The Surprise Saguaros came into Monday’s action with a two-game lead in the Arizona Fall League standings with 14 games left in the season. Henry Davis, Nick Gonzales and Blake Sabol were all in the lineup on Monday. Omar Cruz appeared out of the bullpen first, then Colin Selby followed him. Here’s a recap of the action.
Nick Gonzales batted third and played third base. He reached on an error in the first inning. He struck out swinging in the third inning. He hit his third home run of the fall in the fifth inning (video below). Gonzales grounded out to end the seventh inning. He finished 1-for-4 with a homer and the only RBI in a 2-1 loss.
Henry Davis batted fifth and caught. He was hit by a pitch in his first time up because that’s his thing. He reached on a throwing error in the fourth. He singled on a line drive to left field in the sixth, then stole second base for his third steal of the fall. He grounded out to third base in the eighth. He finished 1-for-3 with a single and a HBP.
Blake Sabol batted sixth and served as the DH. He came up in the first with the bases loaded and grounded out to end the inning. He flew out to left field in the fourth and walked in the sixth. He flew out to left field to end the eighth. He finished 0-for-3 with a walk.
Omar Cruz came out for the sixth inning and gave up back-to-back singles to start the frame. He got a fly ball and a strikeout for the first two outs, before a single brought in a run. The next batter grounded out to second base to limit the damage. Cruz threw 24 pitches in the inning, with 14 going for strikes. He has a 1.86 ERA in 9.2 innings. He took the loss in this game.
Colin Selby pitched the eighth and retired the side on 12 pitches (seven strikes), with a ground out, pop up to shortstop and a strikeout. He has given up two runs in six innings, with seven strikeouts this fall.
The Saguaros played at 9:35 PM ET on Tuesday night.
Gonzales homer
Nick Gonzales is showing off the power 💪
The @Pirates number five prospect swats his third homer of the season to tie it up in Peoria! #AFL22 pic.twitter.com/kd9Iky9fOp
— MLB's Arizona Fall League (@MLBazFallLeague) October 24, 2022
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.
Not sure what the record is for being hit by pitches in the major leagues but Davis will break it in his first half of year in the bigs. I hope the Pirates have given him as many protective devices as can be made for him.
Not sure how to “start” a thread, but congrats on the write up Ethan!
https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/pirates/2022/10/25/pirates-ethan-hullihen-payroll-spreadsheeting-roster-service-cba-mlb-fan/stories/202210200115
I feel bad for Nicky G as the average fan has already labeled him a “bust” or “miss” based on superficial stats despite extremely solid underlying numbers in 2022. I wouldn’t sleep on him. If he can produce somewhere between his A+ and AA stat lines in Indy next year, which is more than reasonable given his improvement after coming back from injury in August, people will be screaming “service time manipulation” come May/June.
Nicky Sticks is going to be starting at 2B sooner than later unless Pirates hire Foo to be GM and they trade Hayes to open up 3B for him.
agreed – sell high on Hayes defense hype – – send him to LA for Dustin May
First, I highly doubt Dodgers are trading away May. Second, it would be dumb to sell Hayes now after a down offensive season. And lastly, Pirates need a LHSP more than a RHSP.
Down vote for a dumb NICK name.
I didn’t give it to him. I’m not really even a Motley Crue fan, but I’m sure the nickname resonates with those who are.
I most certainly say things worthy of a downvote, but I didn’t figure this was one of ‘em.
upvote for cool nickname