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Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects Struggle in Surprise Saguaros Victory

By Marty Leap

PITTSBURGH, PA - JULY 18: Catcher Henry Davis, who was selected first overall in the 2021 MLB draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates takes batting practice on the field after signing a contract with the Pirates at PNC Park on July 18, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - JULY 18: Catcher Henry Davis, who was selected first overall in the 2021 MLB draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates takes batting practice on the field after signing a contract with the Pirates at PNC Park on July 18, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /
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In Tuesday’s Arizona Fall League action, Pittsburgh Pirates prospects went a combined 0-for-11 in a victory for the Surprise Saguaros

On Tuesday, the Surprise Saguaros played their 8th game of the Arizona Fall League season. Thus far, the Saguaros have played strong baseball on their way to a strong start to the AFL season. The Pittsburgh Pirates prospects that are playing for the Saguaros are a big reason for their early success. Tuesday’s victory, however, did not see much in the way of contributions from Pirate players.

Tuesday afternoon, but evening here in the Eastern Time Zone, the Saguaros defeated the Mesa Solar Sox 3-2. With the victory, the Saguaros improved to 7-1 throughout their first eight games of the season.

While no Pirate pitching prospects toed the rubber for the Saguaros on Tuesday, there were a trio of Pirate minor league hitters in the lineup. This included a pair of former first-round picks in Nick Gonzales (7th overall in 2020) and Henry Davis (1st overall in 2021).

Gonzales stared at second base and had a rare poor performance for the Saguaros. Gonzales went 0-for-4 and left four runners on base. Despite this poor outing, Gonzales is still hitting .333 with an OPS of .937 through his first 21 plate appearances of the AFL season.

As for Davis, he started behind the dish for the Saguaros and was also 0-for-4 while leaving a pair of runners on base. Despite a poor offensive performance on Tuesday, like Gonzales, Davis is off to a strong AFL start. Davis owns an .884 OPS through his first 17 PAs of the AFL campaign.

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Jacob Gonzalez, who had one of the most underrated seasons in the Pirate minor league system in 2022, made his first AFL appearances on Tuesday. Gonzalez served as the designated hitter for the Saguaros. Gonzalez struggled in his AFL season debut going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Despite being a big run producer during the regular season, Gonzalez stranded three runners as part of his 0-for-3 outing.

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