A prospect that maybe wasn’t talked about enough last year was Sammy Siani. The Pittsburgh Pirates, under Neal Huntington at the time, weren’t shy about how high they were on the Philadelphia product, giving him over slot money to sign him away from a commitment to Duke.
He missed time last season with an injury, limiting him to just to just 62 games in 2021 in Bradenton, and thanks to COVID-19 we lost an entire year of progression in 2020. Even though we are entering Siani’s third full season in the Pirates system, he still seems to be an unknown commodity.
In the brief look we were able to get of him, we saw glimpses of what made him sought after, a toolsy outfielder with the speed to play centerfield with a little pop in his bat.
Maybe his most defining trait at this point in his career is his patience at the plate, owning an insanely high 20.4% walk rate last year.
To try and clarify more as to what kind of hitter Siani is, I dug back into some of the video I clipped together of him, namely one of the better stretches of games he played last year.
In a series against the Jupiter Hammerheads, Siani went 7-of-20 (.350), scoring eight runs, driving in five, while tallying three extra base hits. His strikeouts were high (eight) but again, showed great patience at the plate in walking the same number of times.
If there’s one person who knows what kind of hitter he’s going to be, or at least wants to be, it’s Siani himself. He knows what he’s looking for pitch wise, and if he doesn’t get the one he wants, he has no problem waiting. As soon as he finds it, he wants to turn on it which is very much evident to his 46.7% pull rate, according to FanGraphs.
The video very much speaks to this, as while he was able to foul off some pitches not in his ideal wheelhouse, if it was on the outer half of the plate, he was more than happy to look at the pitch.
If the pitcher made the mistake to throw inside, Siani turned on the pitch and hit it hard. The two home runs in this video clip were among the hardest, and furthest, he hit all season.
Siani will be an interesting name to watch in 2022. With the lack of games played in 2021, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing to see him at least start the year back in Bradenton, but at 21-years-old it’s not a cause for concern.
Pirates Prospects Spotlight
Patience At The Plate Unlocks the Rest Of Sammy Siani’s Skillset
Want to read more about Siani? Check out this week’s article, looking at his patience at the plate, and the potential for power from his swing.
