Sammy Siani had a big week on both sides of the ball in the Arizona Fall League.
The Pittsburgh Pirates outfield prospect went 6-for-12 at the plate in three games, hitting a double and stealing a base. In the first two weeks of the AFL season, Siani is hitting .440/.482/.640, with two doubles, a homer, and two steals in six games.
Defensively, Siani stood out for his work in right field on Sunday night. He recorded two outfield assists. The first helped to prevent a run, with Siani throwing to the cutoff man, who relayed to home ahead of a runner for the out. The second assist was a double play where Siani caught a line drive and threw to first base for the second out.
It’s a small sample size, but there’s reason to believe that the 23-year-old Siani is becoming a late blooming prospect. He was promoted to Double-A this season, after hitting .324/.402/.563 in 20 games at High-A Greensboro. The Greensboro park amplifies offense, but Siani showed significant improvements across the board from his time at the level the previous two years.
Siani went to Altoona this year, and after a few months of adjusting, he started hitting in the second half. He hit .296 with a .372 OBP from the trade deadline through the end of the season. He’s since carried the hitting over to the showcase fall league.
There’s also a reasonable explanation as to why Siani would be a late bloomer. Drafted 37th overall in 2019 out of William Penn Charter High School in Philadelphia, PA, Siani was impacted by the pandemic more than most players. Siani began his career with 164 plate appearances in the Gulf Coast League that season, then didn’t return to the field until going to Single-A in a shortened 2021 season.
Siani spent the last few years in High-A, while spending some offseasons working in winter ball. He played in Australia in the 2022-23 offseason, hitting .291/.353/.546 in 156 plate appearances. He took last winter off, and is now playing in the AFL after a successful season of progression in the minors.
The younger brother of St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Michael Siani, Sammy could also reach the Majors in the future. Sammy doesn’t have as much speed as his older brother, but has a better eye at the plate. If the younger Siani makes the Majors, it will be driven by his ability to hit for average, get on base, and play solid defense across all three outfield spots.
Siani is trending in the right direction this year, and he’s continuing the trend in the AFL.
Termarr Keeps Hitting
Termarr Johnson is the top prospect the Pirates sent to the AFL, with his assignment following a late-season promotion to Double-A. The AFL assignment for Johnson gives him his first extended look at advanced pitching, with the quality of prospects in the showcase league being a step up over what he’s seen in A-ball. So far, Johnson is handling the assignment with ease.
This past week, Johnson went 4-for-16 with a double and a triple, while walking four times and stealing two bases. Johnson has reached base safely in all seven games played this season, while hitting and hitting for power. He’s got a .308/.486/.615 line in 35 plate appearances, hitting a homer and two triples.
Over the last two seasons, Johnson has shown more power in the lower levels, but it has come at the expense of his average. He’s got a great eye at the plate, and attacks anything close to the zone with some of the best contact skills in the system. Yet, he has put up three-outcome results as a pro, with a low average, a high walk rate, and more power than was expected during the draft.
In the small sample we’ve seen so far in the AFL, Johnson has shown his path to being a plus starter in the Majors. He’s drawn nine walks, while only striking out four times. He’s also hitting, and not just for power. Half of his hits are singles, and a few of those are of the infield variety.
Johnson has power, and he’s shown that over the last two seasons. What makes him a top prospect is his advanced approach at the plate, where he doesn’t chase and has plus bat-to-ball ability. If he can combine the power with this advanced approach, he will hit his way to a long Major League career.
This small sample in the AFL isn’t the first time we’ve seen a hitting stretch like this from Johnson. The fact that he’s doing this in a showcase league against advanced pitchers makes this sample the most encouraging for his future.
Pirates Hitters in the AFL
Kervin Pichardo went 2-for-9 in three games this week, hitting a double and a triple, while drawing three walks. He’s 4-for-16 with four walks on the season, getting five games of playing time so far in the AFL season.
The Pirates acquired Pichardo from the Padres at the start of 2024, and sent him to Double-A. He hit .252/.306/.373 in his age 22 season, showing promise with inconsistent play. He did hit for power and average for about a month in July and August, batting .295/.350/.558 with six homers from July 23rd to August 23rd. After the final homer on August 23rd, Pichardo’s bat went cold over his remaining 16 games.
With a .250/.400/.500 line in 20 AFL plate appearances, Pichardo’s bat might be heating up again.
Geovanny Planchart had one hit at the plate this week, but it was a big one. Planchart homered in one of his two games played. The home run was a redemption for Planchart, who hit his shot in his second game, after a rough first game of the week.
Planchart had two errors in his first game, and now has four in four games during the AFL season. This is uncharacteristic for Planchart, who only had four errors total in 355 innings behind the plate in High-A this season. He also caught 27 innings in Altoona at the end of the season across three games. Planchart made up for the game one errors with a clean game two, and a home run hit.
