hits.

With Johnson out of the picture, Kervin Pichardo saw a slight uptick in playing time with the opening. He picked up two hits in eight at-bats, walking three times to just two strikeouts and adding a pair of stolen bases.

It’s been a solid fall for Pichardo, but with the overall offensive numbers in the league, it’s gone overlooked.

Geovanny Planchart had an interesting week. He played twice last week, one of them being the Fall Stars game, so it was a lone contest he played in previously.

He hasn’t had much playing time but has hit when he’s made it on the field. He went 1-4 this past week.

The pitching started to come along the previous week, and that continued here. Khristian Curtis pitched three shutout innings in his only official outing of the week. They had a game from Sunday that was carried over in which he started and struck out the side.

We counted that inning into the previous week’s numbers, so it doesn’t factor in here.

It’s the second straight week that the Pirates combined to pitch a shutout in their games. Valentin Linarez allowed just his second hit across the nine innings he has pitched.

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With the small sample size that comes with playing in the fall, rough starts from Brandan Bidois, Eddy Yean, and Curtis have overshadowed their recent play.

Scottsdale has just four guaranteed games left, and it feels like they will have to win out to have a shot at the playoffs.

Khristian Curtis (Suspended game not included)

Last Week: 3 IP, H, 3 K
AFL Season: 1-1, 14.1 IP, 11 H, 8 ER, 7 BB, 13 K, 5.02 ERA, 1.26 WHIP

Derek Diamond

Last Week: IP, K
AFL Season: 11 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 12 K, 2.45 ERA, 0.82 WHIP

Valentin Linarez

Last Week: 2 IP, H, BB, K
AFL Season: 1-0, 9 IP, 2 H, ER, 7 BB, 10 K, 1.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP

Eddy Yean

Last Week: IP, 2 K
AFL Season: 0-2, SV, 7.2 IP, 11 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, 7.04 ERA, 1.96 WHIP

Brandan Bidois

Last Week: IP, BB, K
AFL Season: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 9 BB, 12 K, 9.45 ERA, 2.10 WHIP

Sammy Siani

Last Week: 6-15, 4 R, 4 RBI, BB, 3 K, HR, 2 SB
AFL Season: 26-64 (.406/.472/.594), 16 R, 3 2B, 3 HR, 16 RBI, 7 BB, 13 K, 4 SB

Kervin Pichardo

Last Week: 2-8, 4 R, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 2 K, 2 SB
AFL Season: 13-47(.277/.404/.468), 11 R, 4 2B, 3B, HR, 9 RBI, 10 BB, 9 K, 2 SB

Geovanny Planchart

Last Week: 1-4
AFL Season: 10-29 (.345/.457/.586), 5 R, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 BB, 6 K

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