Pirates Prospect Watch: Bowen Shining Bright in Arizona Heat

 After an off-day on Sunday, the Arizona Fall League and the Pittsburgh Pirates prospects were ready to go with another game on Monday. 

The Salt River Rafters had two Pirates inserted into Monday’s lineup with Jase Bowen (RF) and Jack Brannigan (SS). Starting with Brannigan, he finally got some things going. 

Brannigan

After a rough-looking strikeout in his first at-bat, Brannigan sought redemption in at-bat number two. According to FanGraphs, Brannigan’s mound opponent was Andre Granillo (St. Louis Cardinals’ 23rd-ranked prospect). 

Brannigan showed positive signs in that at-bat, forcing Granillo to throw six pitches. Brannigan got a four-seam down the middle in the lower third on the sixth pitch and smashed it for a 100.1 mph double. 

The Notre Dame product showed off the speed because that ball didn’t make it to the corner, and he beat out the throw for his first AFL extra-base hit.

Jack Brannigan gets his first XBH of the fall with a nice hard hit double at the third baseman. 100.1 mph off the bat. BOY did Brannigan need that one. pic.twitter.com/wgGjUWIZOz

— Cody Potanko (@2HG013) October 10, 2023

The righty finished the night 1-4 with a double and a run scored.

Bowen

Bowen has played in all seven games for Salt River and is the only player to play in every game. Monday night was another successful one for Bowen.

Bowen smashed the ball hard yet again, with two out of his three balls put into play, registering 97.4+ mph. In addition, Bowen’s RBI single was the only ball he put into play that was softly hit (77.3 mph). 

Jase Bowen then drives in Brannigan who was on the move to third. Bowen’s sixth RBI of the fall. 77.3 mph poke pic.twitter.com/vMiwGSQT8m

— Cody Potanko (@2HG013) October 10, 2023

It’s a good sign that Bowen is hitting the ball hard, but too many times, it goes into the ground. Each ball put into play had a negative launch angle. 

The Pirates had similar issues with several players, most notably Ke’Bryan Hayes. 

Bowen finished the night going 2-4 with an RBI, a run scored, and a strikeout. In addition, Bowen’s AFL average is .345 and is currently ranked 13th in the AFL for average. 

In addition, Bowen’s strikeout was an ugly one. Three straight sliders with only one of them in the zone.

To add a nice ending to this recap, Bowen is ranked sixth in the AFL with six RBIs, 13th in OPS with .884, first in doubles with three, and 12th in SLG with .517.

Something Pittsburgh Pirates fans should be happy about.