Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Checking in on Relief Pitchers in the Arizona Fall League

Three Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitching prospects are on the Arizona Fall League roster of the Salt River Rafters. How are they pitching thus far in the AFL?

Last week, we took a look at how Pittsburgh Pirates position player prospects are performing in the Arizona Fall League thus far. Today, we will move to taking a look at Pirate pitching prospects in the AFL.

Each Pirate pitching prospect in the AFL is a relief pitcher. How are these three relief pitchers performing for Salt River? Well, let's get into it. Before we start it should be noted that these stats are as of the start of play on November 1st.

Tyler Samaniego

Tyler Samaniego may have the highest ceiling of any Pirate pitching prospect in the AFL. The 24-year-old lefty entered the 2023 season as one of the more intriguing relief pitching prospects in the farm system. Even his overall numbers seemed poor, as you can read here Samaniego pitched better than his overall results and to some extent was victimized by bad luck.

Entering play on November 1st, Samaniego had pitched 6.1 innings out of the Rafter bullpen. In these 6.1 innings he had allowed 7 hits, no home runs, walked 5 batters, and struck out 8 on his way to posting a 4.26 ERA.

Samaniego has the stuff to be a good major league relief pitcher in a year or two. Hopefully, he can continue to improve throughout the rest of the AFL season to finish 2023 on a high note and propel him into a strong 2024.

Nick Dombkowski

Finally, there is 25-year-old Nick Dombkowski. Of the three Dombkowski is the one who pitched best in teh regular season. He has also pitched his way into being a bit of a workhorse out of the Salt River bullpen.

Dombkowski's 7.1 innings pitched are the second most on the roster for non-full-time starters, behind just Flowers. Dombkowski has struggled to prevent base runners. To be honest, he is lucky his results have not been worse.

Through his first 7.1 innings pitched in the AFL, Dombkowski has allowed 15 hits, a home run, and has walked 8 batters. He has also struck out 8 batters and owns a 4.91 ERA. Having allowed 23 base runners in 7.1 innings, Dombkowski is lucky that is ERA is not uglier.

Hopefully, Dombkowski will cut down on the base runners allowed as the AFL season continues. If not, his overall results and stats will likely begin to balloon and soon.