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DANIEL AMARAL, CENTER FIELDER
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| Born: March 7, 1997 Height: 5’11” Weight: 180 Bats: Right Throws: Right Drafted: 14th Round, 414th Overall, 2018 How Acquired: Draft College: UCLA Agent: N/A |
WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE |
| Baseball America rated Amaral as the 329th best player in the 2018 draft. He’s the son of former Major League Rich Amaral and his brother currently is in the minors with the Mariners. Daniel was announced as a left fielder, but he started in center field as a junior and BA believes he has the skills to remain at the position. He’s a patient, line drive hitter with plus speed. He lacks power, so that likely limits his upside to fourth outfielder. As a junior, he hit .289/.426/.443 in 55 games, with 14 steals in 19 attempts.
2018 Amaral played regularly in the outfield for Morgantown. He started 17 games in center and otherwise played almost all his games in left. Amaral finished second in the league in outfield assists with nine. At the plate he struggled through the first half of the season, batting just 194/316/239 in July, but he got hot in August and September, hitting 277/328/473. His final numbers look better in light of the league averages, which were 240/318/346. He also led the league in steals, with only one other player coming within eight of his total. Amaral crushed LHPs for a .914 OPS, but managed only .624 against RHPs. 2019 The Pirates moved Amaral up to Bradenton; apart from Travis Swaggerty, he was the only one of their 2018 college hitting draftees to make the jump. He served as a fourth outfielder, playing almost exclusively in the corners and also serving fairly often as DH. He missed the month of July with an injury. Amaral hit well, apart from limited power, and continued to use his speed effectively on the bases. He again had a very large platoon split, with an OPS of .881 in a small number of chances against LHPs and .663 against RHPs. Amaral has played well so far, although the Pirates appear to regard him more as an organizational backup than as a prospect. |
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CONTRACT INFORMATION
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| 2020: Minor league contract |
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PLAYER INFORMATION
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| Signing Bonus: $100,000 MiLB Debut: 2018 MLB Debut: MiLB FA Eligible: 2024 MLB FA Eligible: Rule 5 Eligible: 2021 Added to 40-Man: Options Remaining: 3 MLB Service Time: 0.000 |
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TRANSACTIONS
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| June 6, 2018: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 14th round, 414th overall pick; signed on June 14. |
