The Pittsburgh Pirates sent nine of their prospects to the Arizona Fall League, but there’s been two that have stood out above the rest of their counterparts.
Wyatt Sanford has returned to form with the Glendale Desert Dogs, and has picked up where he left off after his season with Greensboro was cut short due to injury. Sanford ended up playing in 72 games for the Grasshoppers, and had a great second season of professional baseball. The 20-year old shortstop bulked up a little bit from last year and in the process
nearly quadrupled his home run totals.
With Glendale Sanford continues to show that the power he brought to Greensboro was not a fluke. He has left no doubt in the eyes of viewers and scouts that he’s currently the best Pirates hitter in the AFL. The Frisco native currently has a slash line of .291/.400/.436 with two homers, nine RBIs and one stolen base. On October 22, Sanford smashed a 454 foot home run.
On the pitching side of things, the surprise star of this group has been Bryan Mena. The 22-year old righty is not currently listed in the Pirates’ top 30 prospects list, but he has far in a way been the best pitching prospect from Pittsburgh’s system in the AFL. Although he had an average season with Greensboro, he’s playing some of his best baseball with the Desert Dogs as of late.
In his stint in Arizona, Mena has not given up a single earned run in four contests with the Desert Dogs. Mena’s most recent outing saw him appear for 2.2 of relief for Glendale. He gave up three hits and a walk, while striking out five batters in the 1-0 win over Salt River on Oct. Overall Mena has pitched 27.7⅔ scoreless innings (two starts) and has recorded 11 strikeouts, allowed just 3 walks, has a 1.57 WHIP and has limited opposing hitters to a .273 opponent batting average. Time will tell if this kind of showcase makes him a prime candidate for Pittsburgh’s bullpen in the future.
The AFL regular season concludes on November 11, and although Glendale has the worst record, the Pirates’ prospects represented on the team will have several more opportunities to showcase their abilities amongst the best minor league players in the league.
