Morning Rundown: Tyler Samaniego picks up first win of AFL, Jack Brannigan HBP, Rule 5 preview
Tyler Samaniego picks up first win of AFL, Jack Brannigan reaches base twice
The Salt River Rafters picked up their 10th win of the fall, beating the Glendale Desert Dogs 7-2 on the road.
Pitching 1.1 innings, Tyler Samaniego picked up his first win of the fall, striking out a pair of hitters. He dropped his ERA down to 4.26 after the outing.
JC Flowers was the first guy out of the bullpen for the Rafters, pitching the fourth inning, allowing a hit and two walks, but not surrendering a run. His ERA is right at 4.00 to this point of the fall.
The lone hitter from the Pirates organization to play Wednesday, Jack Brannigan went 0-for-2 on the night, but he reached base twice, on a walk as well as getting hit by a pitch.
His average has fallen to .189, but he does have a .713 OPS currently.
Yesterday’s feature saw Ethan take a look at the Rule 5 draft this year, who are all available within the Pirates organization, and some potential names to watch for them to protect.
Jase Bowen may be the most notable name currently, as he is currently putting up one of the best offensive campaigns among AFL hitters. He’s currently second in the league when it comes to hits and total bases after having the day off on Wednesday.
Just a recap of the 2022 Rule 5:
MLB Phase - Selected Jose Hernandez from LAD; lost Blake Sabol to Reds/Giants
Minor League Phase - Lost 11 and I think 9 or 10 were Pitchers. Fangraphs "it's likely that they mis-evaluated some of their own players who they should have protected, players like Trey McGough, Cristian Charle, Joelvis Del Rosario, Austin Roberts, Wilkin Ramos, Jared Oliva, and Peter Solomon.
Based on a glancing read on the 2023 numbers, I think the Pirates made the right decisions, and did not mis-evaluate the players listed. In the MLB phase, Sabol got his chance and did well for the Giants as a C/DH/LF. I think a 0.7 fWAR. Joey Bart having another very poor season helped get him the opportunities at C, and he took off running. He would never have gotten that opportunity with the Pirates and would probably have spent all of 2023 in AAA. The Pirates getting Jose Hernandez was a big need (LHRP) and he pitched well for the Pirates. A win-win for both teams and players.
Glad to see the SRR get back to winning, and Flowers and Samaniego pitched well in relief.
The Rule 5 Draft is always a big event for the Pirates and I think that has a lot to do with the fact that the fans have been without baseball since the end of the regular season. We have the "benefit" of a longer off-season to ponder how we could possibly become relevant in the next season.
For the Pirates, I think they did a nice job of getting a lot of prospects into the MLB lineup in 2023 - some did better than expected, some did worse than expected. How the management of this franchise use the play of 2023 to evaluate who are trade candidates, who are exposed to the Rule 5, and who are protected by being added to the 40 prior to the Draft on Dec 7, will give all of us an indication of how serious they are about winning in 2024. The NL Central leveled out in 2023, and just about every team had a chance to compete.