Welcome to the Pirates Prospects daily video rundown, where we pull some of the top videos of the Pittsburgh Pirates across the internet.
Travis Swaggerty
The former first round pick back in 2018 continues to tear the cover off of the ball this spring, hitting the first pitch he saw on Saturday for his third home run of spring.
An absolute BLAST by Swaggy T! pic.twitter.com/8r7sjeSymN
— Young Bucs (@YoungBucsPIT) March 18, 2023
The home run traveled 439 feet, with an exit velocity of 106.6 mph, and had an expected batting average of 1.000.
Austin Hedges
Not really known for his offense, Hedges has been one of the best defensive catchers in the game the past few years. He flashed some of that ability behind the plate, throwing out a would be base stealer on Saturday.
Keller gets an assist from Austin Hedges, who throws out Matt Wallner trying to steal second base. Keller allowed a long solo home run to Trevor Larnach on a middle-middle sinker, but limits the damage to one run. pic.twitter.com/PsRXDe7lcM
— Justice delos Santos (@justdelossantos) March 18, 2023
Oneil Cruz
Just about everything Cruz does is loud, another example is this 94.8 mph laser to first by the shortstop.
Just a casual 94.8 mph throw from Oneil Cruz 😳 pic.twitter.com/97ItlS0zND
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 18, 2023
Anthony began writing over 10 years ago, starting a personal blog to cover the 2011 MLB draft, where the Pirates selected first overall. After bouncing around many websites covering hockey, he refocused his attention to baseball, his first love when it comes to sports. He eventually found himself here at Pirates Prospects in late 2021, where he covers the team’s four full season minor league affiliates.
I really liked the fact that Swags didn’t watch 95 mph down the middle like I watched Pirate hitters do all last year. Yeah, you’re allowed to swing at the first pitch!
Exciting to see Swaggerty doing well. Every time I see Cruz I think of what Dreker posted the other day.
Which was?
What I took out of John’s comment the other day was that the Pirates might be hesitant to give Cruz a long term deal because of his propensity to become complacent (not a hard worker). And that with a long term deal and plenty of $’s locked up he may not work as hard to become the player he could be without the security of a long term deal. In other words, keep him hungry for more $’s.
Sounds like poppycock. What has Cruz ever done to make
john think that? We almost never hear this concern about white players, by the way. I’m not saying John is projecting onto Cruz because of his race, I’m simply pointing out how ridiculous it is to think a professional team can work that way. It simply cannot be like that of you want to have any chance at all of signing anyone at all.
https://piratesprospects.com/2023/03/pirates-agree-to-terms-with-27-pre-arbitration-players.html