Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects: Eight Assigned to the Arizona Fall League

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Five pitchers and three position players will represent the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Arizona Fall League when play begins next month

Every offseason, teams throughout Major League Baseball sends players to the Arizona Fall League. On Friday, we learned which players from the Pittsburgh Pirates will play in the AFL this season. These eight players will play for the Salt River Rafters and will be joined by Triple-A Indianapolis bullpen coach Drew Benes who will be the team’s pitching coach.

Infielder Jack Brannigan, Outfielder/First Base Jase Bowen, Catcher Carter Bins

Three of the eight Pirate prospects playing the AFL will be position players. Highlighting this group ins infielder Jack Brannigan. Selected out of Notre Dame with the 83rd overall pick in the 2022 draft, Brannigan put together a huge season in the Pirate farm system.

Brannigan started the season with Low-A Bradenton where he hit for a .253/.398/.451 slash line with a 135 wRC+ in 201 plate appearances. He drew walks at a 15.9% clip, struck out in 26.9% of his trips to the plate, and hit 7 home runs while posting a .198 isolated slugging (ISO) with the Marauders.

After being promoted to High-A Greensboro, Brannigan did not just continue to roll he improved. In 172 PAs with the Grasshoppers he hit for a .299/.382/.605 slash line with a 159 wRC+. His ISO jumped all the way to .306, which included hitting 12 home runs. Brannigan brings some much needed power potential to the Pirate farm system.

Like Brannigan, Jase Bowen brings big power potential to the table and found success across multiple minor league levels this season. Naturally an outfielder, Bowen also started to play some first base this season. This is a move that makes sense with the long-term future of first base being a major question mark for the Pirates.

Bowen spent the majority of his season with Greensboro, hitting for a .257/.333/.469 slash line with a 117 wRC+ and a .211 ISO in 493 PAs. Bowen hit 23 home runs with the Grasshoppers, to go with a 7.1% walk rate and strikeout rate of 24.5%.

With Double-A Altoona, Bowen had just 33 PAs and hit for a .219/.242/.438 slash line with a 77 wRC+. His overall numbers struggled with Altoona, but the power was there with 3 doubles, 2 triples, and an ISO of .219.

Carter Bins is essentially a non-prospect at this point. In 101 PAs with Altoona during an injury filled season, the catcher hit a for a .222/.297/.367 slash line to go with a 31% strikeout rate, .144 ISO, and a wRC+ of 83.

Pitchers Cam Junker, Alessandro Ercolani, J.C. flowers, Tyler Samaniego, Nick Dombkowski

As for the pitching side, righties Cam Junker and Alessandro Ercolani will join lefties J.C. Flowers, Tyler Samaniego, and Nick Dombkowski.

Righty Cam Junker is already 26-years-old and spent the season with Triple-A Indianapolis. His first time at the Triple-A level, Junker pitched 55.1 innings in 45 appearances. He posted a 3.25 ERA, 4.38 FIP, 12.0% walk rate, and a 17.8% strikeout rate. With a strong showing in the AFL Junker could position himself to be in the conversation for some MLB action at some point in 2024.

19-year-old Alessandro Ercolani spent the season with Low-A Bradenton. In 17 appearances, 15 of which were starts, Ercolani posted a 4.43 ERA and a 4.85 FIP in 65.0 innings pitched. Ercolani posted an 11.3% walk rate, 24.0% strikeout rate, and allowed home runs at a rate of 1.11 HR/9. Facing older, more advanced hitters in the AFL will be a strong test for the young righty.

J.C. Flowers entered the season as an intriguing left-handed relief pitching prospect but struggled mightily in his first taste of action at the Triple-A level. In 45.2 innings pitched at Indy, Flowers posted an 8.28 ERA, 6.70 FIP, 16.2% walk rate, 19.2% strikeout rate, and he allowed home runs at a 1.77 HR/9 clip. Hopefully, Flowers can use the AFL to rediscover what made him an intriguing prospect entering the season.

Like Flowers, Tyler Samaniego entered the season as an intriguing lefty relief pitching prospect. Unfortunately, also like Flower, Samaniego struggled. In 47.1 innings pitched with Double-A Altoona, Samaniego posted a 5.51 ERA but his FIP was just 3.25. His ERA was ugly, but Samaniego was hurt by a batting average on balls in play (BAbip) of .392. His 0.38 HR/9 and 26.0% strikeout rate were both very strong.

25-year-old Nick Dombkowski made 33 appearances with 8 starts at Double-A this season. Dombkowski posted a 3.71 ERA, 4.89 FIP, 1.38 HR/9, 7.3% walk rate, and a 16.3% strikeout rate in 85 innings pitched with the Curve. Last week, Dombkowski made his Triple-A debut allowing 3 runs on three hits and three walks in 3 innings pitched.

Throughout the AFL season we will have you covered here at Rum Bunter on how Pirate prospects re performing. Make sure to stay tuned here at Rum Bunter throughout the AFL season for news and updates on these eight Pirate prospects. Salt River’s season is slated to start on October 2nd.

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