GLENDALE, Ariz. – The Pirates prospects had a good all-around night in Glendale tonight. Reese McGuire and Austin Meadows were both productive on offense, and Cody Dickson pitched an inning in relief. That helped Glendale win 5-3.
Meadows went 1-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, including the game winning hit. He started the night with two productive outs in his first two at-bats. The first at-bat saw an RBI groundout, while the second advanced a runner to third with a fly out to center field. But the biggest at-bat of the night came in the seventh inning, when Meadows crushed an RBI double. He was thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple, but it was enough to bring in the winning run.
Reese McGuire went 2-for-4 on the night, with two hard hit balls up the middle. The first one was a rocket that was knocked down by a diving second baseman, but was hit too hard for him to field. There was obviously no statcast data, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the ball was hit 100 MPH or harder. The second single was up the middle, out of reach of any fielder. It wasn’t hit as hard, but was a great at-bat, with McGuire continuing to use the middle of the field.
Dickson didn’t have the best command of his fastball tonight. The hit he allowed was a soft liner that almost went for an out, but instead went for a single. After a strikeout, he struggled with his command, issuing a walk. He got out of the jam with a double play, thanks to a nice play by third baseman Kyle Farmer, shown in the video below. Dickson was 90-92 MPH with his fastball, and when it was on, it had some downward movement.
Glendale was playing Mesa tonight, with the latter team being the AFL affiliate for the Marlins. Jim Benedict was there, working with the pitching coaches with his new organization. Prior to the game, he also caught up with Altoona and Glendale pitching coach Justin Meccage, and Pirates minor league pitching coordinator Scott Mitchell. Both came into the system under Benedict, with Meccage being hired as a coach, and Mitchell being hired as the assistant pitching coordinator.
Here are some videos of Reese McGuire and Austin Meadows taking batting practice, Cody Dickson getting the double play, and a photo of the pitching coaches talking with Benedict.
Video of Reese McGuire taking batting practice in the AFL. #Pirates A video posted by Pirates Prospects (@piratesprospects) on
Cody Dickson gets a double play to end his inning of relief in the AFL tonight. #Pirates pic.twitter.com/BuDhsan7ia
— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsP2) November 10, 2015
Jim Benedict (back right) is here in the AFL. Catching up with Justin Meccage (left) and Scott Mitchell (mid right) pic.twitter.com/Vnd8oPxh1z
— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsP2) November 10, 2015
