Arizona Fall League Preview: Pittsburgh Pirates sending eight players out West
Eight Pirates prospects will play for the Salt River Rafters.
The annual Arizona Fall League will begin on October 2, featuring some of the top prospects in the game. Friday they announced the rosters and the Pittsburgh Pirates will be sending eight prospects out West to play for the Salt River Rafters.
Of those eight, three are position players, with the other five pitchers.
It’s a group without a marquee prospect, but some players to watch nonetheless. Here’s a rundown of each prospect that will be participating in the AFL for the Pirates
Alessandro Ercolani
Originally from San Marino, Ercolani is set to be the youngest player in the AFL at just 19-years-old. He missed the last month and a half while with Bradenton - his last game was July 30 - so this is a chance to make some of those innings back.
While it’s good to make up for some lost time, it is somewhat interesting the Pirates are sending him to Arizona, as even at the time of his injury he had already doubled his workload from the year prior in the FCL.
Ercolani has a live fastball that can get up to 97 mph in shorter outings, but did struggle to maintain that velocity when he went deeper into games.
He’s the kind of guy that could really turn some heads out there if they use him an inning at a time and he lights up the radar gun.
The stuff is there, and shows some flashes here and there, but you can tell he’s a guy that is still learning how to pitch.
JC Flowers
Drafted out of Florida State, Flowers at one point looked like he could be a major league relief prospect, if there is actually such a thing, due to his really good slider.
He didn’t get a lot of swing and miss in Altoona during the 2022 season, and really paid for it this year in Indianapolis. In 46 innings this year in Triple-A, Flowers posted a 9.39 ERA.
Even if the success hasn’t been there, Flowers is a super-athletic, super-versatile pitcher who has filled almost every role you can ask from a pitcher the last couple of years.
Cam Junker
Drafted in 10th round back in 2019, Junker has made over 100 appearances out of the bullpen the last couple years at every level except for Triple-A.
He’s not a big swing and miss guy either (17.8 K%) but was able to induce ground balls at a near 50% rate (46.9%) during a very solid season out the Altoona bullpen.
Tyler Samaniego
His xFIP says that he was better than his 5.51 ERA (by nearly two runs), but he’s still at best a relief prospect, although a left-handed one at that.
He was lights out in Greensboro last year, and has just kind of plateau in Altoona since then. The Pirates don’t have many lefties in the system, and the metrics always seem to like him more than what his performance dictates, so there could be some interest depending how responds to the higher level of competition.
Nick Dombkowski
Originally an undrafted free agent signing by the Pirates in 2021, Dombkowski has begun taking on a new role with the Altoona pitching staff.
He’s been used as a starter and sometimes ‘bulk’ inning guy this year, and amassed 85 innings this year with Altoona, and another three in Triple-A.
Fangraphs like his slider and even more so his change-up, but not so much fans of his fastball.
Dombkowski is another pitch-to-contact guy, with only 58 strikeouts in those 85 Double-A innings.
He’s one of seven pitchers in the Pirates system with at least 40 innings pitched and a swinging strike rate of under 10% - Flowers and Samaniego were two other.
Carter Bins
An injury cost him all of 31 games and 104 at-bats this season, so this makes sense to send him to Arizona.
Bins was acquired in the Tyler Anderson trade, and while there was some interest with his defense, he’s really struggled in the upper levels making contact.
He did throw out 30.7% of attempted base stealers this year, but that was in just 13 opportunities.
Jack Brannigan
Playing between Bradenton and Greensboro, Brannigan finished just one home run shy of a 20/20 season.
He’s one of the better defensive players in the Pirates system, maybe even the minors, mainly due to his plus, plus arm.
Brannigan will be interesting to watch where he gets the majority of his playing time defensively. He was a third baseman in college, but played shortstop almost exclusively until he got onto campus.
There are a lot of tools in Brannigan’s belt, it’s just a matter of whether or not he can hit tougher competition to make the next step, so this is a nice move.
Jase Bowen
Another player that enters a different conversation if the hit tool improves, Bowen led the system in home runs and was one of three players in the system overall to reach the 20/20 plateau (Matt Gorski and Liover Peguero).
Bowen cut down on the strikeouts and increased the walks in 2023 compared to his time at the same level in 2022, earning himself a late cameo in Altoona. He put together one of the better offensive seasons not only in the system but also in the South Atlantic League.
The Pirates moved him all over the field in Bradenton during the 2022 season, but played mostly in the outfield, his natural position, and that seemed to really help him focus on the hitting side of things.
This is the least interesting bunch sent there in recent memory.
The 3 position players are the only ones that make sense. Why send Flowers, he's not going to be on the 40 man most likely, if he has a breakout in Arizona, then you need to protect him on the 40 or risk losing him.