Pittsburgh Pirates Prospects Return to Action Following AFL All-Star Break

Three Pittsburgh Pirates prospects played for the Salt River Rafters on Tuesday night as the Arizona Fall League returned to action following their All-Star Break

Following the Arizona Fall League All-Star Break, teams returned to play on Tuesday. This included the Salt River Rafters and three Pittsburgh Pirates prospects. On Tuesday, the Rafters were defeated by the Mesa Solar Sox 7-3 to fall to 14-15 on the season.

2023 AFL All-Star Jase Bowen started in right field for the Rafters and went 0-for-3 with a walk. Bowen now has 106 plate appearances in the AFL this season, and is hitting .295/.362/.516 with 5 doubles, 4 home runs, and 2 triples.

Jack Brannigan batted 9th for the Rafters and started at shortstop. The slugging right-handed hitter went 1-for-3 with a double and a strikeout. Brannigan has struggled in the AFL posting a .173/.292/.373 slash line in 89 PAs. Despite this, he has firmly entrenched himself as the primary shortstop for Salt River.

The one Pirate pitching prospect who appeared in the game for Salt River was righty J.C. Flowers. Flowers pitched a scoreless 5th inning, issuing a walk while retiring the other three batters he faced. He threw 8 of his 17 pitches for strikes.

Flowers has now pitched 11.0 innings in the AFL, posting a 3.27 ERA. He has allowed 6 hits, a home run, walked 11 batters, and struck out 9. While he has battled his control at times, Flowers has done a nice job of preventing runs and getting outs in the AFL.