Pittsburgh Pirates: Arizona Fall League Final Recap

The hitting prospects in the fall league did not bring the name value that the pitchers did.  They also, in general, did not perform as well either.  The hitting prospect group was led by Kevin Kramer.  Also, on Glendale’s roster were Mitchell Tolman and Logan Hill.  Kramer and Tolman both played infield while Hill played in left field.

Kevin Kramer

Kramer was the best-known prospect in terms of hitters for the Pittsburgh Pirates.  He was a second-round pick in 2015 and had a really strong season at Double-A before breaking his hand.  He looked to make up some at-bats this fall.  After starting the league off strong and making the all-star game, Kramer really dropped off in the second half.  The UCLA product finished with a batting average at an even .200.  He got on base at a .296 clip and slugged .317. He played in 16 games and struck out 19 times. Now, in the fall league, you are facing some of the best prospects in baseball. This was his first time consistently facing live pitching since early July.  So maybe being out of the game for a few months caught up to him.

Tolman and Hill

Mitchell Tolman was also a 2015 draft pick.  He was selected in the seventh round out of the University of Oregon.  The former Duck struggled even more than Kramer did.  The infield prospect played in 17 games and had 61 at-bats.  His slash line was .197/.290/.328, with 18 strikeouts. Logan Hill had the strongest performance of the three prospects. Like the other two, he was also a 2015 draft pick out of Troy.  Unlike the other two, he was drafted a lot lower in round 25.  Although he performed better than the other two, his numbers were still underwhelming.  He posted a slash line of .239/.312/.444.  He did have two home runs and eight total extra-base hits in 18 games.