On Wednesday afternoon, the Arizona Fall League announced the rosters for the 2016 season, which begins on October 11th. The Pittsburgh Pirates are sending seven players this season, including Austin Meadows for a second season. Also going are pitchers Montana DuRapau, Dovydas Neverauskas, Edgar Santana and Trevor Williams (another repeat). Catcher Jin-De Jhang and third baseman Eric Wood round out the group.
The Neverauskas assignment is tentative at this point, though he’s on the initial roster. If he doesn’t go, teams always offer a backup player to take the place of another. Last year it was Frank Duncan, who didn’t play, while the year before, it was Angel Sanchez, who replaced Nick Kingham.
Meadows is obviously the main draw here, as he was last year, though Reese McGuire got attention as well and outhit Meadows. With missing time due to his eye injury in Spring Training, then his hamstring injury last month, Meadows is a prime example of a player who could use the AFL time to make up for missed time during the season. He has played just 81 games this season.
Jhang is an interesting player because he plays winter ball in his home country. That could still happen after the AFL season, which will help him make up for all of the lost at-bats this year. He has played just 57 games this year, serving mostly as the backup for Reese McGuire. The extra time in the AFL will help him make up for lost time.
Eric Wood hasn’t missed any time and he should get extra time in the playoffs with Altoona starting next week. He is having a terrific season this year, showing power for thee first time, while drawing more walks and cutting his strikeouts. His defense has also improved over last season. I expect Wood to be in Indianapolis next year, so it will be interesting to see how he is used in the AFL. Sometimes this assignment is used to help players gain versatility by playing a new position.
Neverauskas and Santana are hard-throwing Triple-A relievers with a strong slider. They are going just to get in extra innings against upper level competition. Williams is making up for lost time earlier in the year due to shoulder soreness, while DuRapau could use extra innings, since his use has been limited all season as a closer.
The Pirates will play on the Surprise Saguaros this year after being affiliated with Glendale for one season. Altoona batting coach Kevin Riggs will serve as the hitting coach for Surprise, which gives him a chance to put in more work with the Pirates on the team. The AFL season runs until November 17th, playing a total of 32 games, with the championship game played two days later.
We will have daily coverage throughout the AFL season, as well as live coverage during the first week of November, including the Fall-Stars game, which will be played at Surprise Stadium on November 5th.