Haven’t done one of these in a while, so let’s catch up with the Pirate prospects playing in various parts of the Western Hemisphere this fall.
The Arizona Fall League is wrapping up today. Heading into the last game, Jose Tabata is hitting .363/.425/.478. The high batting average is nice, but only eight of his 41 hits are for extra bases(four doubles, three triples, and a homer). Still, he seemed to be finishing strongly despite adjusting to Triple-A, so it’s good to see him staying hot. Chase D’Arnaud has picked things up considerably. His line is up to .286/.356/.377 after an ugly start. He’s also got 11 steals in 12 attempts. Ben Badler wrote some very nice things about him in a recent AFL Notebook for Baseball America. Brian Friday, meanwhile, has a .615 OPS. If you had any remaining doubts about which was the better prospect, they should be gone by now.
I’ll assume Donnie Veal’s AFL season is over since he’s the only Scottsdale pitcher with seven starts. Over 21 innings, he struck out 22 batters and walked just 7 while allowing 17 hits and only five earned runs. He had a couple rough starts recently, but it’s a huge deal that he not only got a chance to pitch after his lost Rule 5 season, but that he pitched well. Evan Meek also had a very good winter season last year in route to turning himself around after being a Rule 5 pick. Danny Moskos had a very Danny Moskos-like line, in which it wasn’t completely awful, but wasn’t inspiring either. And Tony Watson pitched well in relief. The full stats for the Scottsdale Scorpions are here.
In Mexico, Brian Bixler is starting to hit well again. He’s got four homers now and his line is up to .296/.364/.434. He’s also struck out 42 times in around 150 PAs. Rogelio Noris is on his team and he’s started to see some action, hitting .368/.419/.500 in 38 at-bats.
In Venezuela, Neil Walker has a nice .277/.382/.464 line with four homers, nine doubles, and 17 walks in about 130 plate appearances. Prove me wrong, Neil! Gorkys Hernandez, meanwhile, is slumping badly with a Ramon Vazquez-esque .233/.347/.267 line. Ronald Uviedo has made some relief appearances, pitching fairly well, Argenis Diaz is now below the Mendoza Line, and Ronny Cedeno has a .232 OBP in 17 games.
In the Dominican, you can find Eric Kratz and Starling Marte on the Aguilas Cibaenas. Kratz is hitting poorly and Marte isn’t playing much, but they are teammates with noted slimeball Jose Lima. Meanwhile over on the Estrellas de Orient, Robinzon Diaz is upping his trade value with his .372/.388/.487 line while projection monster and newly minted minor league free agent Bryan Myrow has a .921 OPS in his 10 games.
Those are the only Pirates I can currently find over there, so if I’m missing anyone in the DR or anywhere, drop me a line in the comments.
