The Arizona Fall League rosters were announced on Wednesday afternoon and the Pittsburgh Pirates will be sending six players. The list includes shortstop Oneil Cruz, outfielder Jared Oliva, catcher Jason Delay and right-handed pitchers Cody Ponce, Blake Cederlind and Nick Mears.
Cruz is obviously the big name prospect here, but there are no fillers in the group. They all saw somewhat limited time this year. In the cases of Cruz and Oliva, it was due to early season injuries. Delay was in a platoon role, while the other three were all relief pitchers this year, who didn’t get overworked. Ponce is currently starting at Indianapolis, but as a former starter, his innings are well short of past seasons.
If those names sound familiar, they were all among the group of possibilities I guessed for the league earlier this month. I gave reasons in that article for why all of them were good options for the league. The Pirates usually send seven players, so there might be another player not yet named.
The Pirates are also sending their Coordinator of Instruction, Dave Turgeon, who will manage the Peoria Javelinas. Logan Byman, who does Strength and Conditioning with the Pirates, will also be with the coaching staff. The league begins on September 18th this year and ends in late October.
