The Batters

Adalberto Santos was one of the highlights of the 2012 AFL season for the Pirates.

Adalberto Santos - Santos finished just shy of the .300 mark, with a .299/.413/.455 line in 77 at-bats. His OPS ranked him 18th in the league. He stole nine bases in ten attempts, just two behind the league leader in steals. Santos showed good patience, drawing 14 walks and he struck out 14 times. Those 14 walks were three behind the league leader, while 46 players struck out more times than he did. While the AFL is usually more of a hitter friendly league, it also comes with huge strikeout totals. Scottsdale is also one of the lower offensive ballparks, which led to huge home/road splits for Santos — a .994 OPS on the road, and a .747 at home.

Matt Curry - Just like with Santos, Curry struggled at home in the AFL. His OPS difference wasn’t that big due to a high walk total at home, but he hit just .212 with no homers in Scottsdale, while batting .283 with a .710 OPS on the road. His final stats looked better due to a strong finish(.324/.477/.441 in his last ten games) but overall they were disappointing for a first baseman that batted fourth in the lineup. Curry also struggled against lefties, going 4-for-23 with four singles and nine strikeouts.

Gift Ngoepe - Ngoepe finished strong just like Curry, getting his numbers to a respectable level, especially for a guy who hit .232 with a .668 OPS in High-A ball this year. Ngoepe didn’t see a huge amount of playing time — just 16 games — and batted at the bottom of the order, receiving only 46 at-bats. His .261/.370/.413 line in those at-bats was impressive when you consider that he started the season 2-for-15 in the first two weeks. He went 10-for-23 in his last six games and his home/road numbers had a huge split — .497 OPS vs 1.048. Gift had some issues with his strikeouts, going down nearly every three at-bats (15 times).

The Pitchers

Kyle Kaminska - He was the only pitcher that started among the group of four Pirates and Kaminska made a name for himself. Although his numbers were helped by ten shutout innings at home, he made four of his six starts on the road and still posted a strong 2.50 ERA away from Scottsdale in 18 innings of work. Kaminska had a terrific 1.91 GO/AO ratio, to go with a 0.93 WHIP and a .247 BAA. His overall 1.61 ERA was best in the league among pitchers with more than 16 innings pitched. He also issued just four walks, while recording 21 strikeouts.

Vic Black - Coming off a strong season at AA this year, Black looked to continue his success in the AFL, but the results weren’t there. He got hit hard in his 12 appearances and showed control issues. In 10.2 innings, he allowed 17 hits and walked 11 batters. His ERA finished at 11.81, the worst ERA in the league among the 119 pitchers in the AFL that made more than three appearances. Black had equal amounts of trouble both at home and on the road, and against lefties and righties. He was working on a new two-seam fastball while in the AFL, which could have contributed to some of his issues, although control has been a problem for Black even before the new pitch was added.

Tyler Waldron - Waldron was a starter during the regular season, but pitched strictly out of the bullpen in the AFL. That seemed to be a difficult adjustment for Nate Baker last year, when he had control issues in the AFL that seemed to carry over into the start of the 2012 season. Waldron however, showed improvements over his regular season, one in which he allowed more hits than any other Pirates minor league pitcher. In ten outings in the AFL, he threw 14.1 innings, giving up just eight hits, for a .167 BAA. Waldron, who posted a 3.14 ERA, walked six, struck out 11 and had a 1.07 GO/AO ratio, a slight dip from his 1.40 mark he posted during the season.

Brandon Cumpton - Just like Waldron, Cumpton went from a starter all season, into a relief role in the AFL. He made 11 appearances, throwing a total of 14 innings. Cumpton bucked the trend of the Scottsdale ballpark by not allowing a single run on the road. His 6:7 K/BB ratio definitely wasn’t a highlight of his AFL time, but he continued to be a strong groundball pitcher, posting a 2.88 GO/AO ratio, after a 2.04 mark during the regular season. Cumpton allowed just one run in his last eight appearances, spanning 11 IP.

Pitch F/X

Pitch F/X data was available in two parks, and all four pitchers threw at one point in the season in one of those parks. Here are the numbers for each player.

Kyle Kaminska

Fastball – 87-91, 89.35 average.

Changeup – 83-85, 83.89 average.

Slider – 81-84, 82.71 average.

Curveball – 80 (1 pitch recorded).

Vic Black

Fastball – 92-98, 95.97 average. Black’s two-seam was generally in the 92-95 range, while his four seam was in the 95-98 range.

Slider – 82-85, 83.57 average.

Brandon Cumpton

Fastball – 90-93, 91.77 average.

Slider – 83-86, 84.29 average.

Changeup – 82-85, 83.67 average.

Tyler Waldron

Fastball – 87-90, 88.82 average.

Changeup – 82-84, 83 average.

Curveball – 76-78, 77 average.

