Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: October 27th AFL Roundup

How did the Pittsburgh Pirates prospects that were in the lineup perform for the Surprise Saguaros in their Arizona Fall League victory on Thursday?

On Thursday, a trio of Pittsburgh Pirates prospects were in the lineup for the Surprise Saguaros. The Saguaros defeated the Mesa Solar Sox by a score of 6-3 on Thursday, improving to 13-8 thus far in Arizona Fall League play.

Three Pirate prospects were in the lineup for the Saguaros on Thursday. This included infield prospect Nick Gonzales. The 2020 first-round pick started at third base for the Saguaros, and went 1-for-4 at the plate. Through 46 plate appearances in the AFL thus far Gonzales has an .896 OPS.

Gonzales did strikeout twice, while leaving three runners on base and committing an error, however. Throughout his professional career Gonzales has been a second baseman and a shortstop. While Gonzales has been playing some third base in the AFL, his long-term future is still in the middle infield so any sort of defensive struggles at third base should not be a cause for concern.

Catcher Henry Davis served as the designated hitter for the Saguaros. Davis went 0-for-3, but did get on base once again as he drew a walk. Davis has an .877 OPS and an on-base percentage of .400 through 45 PAs this fall.

Blake Sabol was also in the lineup for the Saguaros. The catcher/outfielder/designated hitter got the nod in left field for the Saguaros. Sabol also picked up a hit in the victory going 1-for-4 at the plate.

As we have discussed before, the Pirates will face a decision with Sabol this offseason. Sabol is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft and put together a tremendous minor league season that saw him climb to the Triple-A level. While he has not found this same level of success in the AFL yet, his OPS of .719 is not poor either. Ben Cherington will be forced to make a decision on if Sabol will get a 40-man roster spot this offseason or not.