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AFL: Eric Wood Plays First Base for the First Time, Has Busy Day on Offense and Defense

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In the Arizona Fall League on Thursday afternoon, the Surprise Saguaros lost 6-4 to Peoria, dropping them to 4-4 (plus one tie) on the season. Four Pirates got into this game, two pitchers and two position players.

Two Pirates were in the starting lineup, with one adding a new position to his resume. Eric Wood played third base and left field during his first four games in the AFL. Left field is a position he took up in the Fall Instructional League, while third base is the only position he has played during his pro career up until last month. Wood played this game at first base and batted fifth, while Connor Joe hit seventh and played third base.

Wood singled to right field to lead off the second inning. He would score the first run for Surprise three batters later. Wood singled on a grounder up the middle to begin the fourth inning. Just like in the second inning, he scored three batters later on a single. In the fifth inning, he walked and came around to score his third run, which was also the third run for his team. Wood reached base for the fourth time in the seventh inning, drawing his second walk. He struck out to end the game, while representing the tying run. That ended his day with a 2-for-3 line, walking twice and scoring three runs. He has a .429 batting average and a .907 OPS.

Wood had a busy day at first base with eight put outs and two assists. That includes one pop up, a pick-off play that ended up as a 1-3-4 caught stealing, and he fielded one grounder, with the pitcher covering first base on the play.

Joe came up in the second inning with one out and Eric Wood on second base. He would end up striking out swinging on a changeup in the dirt. Joe came up in the exact same situation in the fourth inning, one out and Wood on second base. This time he drew a walk. Joe batted in the fifth inning with Wood on second base, though this time there were two outs and a runner on first base. He singled, which scored Wood, then a throwing error on the play brought in another run. Joe led off the eighth inning and struck out swinging for the second time. He finished 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

Montana DuRapau came out for the fifth inning, trying to get on track after struggling in each of his first two AFL appearances. He faced the minimum in the inning, though he did give up a line drive single. That runner was thrown out trying to steal. DuRapau threw 12 pitches, eight for strikes, and hit fastball was 88-92 MPH. He picked up one strikeout, throwing three straight off-speed pitches for the quick out.

DuRapau came out for the sixth, the first time he went more than one inning in the AFL. He walked the first batter on six pitches. The next batter hit the ball well, though it was right at the left fielder. After a stolen base, DuRapau struck out the next batter in a seven-pitch at-bat, getting him swinging on a high fastball. That was the end of his day, reaching 29 pitches due to the long plate appearances this inning. After he left, a single brought home the inherited runner. That left DuRapau with one run on one hit and one walk, striking out two batters in 1.2 innings.

Edgar Santana pitched the ninth inning with Surprise down 6-4. He struck out the first batter on a slider, after setting him up with three fastballs in the 94-96 MPH range. Santana struck out the next batter swinging on a slider, this time throwing three sliders and one fastball. The next batter reached on an infield single. Four pitches later, Santana had his third strikeout, all swinging on sliders. This was his third straight scoreless appearance to start the AFL season. He has pitched 4.2 innings, with no walks and eight strikeouts.

Surprise next plays Friday night on the road against Salt River.

John Dreker
John Dreker
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.

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