Arizona Fall League Update: Pirates get off to a quick start, Scottsdale struggles in first week
Arizona Fall League Update: Pirates get off to a quick start, Scottsdale struggles in first week
A look back at the first week of action in the Arizona Fall League
The first week of the Arizona Fall League has wrapped up, and all nine players that the Pirates sent over have played at least once. The Scottsdale Scorpions finished 2-3 over their first five games and have scored the fewest runs in the league while allowing the most.
With one week in the books, here’s a look at how each prospect has faired so far:
Termarr Johnson
4-10 (.400/.600/.900), 3B, HR, 2 RBI, 5 BB, K, 4 R
The top prospect the Pirates sent to the Fall League hasn’t disappointed yet in the three games he has played. That included a mini scare where he left the first game with an injury that looked serious at first but turned out to be a cramp.
Johnson is tied for third in walks, second in walk rate, and the top five in OPS. This whole league is built off small sample sizes, but his looks really good right now.
Kervin Pichardo
2-7 (.286/.375/.429), 2B, RBI, BB, K
Pichardo has played in two games so far and has done well at the plate, picking up a pair of hits, one a double. Defensively, he’s played third base and shortstop. He hasn’t looked out of place just yet in a league with higher-profile names.
Geovanny Planchart
2-7 (.286/.375/.429), 2B, RBI, BB, K
He hasn’t looked out of place at the plate but has struggled behind it. Planchart has thrown out one of nine runners. The only one he did get was a pick-off attempt at first base.
Planchart has also committed three errors and has allowed a passed ball in just two games as a catcher.
Not the ideal start.
Sammy Siani
5-13 (.385/.429/.692), 4 R, 2B, HR, RBI, BB, K, SB
Siani has played in center field in two of the three games he has played, and he has looked good both offensively and defensively.
He has two multi-hit games and a pair that have gone for extra bases—one of which was a home run while swiping a bag.
Siani will be Rule 5 eligible again this offseason, so he was going to be a prospect to watch this fall, and he’s gotten off to a strong start.
Khristian Curtis
1-0, 3 IP, 2 K
Curtis, the first pitcher to make an appearance for the Pirates, picked up the win in the first game after pitching three innings and striking out two.
He generated eight whiffs on 19 swings, three off the change-up (75% whiff rate), and averaged 94.4 mph with the fastball.
Valentin Linarez
1.1 IP
Throwing strikes has been an issue for Linarez at times, but not his lone appearance to date. He entered at the end of the fourth inning, got the last out, and pitched the entire fifth.
It took him nine pitches, seven of which went for strikes, to get those four outs. He topped out at 96 mph with his fastball. Statcast credited him with eight four-seam fastballs, but the metrics of two lean more into being a change-up.
Eddy Yean
Two appearances, SV, 2 IP, 3 H, ER, BB, 2 K
Yean picked up the save during the first game of the schedule, pitching the ninth. In two appearances, he’s allowed one earned run on a walk and three hits while striking out two.
There was no statcast in his second outing, but he picked up two whiffs on seven swings in his first, averaging 95 mph with his fastball. Both whiffs came on the slider (2/3).
Brandan Bidois
Two appearances, 1.1 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 4 K
The first relief appearance couldn’t have gone worse, as he only recorded one out but allowed six earned runs on four hits and two walks, striking out a batter. There hasn’t been any statcast for either of his starts, but he did get four whiffs in the second outing.
That one went better, although he did walk two but struck out three in an inning.
Derek Diamond
2 IP, 2 H, 4 R (2 ER), BB, 2 K
Tasked with closing out a blowout loss, Diamond added a bit to it (four runs, only two earned) on the second game of the season.
More of a finesse pitcher, Diamond did pick up four whiffs in the relief outing, although there weren’t any more in-depth numbers from that game.
The Arizona Fall League has gone a long way in just a few years, with live streams of each game now, but it is still a little disappointing there isn’t statcast available at each location.
So, it’s hard to get a sense of how hard a pitcher is throwing unless someone mentions it on the broadcast or if someone mentions it on Twitter who is at the game.
It didn’t take long for the Pirates to make their presence known. They supplied some of the offense in the first game and had the winning pitcher and the save.
They have a rare two days off before the second week of the season starts on Tuesday. Stay tuned for daily updates, followed by a weekly recap each Monday.
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Have to be pleased with how TJ has adapted to the AFL. Nice article by Jonathan Mayo on the AFL Site, and it is clear Termarr Johnson does not lack confidence in his ability to hit at any level. There's a lot of physical attributes to hitting, but the most important attribute is believing in yourself and being confident in your ability to hit.
Through A and A+ and just turned 20 in June a few months prior to being promoted to AA this year, and now in the AFL. He's moving quickly.