Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Arizona Fall League Underway

Last night the Arizona Fall League started their season.  The Pittsburgh Pirates had plenty of prospects get into the first game.

The Pittsburgh Pirates may be watching Major League Baseball from home now, but the organization has some prospects playing in the Arizona Fall League.  The prospects for the Pittsburgh Pirates are playing for the Surprise Saguaros.  The Saguaros are made up of prospects from the Pittsburgh Pirates, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, and the Texas Rangers.

Last night, the Suprise Saguaros played in their first Arizona Fall League game.  The team faced off against the Salt River Rafters.  The Pittsburgh Pirates had two prospects show up in the starting lineup.  Leading off for the Saguaros was the Pittsburgh Pirates top shortstop prospect in Cole Tucker.  Tucker went 2-4 with a walk and three runs scored.  He also registered his first stolen base on the season.  Also starting in the Saguaros lineup was 2016 first round pick Will Craig.  Craig batted fifth and posted an 0-4 with a strikeout.

On the pitching side of things, the Pittsburgh Pirates saw all of their arms head to the hill. Starting the game was Dario Agrazal.  Agrazal had a rough début to his Fall League season.  The righty made it through five innings but gave up five earned runs on eight hits.  He did not strike out a single batter and did not give up any free passes.

Following Agraza, was a hand full of prospect relievers.  The first was 2017 draft pick and lefty pitcher Blake Weiman.  The former Kansas Jay Hawk gave up two runs (one earned) and recorded the loss.  Following Weiman was Hartlieb, who finished the seventh inning and threw the entire eighth inning.  He was tagged for three hits and gave up two more earned runs.  Finishing the game was Matt Eckelman, he also gave up a run in his one inning of work.

So all in all, the only real positive player was Cole Tucker.  He notched a couple of hits and found himself crossing home plate three times.  Meanwhile, Will Craig and the pitching prospects all struggled in their debuts.  Luckily, it is their first game back after taking at least a month off from live game action.  Hopefully, the players can start to perform and represent the Pittsburgh Pirates organization well.  Also, it will be a good experience for them and maybe one of them will end up breaking out as prospects have in the past.