Pirates Prospect Off to Hot Start in AFL
The Pittsburgh Pirates have gotten strong performances from their prospects on the mound and at the plate through the first week of the Arizona Fall League.
Pirates middle infielder and No. 3 overall prospect Termarr Johnson has done a little bit of everything at the plate for the Scottsdale Scorpions. On the mound, Khristian Curtis earned a win in his lone outing thus far.
Here's how Pittsburgh's nine prospects have fared through five games for the Scorpions (2-3).
Pitchers:
Curtis has been the most impressive of the bunch, as he's 1-0 with three scoreless innings. His only appearance came in the Scopions' 9-7 win over the Salt River Rafters in their opening game of the AFL on Wednesday.
Curtis entered the game in the bottom of the fourth inning and went on to face the minimum. Curtis struck out the final two batters he faced.
Eddy Yean has made two appearances, pitching an inning apiece and allowing one run. Yean earned the save in Scottsdale's win over the Rafters and closed out its 10-2 win over the Glendale Desert Dogs on Saturday.
Brandan Bidois has also made two appearances. After allowing six runs and only getting one out in the Scorpions' 19-3 loss to the Mesa Solar Sox, he bounced back to strike out the side in his outing on Saturday.
Derek Diamond has pitched two innings and allowed two runs, while Valentin Linarez has pitched a scoreless inning in his lone appearance.
Position players:
Johnsons is the headliner among the Pirates' group of players and has played the best. Johnson has played in three games and is slashing .400/.600/.900, has an OPS of 1.500 and has a home run and two RBIs, both of which came in the first two innings of the Scorpions' first game. Johnson hit a solo home run and RBI single against the Rafters.
Johnson's on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS rank in the top 10 in the AFL.
Outfield prospect Sammy Siani is slashing .385/.429/.818 through three games and has a solo home run that came against Salt River. Infield prospect Kervin Pichardo and catching prospect Geovanny Planchart have each played in two games and are slashing .286/.375/.429.
