PEORIA, AZ – Today was much more eventful than yesterday. The Surprise Saguaros were no-hit yesterday, with Connor Joe and Jin-De Jhang participating in that event by going a combined 0-for-6. That changed today from the start of the game, as Surprise beat Peoria 6-0, thanks in part to the hitting from Joe.
Joe got things started off in the first inning with a one out double, taking the first pitch he saw to the right-center field gap. He then scored two at-bats later on a two-run homer by Twins prospect Mitch Garver, giving Surprise an early 2-0 lead.
That must have given Joe an idea, because he hit a home run of his own to lead off the eighth inning. Joe took two sliders for called strikes, then fouled off two fastballs, including a 98 MPH fastball at the top of the strike zone. On the fifth pitch, he crushed a slider to right field, and by the catcher’s reaction below, there was no doubt it was gone.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMUrVnjAwTW/?taken-by=piratesprospects
In total, Joe went 2-for-3 with a double and a home run, while scoring three runs, with the third one coming after getting hit with a pitch. He also stole second base, although it was uncontested, as he broke right before a wild pitch, which allowed him to also take third base. Eric Wood joined the action, hitting an opposite field double off the right field wall immediately after Joe homered.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BMUwpcjg7To/?taken-by=piratesprospects
Both Joe and Wood have been hitting the ball hard this year. That has shown up in the stats for Wood, not only in Altoona, but in the AFL where he has a 1.032 OPS. Joe hasn’t seen the hard contact translating over to the stats as much, although he did raise his AFL OPS to .813 after today’s big game.
Jin-De Jhang didn’t have a good day at the plate, going 0-for-4. However, he had a few plays where he showed his agility behind the plate, showing some good quickness for a catcher his size. Here was one of those plays, on a grounder in front of the plate with Alex McRae on the mound. He also had a nice grab on a high 96 MPH fastball by Edgar Santana in the second video below.
https://youtu.be/rrTxpxiDsmM
McRae was sitting 90-91 MPH with his fastball, and had a few hard hit balls today, including a fly out that was caught in center field a few feet in front of the 410 foot sign. He mixed in his slider, and only used one changeup, pitching the shutout inning with just one hit allowed. I talked to McRae before the game, and he mentioned that he’s been working on a new grip for his changeup, to improve the pitch. He hasn’t had much of an opportunity to use the pitch in his current role as a reliever, which he’s in only because of the amount of innings he had this season between Bradenton and Altoona.
Edgar Santana followed McRae with a shutout inning in the ninth and was absolutely dominant. Santana was sitting 95-96 and topped out at 97, while mixing in his slider for two swinging strikeouts. He now has 9.2 shutout innings, and a 17:0 K/BB ratio in the AFL. Here was video of the final out of the game, with his four pitches coming in at 96.4, 94.8, 96.5, and an 85 MPH slider for the out. He did an impressive job working his way up in the zone, with the first pitch coming down the middle, the second up high in the zone, and the third sailing high out of the zone (as he attempted to get a high chase). He followed that up with the slider at the bottom of the strike zone, giving the opposing hitter no chance.
https://youtu.be/uKB-POtVb7E
Tanner Anderson is expected to start for Surprise tomorrow, featuring my favorite delivery in the system.
Here are a few other photos from today’s game.
