Pittsburgh Pirates Minors Spotlight: Outfielder Sammy Siani

Outfield prospect Sammy Siani is an overlooked and underrated member of the highly touted farm system for the Pittsburgh Pirates

With the 37th pick in the 3rd round of the 2019 MLB Draft the Pittsburgh Pirates selected outfielder Sammy Siani. Siani is a Pennsylvania native, graduating from William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, and the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted him out of Duke University.

It quickly become clear that the Pittsburgh Pirates thought highly of Siani. The young outfielder signed with the Bucs for $2.15 million after being drafted. If the Pirates did not think highly of Siani they would not have given him such a generous signing bonus.

The left-handed hitting Siani quickly burst onto the scene for the Pittsburgh Pirates. With the GCL Pirates in 2019 Siani accumulated 164 plate appearances in 39 games. He hit for a .241/.372/.308 slash line, including a 107 wRC+.

Siani showed an excellent eye at the plate walking at a 15.9% rate with the GCL Pirates. However, he also struck out at an above league average rate, striking out 25.0% of the time during his 2019 season.

These results helped land Siani among the organization’s top prospects entering the 2020 season. FanGraphs ranked Siani as the 15th best prospect in the Priate organization entering the 2020 season.

A lack of a 2020 minor league season undoubtedly hurt Siani. 2020 was set to be his first full professional season, and experiencing that grind would have only done good things for Siani. He also may have been able to reach the High-A or Double-A level, while facing the best pitching he has ever faced in his life.

Looking ahead to the 2021 season, Siani will likely start the season with Low-A Greensboro or High-A Bradenton. Reagrdless, the Pittsburgh Pirates would love to get the 20-year-old Siani to Double-A by the end of the season. This, however, may be a bit of a reach.

During the 2021 season Siani will be a prospect Pirate fans should be watching. The outfielder became one of the top 15 prospect in the organization after playing just 39 games in the GCL, and could be in line for a big breakout season in 2021.