BRADENTON, Fla. -- Anthony Alford’s big day at the plate and in the field put the Pirates back into the win column Thursday, defeating the Orioles at LECOM Park, 7-5.
Center field is one of a handful of positions that is up for grabs this spring training, and Alford’s day was certainly one that helped his case for earning that job.
Not that he’s taking a victory lap or thinks that the competition for the job is over.
“I still have a lot to prove,” Alford said. “I just can't sit there and be satisfied with what I did.”
Spring training is a little over half over at this point, so there is still time for Brian Goodwin or Dustin Fowler to make a case, or for Alford to hurt his own.
But Thursday was a showcase of all the tools that once made him the Blue Jays’ top prospect when Ben Cherington and Derek Shelton were with that organization.
It started in the bottom of the second, when Alford got a hold of a hanging Felix Hernandez sinker and clobbered a no-doubter to right-center:
That ball left the bat at 108.8 mph, making it the hardest hit ball Statcast has ever tracked him from him.
In the top of the third, he made the catch that just might have clinched his starting job:
Alford enjoyed the catch more. It actually was his first catch of the spring. After being limited to designated hitter duties earlier after experiencing a setback with his throwing early in camp, Thursday was Alford’s third game back in the field. He went without a fielding opportunity in those first two games, and while in the field Tuesday in North Port, he couldn’t help think to himself, “man, I’d really like to lay out for a ball.”
He got his wish, and a chance to shake any jitters about making that type of play. That’s how his season ended last year, colliding with the wall in right-center trying to make a catch. Instead, he fractured his right elbow.
“I, for some reason, thought I could knock that wall down, but unfortunately, it ended up with me being on a table and having surgery a few days later,” Alford joked. “That wall is undefeated.”
Alford can laugh about it now that some time has passed and that first diving catch is out of the way.
“When you go through an injury, especially the one that he went through and you spend as long as he did rehabbing to come back, then the first time you have to leave your feet, there’s a little bit of anxiety for everybody involved,” Shelton said. “To see him do it, to see him do it with no hesitation, to make the play, I think it checked a lot of boxes for a lot of us.”
Alford also lined a double down the first base line in the fourth inning, following that with a heads up baserunning play to move to third on a ground ball to the left side of the infield because he saw third base was vacated. He later scored on a wild pitch.
It was a showcase of all his tools. One that will certainly be considered when the Pirates decide who will join Gregory Polanco and Bryan Reynolds in the outfield.
The Pirates came in with spring training with Alford and Goodwin as the two main contenders for the third job, but they traded for Fowler after the Athletics designated him for assignment shortly before games picked up, giving themselves another potential option.
It also put them in a situation that, barring something very unexpected -- like an injury, the league expanding rosters or the Pirates carrying a fifth outfielder instead of an extra pitcher -- there are three outfielders and only two spots. None of the three can be optioned to the minor leagues without first being exposed to waivers, so it would be safe to assume the Pirates would lose whomever doesn’t make the opening day club.
Alford went into camp as the projected as the starting center fielder because of his potential ceiling, but he had done very little in the majors to this point of his career, especially at the plate. While he appeared in games over parts of four years with the Blue Jays, he only amassed 75 major league plate appearances.
Part of the reason why he didn’t get more opportunities was because he wasn’t hitting Class AAA pitching. When looking at what’s different with his swing now than in the past, his hands are much more steady and are at the level of his swing path.
Alford said he hasn’t been focused on his hands this camp, but believes there has been a progression and growth with how he uses them to go through the zone, and that it’s part of the reason why he’s clicking.
“I think it’s gotten better and better every year,” Alford said. “In 2016, I had the big hand pump, and that was something like guys would slide step me, and balls would get on me, especially when they would slide step with like 95+ [mph] balls would just get on me… It’s just trying to put myself into a good hitting position consistently.”
So far this spring, Alford in 5-for-12 with two home runs and a double. It’s a sampling of the power he has, whether it’s home run power, like scouts believe, or gap to gap power, like Alford thinks of himself.
Of the players in camp, there is a case to be made that Alford has the most untapped potential. At this time three years ago he was lauded as the Blue Jays’ center fielder of the future. Now, partially because of the injury last season, he has to earn not only a potential starting job, but a spot on the roster.
Earlier this spring, Alford said he "never really shied away from competition.” That hasn’t started now.
“I enjoy the competition,” Alford said. “We're all professional athletes. We all enjoy competing. That's what we've done our whole life, and I think it's a group of great guys.”
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Mitch Keller started a third inning, but was quickly pulled after walking the first batter. He walked two, struck out two and allowed two hits and two runs in his 2+ innings.
His fastball velocity is in midseason form, hitting 98 mph at one point, but he threw 20 balls on 48 pitches. That included 14 balls on 25 four-seamers.
"I yanked a few today – more than usual, more than I’d like – but I think that’s coming with getting my velo back," Keller said. "I feel really good there. Somehow, it’s just a release point thing. That’s just going to repetition here, a side or another game. I feel really good with where I’m at right now."
• Chasen Shreve came on in relief and was hit hard, allowing three runs in the top of the third.
The Pirates got a run back later that inning on a Jacob Stallings single, and Alford tied the game scoring on the wild pitch in the fourth.
Will Craig played the hero, homering in the bottom of the seventh to take the lead for good.
• Wil Crowe turned in a terrific outing, facing the minimum in his three innings while striking out three.
Roansy Contreras made his spring debut, pitching a hitless seventh with two strikeouts. His fastball was consistently in the upper-90s and showed some spin on his curveball.
Contreras, 21, came over to the Pirates in the Jameson Taillon trade, and his team debut couldn't help but make Shelton smile.
"Talking to him afterwards, the only thing I asked him is if he had fun, because I know it was fun watching him," Shelton said.
Kyle Crick and Clay Holmes each worked around a hit to throw a scoreless frame to close the game.
• Some quick notes:
Gregory Polanco has been away from the team to be with his wife as she gave birth to a son. He is currently undergoing the intake process in Bradenton again to rejoin the team.
Luis Oviedo, one of the Rule 5 players the Pirates picked up in December, had some visa troubles getting into the country but should appear in a game in the next week.
Liover Peguero and Quinn Priester could both see playing time in a game towards the end of spring training.
• Todd Frazier was mic'd up for this one, and it was just...fantastic:
We could listen to @FlavaFraz21 mic’d up all day. pic.twitter.com/YUuHjFTdAA
— Pirates (@Pirates) March 12, 2021
• The Pirates will stay in Bradenton Friday and will take on the Blue Jays. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
Chase De Jong will make the start, followed by Chris Stratton, Sean Poppen, Nick Mears, Edgar Santana, James Marvel and Shea Spitzbarth.