The Surprise Saguaros put together the best record during the first week of the Arizona Fall League, going 5-1. After an off-day on Sunday, they returned to action late Monday night. Henry Davis was the only member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the starting lineup, but two other Pirates joined in before the day was over. Here’s a recap of the game.
Davis batted fifth in the DH spot. He doubled to start the second inning, his third double of the fall. He walked in the third inning. In typical Davis fashion, he got hit by a pitch in the fifth inning. He grounded out to shortstop in the seventh and then walked in the ninth. He finished 1-for-2 with two walks and a HBP. He has a .300 average and a 1.156 OPS in the early stages of the season.
Jacob Gonzalez entered the game in the eighth inning on defense, making his first appearance of the fall. He batted in the ninth and lined out to center field.
Colin Selby came on to pitch the ninth. He gave up a single to start the inning. That was followed by a ground out, a pop up to shortstop and a grounder back to the mound for the final out of the game. The Saguaros won 7-1, moving them to a 6-1 record. Selby threw 16 pitches, with 11 going for strikes.
Tomorrow’s game will be at 3:35 PM ET.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
What gives with Davis getting hit with so many pitchers? Is he being thrown at or is he on top of the plate? The Pirates better provide him with protective gear, so he stops losing time with injuries because he is getting hit so much with pitchers. I really like his bat and think he has major leaguer written all over him.
When the 2022 media guide available??
All 2022 MLB Media Guides can be found here …
https://pressbox.athletics.com/Publications/MLB%20Media%20Guides/
Assuming that is Davis pictured at the top, he seems like he has a pretty wide stance. Isn’t a wide stance better for contact hitting as opposed to a more upright stance being better for power hitting? I could be wrong, but I seem to recall reading that at some point in the past.
Big kick/step with the front foot too as I recall. Bagwell is a great comparison in terms of the look of his stance.
Looks a little like Jeff Bagwell.
He’s a squatter with an ugly stance. Personally, I think they need to rework it.
A wide stance is excellent for getting hit a lot.
Good work by the Pirates overall. Nick Gonzales is leading the Pirate hitters and is 7th overall in the AFL with an OPS of 1.185. Henry Davis is 9th overall in the AFL with an OPS of 1.156.
Omar Cruz leads Pirate pitchers and is 27th overall, 1-0, 2.45 ERA, AA of 0.167. Hoping he can maintain those type of numbers and possibly get some consideration heading into ST. Quinn Priester is 37th overall, 4.50 ERA, AA of 0.250.
Time to invest in armour for Davis.
Selby is my darkhorse candidate to start the year in the bullpen, unless they still want to see what they have in AAAAand dumpster dive options. At least I hope he will continue to impress in Indy and be up in June.
An excellent year at AA this year with 8 Saves, 2.20 ERA in 33 IP and a 11.3/3.9 K/BB/9. He and Tyler Samaniego were the R/L combo Closers for Altoona. Is he Rule 5 this year?
If you read the summary of him in the Prospect Guide 10th Anniversary Edition, it’s like Colin Selby is following that script. At the time that was written, he was rehabbing from TJ Surgery in 2020.
What part of E TN?
Seymour, just outside Knoxville on US 441
Yes, Selby is Rule 5 eligible in December