The Arizona Fall League came to a close on Thursday. The Mesa Solar Sox finished 17-20, 4 ½ games back of Salt River (22-16) in the AFL East. Here is a recap of how the Pirates prospects finished the season.
- Left-hander Nathan Baker finished the season 1-1 with an 8.80 ERA over 10 appearances (one start) for Mesa. Baker allowed 15 runs on 24 hits over 25.1 innings with 12 walks and 16 strikeouts.
- Right-hander Gerrit Cole, the Pirates No.1 overall selection in the 2011 draft, made his professional debut with the Solar Sox this season where he went 2-0 with a 3.00 ERA over five starts. Cole allowed five earned runs on 10 hits over 15.0 innings with four walks and 16 strikeouts. Cole got the starting nod in the Rising Stars game for the AFL East but didn’t fare well. He allowed five runs over 0.2 innings. All five runs came from two homers. Cole finished 10th in the league in ERA (3.00) and fourth in WHIP (0.93).
- Right-hander Mike Colla posted a 4.20 ERA over 11 games in relief with two saves for Mesa. Colla allowed seven earned runs on 10 hits over 15.0 innings with 10 walks and 10 strikeouts.
- Right-hander Jeff Inman joined the roster after righty Phil Irwin was removed from the roster due to an injury. Inman posted went 1-1 with a 7.36 ERA over eight games. Inman allowed six runs on six hits over 7.1 innings of relief with one walk and two strikeouts.
- Right-hander Phil Irwin left the Fall League in the end of October after experiencing tightness in his right forearm. Everything came back negative, however, Irwin wasn’t able to finish the Fall League and was required to rest for 4-6 weeks. Irwin made one appearance from the pen where he allowed two runs on three hits over 2.1 innings. Both runs came via the long ball.
- Infielder Jarek Cunningham finished the season batting .222 over 25 games with 12 runs, four doubles, a triple, three home runs and 16 RBI.
- Infielder Brock Holt’s season started late and he was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Over eight games, Holt batted .240 with seven runs, three RBI and stole three bags.
- Outfielder Robbie Grossman’s solid AFL season came to an end early as he was required to undergo season-ending surgery. Grossman fractured his hamate bone on his right hand while sliding into second base. (You can read the story here). Despite missing the final week, Grossman still ranked among the top in a lot of categories. Grossman ranked ninth in runs (20), third in hits (39), second in home runs (7), sixth in RBI (22), first in walks (20), sixth in stolen bases (6), fourth in average (.375), third in on base (.472) and fourth in OPS (1.097).
Photo credit: MILB
Discussion about this post