The only Pirates player in the starting lineup today was Gift Ngoepe. He batted ninth and played shortstop. Ngoepe went 1-for-3 with a double, walk, stolen base and a strikeout. He came to the plate in the top of the ninth inning with his team down by one, a man on first and one out. Ngoepe battled through a nine pitch AB, before grounding into a double play to end the game.

Victor Black came in to pitch the seventh inning. He retired the side in order, including one strikeout, needing eleven pitches total, throwing eight for strikes. Black hit 97 MPH with his fastball during the third AB of the inning.

Brandon Cumpton followed up Black, pitching the eighth inning. He allowed just a single in his inning of work and didn’t walk or strike out a batter. He threw 13 pitches, ten for strikes. Cumpton reached 93 MPH with his fastball.

The AFL regular season is now over. Scottsdale finished with a 15-16 record

Adalberto Santos was the only Pirates player in the starting lineup tonight. He batted sixth and played second base. Santos went 1-for-3 with a double, walk and two runs scored. His average now sits at .299 after 77 AB’s. The double was his seventh of the AFL season. Santos had a rough third inning in the field. He turned double plays in each of the first two innings, then fielded the first out of the third inning cleanly. He then booted the next two groundballs hit to him in the third, although Scottsdale was able to get out of the inning without giving up a run.

Tyler Waldron came into the game in the eighth inning and was throwing strikes. He retired the first two batters on strikeouts before recording the last out via flyball to center field. Waldron threw 12 of his 14 pitches for strikes in the eighth.

He came back out for the ninth and gave up a leadoff single, followed by a double. Waldron gave up Mesa’s first run of the game on a groundout to Santos for the first out of the inning. He allowed a second run on a sacrifice fly, before finishing the game off with his third strikeout. His final pitch count was 33, consisting of 27 strikes.

The AFL schedule wraps up tomorrow afternoon.

Two Pirates players were in the starting lineup. Matt Curry batted cleanup and played first base. He went 3-for-5 with three singles, two runs scored and a stolen base.

Santos started in left field and hit sixth. He hit an RBI single in the first inning to give Scottsdale and early 3-0 lead. They would stretch that lead to 7-0 before the top of the first inning was over. Santos drove in another two runs in the eighth inning with a bases loaded double. He finished the game going 2-for-5, raising his average to .297

Victor Black pitched a scoreless eighth inning, allowing one hit and he struck out two batters. He threw 16 pitches, ten for strikes. Black’s ERA now stands at 13.03 after 11 appearances, spanning 9.2 innings pitched.

There are just two games left in the AFL regular season. Scottsdale with the win today over first place Salt River, moved within 1.5 games of first place. If they can overtake Salt River for first place in the next two days, they will participate in the championship game on Saturday.

Three Pirates players were in the starting lineup. Matt Curry batted cleanup and played first base. He went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. He is currently hitting .230 with one homer in 74 AB’s.

Adalberto Santos batted sixth and started in left field. He went 1-for-3, raising his average to the .290 mark. He also reached base via hit-by-pitch and recorded his ninth stolen base.

Ngoepe hit ninth and was at second base. The home run was his first of the Fall League season. He finished the game 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. He is hitting .256 in 43 AB’s.

Brandon Cumpton came in to pitch the sixth inning and threw two scoreless frames. He allowed one walk and struck out two without allowing a base hit. Brandon faced the minimum and it took just 23 pitches(13 for strikes) to get through two innings.

Kaminska made his sixth start for Scottsdale and went five innings, allowing just one unearned run, which came in the first inning. He gave up four hits, did not walk a batter, and he struck out four. Kyle threw 46 of his 68 pitches for strikes. He has allowed a combined two earned runs in his last five starts, a total of 24 innings pitched.

In the starting lineup, Matt Curry played first base and batted cleanup. He went 0-for-4 with a walk, two strikeouts and a run scored.

Adalberto Santos batted right behind Curry and played left field. He went 0-for-3, with two walks, two strikeouts and two stolen bases. Santos has now collected eight stolen bases in nine attempts. He has a .288 average in 18 games.

**Matt Curry went 1-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts.

**Tyler Waldron pitched two perfect innings. He threw 17 pitches, with 12 strikes.

Matt Curry hit his first AFL homer. – Image Credit: Mark Olson

Here are the results from the Arizona Fall League today.

**Matt Curry went 3-for-5 with a double and a homer. It was the first homer of the AFL season for Curry.

**Adalberto Santos went 2-for-5 with a double.

**Gift Ngoepe went 3-for-5 and stole a base.

**Tyler Waldron pitched 1.1 shutout innings, giving up no walks or hits and striking out two.

**Vic Black pitched an inning, giving up two runs on three hits with no walks or strikeouts.

**Kyle Kaminska got the start. He gave up one run on a hit and three walks in five innings, while striking out one. Kaminska threw 77 pitches with 47 strikes.

**Brandon Cumpton followed Kaminska, throwing a shutout inning. Cumpton didn’t allow a hit, but walked two. He threw 20 pitches, with nine strikes.

**Matt Curry went 1-for-2 with two walks and two stolen bases.