In four games, Planchart is hitting .231/.333/.539 with the homer and a double. He’s got the defense, power, and ability to get on base that would allow him to catch full-time in the upper levels in 2025.
Diamond Start
Derek Diamond made two appearances over the last week, including one start.
After throwing 1.1 scoreless innings in relief, Diamond returned to the mound on Sunday night, with one run allowed in three innings. He was helped by one of the outfield assists from Siani. The lone run came on a solo homer. It was a much better week for Diamond, who allowed two earned runs in two innings during his first week in the AFL.
The Pirates drafted Diamond out of the University of Mississippi in the sixth round of the 2022 draft. He’s spent the last two seasons as a starter in A-ball, spending the entire 2024 season in Greensboro. Diamond had a 4.80 ERA in 95.2 innings, with an 83:19 K/BB. That overall stat line hides a disastrous summer.
Diamond had a 2.56 ERA in 31.2 innings across his first month-plus of the season. He struck out 31 and walked five. On June 9th, he allowed seven runs, four earned, in a single inning. That sparked a two-month stretch where Diamond had a 7.09 ERA in 47 innings, with a 37:10 K/BB. That stretch concluded on August 13th, when he allowed six runs in four innings.
The end of the season was much like the start. Diamond rebounded from the August 13th start to pitch six one-hit innings on August 20th. He had a 2.29 ERA in 19.2 innings over his final month of the season, with an 18:4 K/BB.
The AFL will give Diamond his first experience against upper-level hitters. It will also allow him to continue his strong finish, and set him up well for Altoona in 2025.
Pirates Pitchers in the AFL
Brandan Bidois pitched 1.2 scoreless innings this week in the AFL, rebounding further from a poor start. He allowed six runs in his first appearance, before bouncing back with a scoreless inning to end last week. His extended relief work this week displays more of the good that Bidois is capable of producing.
His 2024 numbers didn’t match his potential, with a 4.25 ERA in 29.2 innings in High-A. The 43 strikeouts showed the potential from Bidois. The Pirates needed pitching depth in Triple-A at the end of the season, and they trusted Bidois to turn to him briefly in Indianapolis. He pitched a scoreless inning with a strikeout in his lone appearance.
Control will be a thing to watch, and Bidois has five walks in three innings so far in the AFL. He also has six strikeouts, showing his shutdown potential.
Khristian Curtis got a start this week, but it did not go well. Curtis allowed four runs on six hits in three innings of work, with three walks, two strikeouts, and a homer. Curtis allowed a solo homer in his second inning of work. He allowed another run in the third after a leadoff walk. He allowed a leadoff double and a walk in the fourth inning, before both runs scored off a reliever.
Curtis was drafted by the Pirates in the 12th round of the 2023 draft out of Arizona State. Despite pitching in college, he didn’t have much experience on the mound. He did have a mid-90s fastball as part of a six-pitch mix with swing-and-miss potential in his secondary. The downside for Curtis has been his control, with a 4.7 BB/9 in his pro debut this season in Single-A Bradenton.
That could be attributed to a lack of experience. By the end of the AFL season, Curtis will have more innings pitched in 2024 than his entire NCAA career. He’ll also gain some valuable experience against upper-level hitters.
Valentin Linarez allowed one run in two innings this week, with the run coming as a result of control problems. Linarez didn’t allow a hit in either inning pitched, but he did walk five batters. He also struck out three, limiting his damage.
The Pirates sent Linarez to Double-A this season, where he started the year with a 6.46 ERA in 30.2 innings. He returned to Greensboro and pitched well to finish the season. This was his age 24 season, and his second year at the level. It was also his first full season as a reliever. Linarez has the stuff to pitch in the upper levels, but his control has been an issue. That’s been true in the bullpen in High-A.
The AFL season will allow Linarez a chance to show that he can provide more of his shutdown stuff and less of his control problems against upper level hitters.
Eddy Yean didn’t have a good week this week. He allowed five runs, four earned, in 1.1 innings of work. In his first appearance of the week, Yean allowed three runs, two earned, after giving up three hits, hitting a batter, and another batter reaching on a Termarr Johnson throwing error. Yean pitched a scoreless first inning in his second appearance of the week, before allowing a walk, a few stolen bases, and a double.
Yean is in an interesting situation. He’s eligible for minor league free agency this offseason, and it’s likely the Pirates bring him back. He was acquired in the Josh Bell trade in 2021, and finally had a breakout season this year, with a 3.45 ERA in 73 innings in Altoona. Yean was sent to Indianapolis at the end of the year, where he pitched two scoreless innings.
I’m not sure how much stock I put in the AFL results for Yean. He had 75 innings this season, which was already a career-high. He had a career-high with 48 appearances, and was used in more leverage and late inning situations than before. He showed during a long 2024 season what he could do against upper-level hitters.
