SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The AFL Fall Stars Game has featured a lot of talented Pirates prospects in recent years. Andrew McCutchen made the game in 2007. Neil Walker was in the game in 2006. Gerrit Cole (2011), Alen Hanson (2013), and Josh Bell (2014) have also represented Pittsburgh in the featured AFL event.
This time around, the Pirates sent two of their top prospects in Austin Meadows and Reese McGuire, along with recent Pirates addition and late Fall Star Games addition Trevor Williams. As a result, the Pirates were well represented with prospects once again.
“It’s an honor to come out here, be recognized,” Meadows said before the game. “Just take it all in and enjoy it, get the experience.”
The Pirates didn’t see anyone in the starting lineup, but instead saw all of their players in the second half of the game. And they made an immediate impact when that time came.
Austin Meadows stepped up to the plate in the sixth inning and launched a two run home run that just cleared the fence in right-center field. You can check out the homer below.
The impressive thing about the home run was that Meadows worked the count deep and fought off a lot of difficult pitches before finally finding a pitch he could drive.
“I was able to put together a pretty good at-bat,” Meadows said. “He made some pretty good pitches on me, had a little bit of run on his fastball. But I just waited for him to leave one up and try to get the job done with a guy at third, and was able to get it out.”
Trevor Williams came on for the bottom of the sixth inning, which was a change of plans from the original schedule this weekend. He was originally set to throw on Friday in a regular AFL game. However, as he was putting on his cleats, he received the message that he would be playing in the Fall Stars Game as a replacement. The assignment had special meaning for the former Arizona State pitcher.
“I came here two years ago when I was at ASU and watched the game,” Williams said. “It’s cool to see it full circle. I was sitting in those seats two years ago thinking it would be great to play out here.”
Williams mixed in a lot of off-speed stuff, in order to keep hitters off balanced. He mostly relies on a sinker that was sitting 89-91 MPH tonight, although he hit 94 once with a four seam fastball. He looked to be working mostly with his slider, which appears to be the breaking pitch the Pirates like best so far. The pitch wasn’t consistent tonight in terms of command, however, he was able to get through the inning in quick order, thanks to a double play that erased a one out walk.
As for finally playing in this game, Williams said that it felt like a culmination of his hard work this year and this fall. It also felt good to be playing in front of other Arizona State students this time around.
“It was exciting,” Williams said. “It was nice playing in front of a crowd. It was good playing in front of a Sun Devil crowd too, which was nice.”
McGuire also entered in the sixth inning, although didn’t have as impactful of a night, finishing with two ground outs. He almost beat one of them out, just missing the throw by half a step.
The Pirates helped lead the West team to an 8-3 victory, with the home run from Meadows providing valuable insurance. Below are some videos of each player warming up before the game, along with photos of each player tonight.
And here's video of #Pirates prospect @austin_meadows during batting practice at the Fall Stars Game. pic.twitter.com/vAGlU137YN
— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsP2) November 8, 2015
Video of #Pirates prospect @Reese_McGuire21 taking batting practice before the AFL Fall Stars Game. pic.twitter.com/KoEKB7ElLs
— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsP2) November 8, 2015
New #Pirates pitching prospect @MeLlamoTrevor, who will be pitching tonight in the AFL Fall Stars Game. pic.twitter.com/wiuEsPtCok
— Tim Williams (@TimWilliamsP2) November 8, 2015
