Three Pirates prospects started in the lineup today, as the Mesa Solar Sox won 7-4:
-Tony Sanchez (.209) started at catcher, batting eighth. Sanchez went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
-Jordy Mercer (.255) was the designated hitter, batting sixth. Mercer went 1-for-3 with a double, an RBI, and a HBP.
-Andrew Lambo (.299) started in right field, batting fifth. Lambo went 1-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, and an outfield assist.
Mesa plays Surprise tomorrow at 12:35 PM MST/3:35 PM EST.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Today 4 baserunners out of 4 successfully stole off of Sanchez through two different pitchers. Should we be worried about this high success rate for opposing base stealers and the number of passed balls Sanchez is letting by? For a defense-minded catcher, he’s looking like a AA version of Ryan Doumit.
I wouldn’t make too much out of Sanchez in the AFL. He missed most of the season this past year due to injuries, and that’s counting more than just his fractured jaw that put him out since June. He also had his jaw wired shut, and lost a lot of weight in a short amount of time due to his limited diet during that time span.
I wouldn’t really expect him to go from missing most of the 2010 season, and losing the weight with his jaw wired shut, to being on top of his game in his first month back.