Morning Rundown: Sammy Siani hits home run for Scottsdale
Siani hits third home run, Cardinals catcher changes position
Sammy Siani hits home run for Scottsdale
Recap by John Dreker
The Scottsdale Scorpions went into Wednesday night's Arizona Fall League action against the last-place Peoria Javelinas with six games left in the season and a dwindling chance of making the playoffs. Two Pittsburgh Pirates were in the starting lineup, with left fielder Sammy Siani batting sixth and shortstop Kervin Pichardo hitting seventh. Derek Diamond would join them out of the bullpen.
The first inning certainly looked like Scottsdale was taking on a last-place team. Peoria committed four errors in a six-run inning for the Scorpions. Siani singled in a run during his first at-bat to make it a 2-0 game. Pichardo reached on a fielder's choice in his first at-bat. Both Pirates players scored runs in the inning.
Siani struck out in the third inning. Pichardo followed with a walk and his second stolen base. He scored one batter later on an error. Siani led off the fifth inning with his third homer of the fall to make it an 8-1 game. Pichardo struck out swinging in the fifth.
Diamond took over in the top of the seventh inning. He opened his game with a swinging strikeout. The next batter was retired on a ground out to second base. An error on a grounder to Pichardo resulted in a runner on second base. A stolen base put that runner at third. Diamond got out of the inning without any damage, picking up the third out on a grounder to first base. Limited available pitch data shows that he threw 12 of his 17 pitches for strikes. He has thrown 11 innings this fall, in which he has allowed three earned runs on seven hits, two walks, and 12 strikeouts.
Siani drew a walk in the seventh inning. He finished the day going 2-for-3 with a home run, two runs, two RBIs and a walk. He's hitting .407/.478/.610 through 17 games, with 15 runs and 16 RBIs.
Pichardo struck out swinging in the seventh. He went 0-for-3 with a walk, two runs scored, and a stolen base. He's batting .273/.396/.477 through 14 games.
Scottsdale won 8-1, moving them to an 11-14 record. They trail the last playoff spot by two games, though two teams are tied for that spot. The Scorpions will be home tonight to take on the Mesa Solar Sox (13-12) at 8:30 PM EST.
Willson Contreras has spent his entire career in the NL Central. His first seven years were with the Cubs and the last two with the St. Louis Cardinals.
He had spent the majority of that time as a catcher but will shift to first base for the 2025 season. After playing in just 84 games last year, the idea going forward is to put less stress on his body.
Most of the time he missed was due to a fracture in his arm after getting hit by a bat while the hitter was swinging in the box while he was catching.
He batted .262/.380/.468 with 15 home runs and 140 wRC+ in those 84 games with the Cardinals in 2024.
Support the site by becoming a paid member, and get access to all of our premium content, including our Top 25 list with complete player write-ups and video breakdowns, which come out weekly.
It will also give access to my player feature articles from on-site trips.
We have monthly and yearly plans available, with the latter costing an average of $4.16/month.
Billy Cook Fan Club checking in! No particular reason, just reminding all that we (me) are out here
Hank, Endy and Peguero all field their position(s) well enough in the major leagues
"getting them consistent at bats in Indy" days are done
these are bench players in the major leagues until some freak injury to someone else