Morning Rundown: Sammy Siani hits grand slam, Pirates claim Tristan Gray off waivers
Morning Rundown: Sammy Siani hits grand slam, Pirates claim Tristan Gray off waivers
Siani hits grand slam, Pirates make waiver claim, Angels/Braves make a trade
Sammy Siani hits grand slam in Scottsdale win
Recap by John Dreker
The Scottsdale Scorpions hosted the Glendale Desert Dogs on Thursday evening in Arizona Fall League action. Two Pittsburgh Pirates were in the starting lineup. Sammy Siani played left field and he batted seventh. Shortstop Kervin Pichardo hit in the eighth spot. Valentin Linarez joined them out of the bullpen late in the game.
Siani came up in the first inning with a 1-0 score, two outs, and the bases loaded. He struck out on three pitches to end the inning. He would do much better with his second bases-loaded chance later in the game. Pichardo singled on a line drive to center field to begin the second. Siani was hit by a pitch to begin the fourth inning. He was immediately erased on the bases when Pichardo hit into a double play.
Siani drew a walk in the fifth inning. Pichardo followed with an RBI single that scored a runner from second base. That made it a 3-1 lead for Scottsdale.
Linarez came into a game that saw Scottsdale up 4-1 in the seventh. He joined in the action with two men on and one out. He struck out the first batter he faced on three pitches (plus an automatic ball was called on a time violation). He got a fly ball to center field one pitch later to end the inning, stranding two inherited runners. Linarez dominated the top of the eighth, striking out the first two batters on a total of six pitches, before battling a bit for a third strikeout. He had six swing-and-misses in the inning.
Limited pitch info was available for this game. Linarez threw 17 pitches, with 15 going for strikes. That led to him retiring all five batters he faced. He has allowed one run on one hit in seven innings this fall while striking out nine batters. The strike throwing in this game was a nice improvement from prior outings, in which he walked six batters over his first 5.1 innings.
Siani walked in the bottom of the seventh. He moved to third on a double by Pichardo, then scored one batter later on a ground out. Siani capped the scoring in a big way during the eighth inning when he hit a grand slam that made it a 10-1 game. It was his second homer of the fall. Pichardo followed with a walk.
Siani went 1-for-2 with two walks, two runs, and four RBIs. He's now hitting .408/.482/.592 over 56 plate appearances (13 games) this fall.
Pichardo had a 3-for-4 game, with his fourth double, a walk, and an RBI. He is batting .282/.391/.513 through 46 plate appearances (11 games).
Scottsdale won 10-1 on Thursday, moving them to an 8-12 record with ten games left. The Scorpions hit the road today to take on the Salt River Rafters (11-9) at 9:30 PM EST.
With the World Series ending on Wednesday, that means the offseason officially began on Thursday and teams were quick to get things going, including the Pirates.
They announced that they claimed infielder Tristan Gray off waivers from the Oakland Athletics.
Gray, 28, was a 13th-round pick by the Pirates back in 2017 out of Rice. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in the Corey Dickerson trade. His major league experience has been limited to just 36 plate appearances where he slashed .152/222/.273 and has struck out nearly 50% of the time.
He split time between Triple-A Jacksonville in the Marlins organization and Las Vegas for the Athletics. Gray hit a collective .251/.322/.467 in 112 games with 19 home runs and started at least one game at each infield position, including first base.
The barrel rate and exit velocity numbers are fairly strong, but he does struggle tomorrow make contact at times.
The Texas Rangers announced that they have claimed Roansy Contreras off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday.
Contreras, a former top-100 prospect with the Pirates, was designated for assignment this past season and was claimed by the Angels.
In 52 games with the Angels, Contreras posted a 4.33 ERA (97 ERA+) with a 1-4 record and 23 walks to 40 strikeouts in 52 innings pitched.
Speaking of the Angels, they also made a trade on Thursday, sending right-handed pitcher Griffin Canning to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for outfielder Jorge Soler.
Canning, 28, posted a 6-13 record with the Angels in 2024, striking out 130 batters in 171.2 innings with a 5.19 ERA.
After signing with the San Francisco Giants before the season, Soler was traded to the Braves in the middle of the season. He hit 21 home runs in 142 games played while hitting 36 the year prior.
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Low-key happy they got Tristan back. Wasn't thrilled they traded him away as I thought he looked promising. 28, in his prime, has pop, and defensive versatility. He may not be more than a AAAA guy, but worth a waiver claim on him.
Not sure whether it was mentioned here, but the Pirates re-signed Malcom Nunez to a MiL deal for next year. He would have been a FA this fall.