Three observations from the Pirates' 5-1 loss to the Twins here today at Hammond Stadium:
• Henry Davis' tendency to pull the ball more often than not made his opposite-field RBI single in the third inning an encouraging sight to see. Davis, who now has two hits this spring, has a 17.2% career oppo air rate, a metric that measures the frequency a batter hits fly balls or line drives to the opposite field. That's below league average compared to his career pull air rate (23.2%), which is significantly above average. Davis needs to hit, and if he could avoid pulling the ball as much and hit to all fields when he is making contact and putting the ball in play, he'd be better off. The team that drafted him No. 1 overall back in 2021 would benefit, too.
• Rafael Flores hasn't shown much in terms of results in his first spring with the Pirates. There's a little bit of weight on his shoulders being the key piece of the team's return in last summer's David Bednar trade. Plus, he's the No. 10 prospect in the system, according to MLB Pipeline. With an opportunity to show what he can do with the bat, Flores has struggled mightily, collecting just two hits in 22 at-bats over 12 games this spring. He's walked five times and scored four runs, but the nine strikeouts have stood out. Flores will certainly start the year at Class AAA, a level at which he's only played 46 games. He showed promise in Indianapolis upon the trade deadline, so he'll have to do the same in order to push himself into a major-league opportunity at some point in 2026.
• Four of the five runs that were scored off Noah Davis came via third-inning home runs allowed to Luke Keaschall and Victor Caratini. In both instances, Davis left pitches -- a sinker to Keaschall and a sweeper to Caratini -- right over the heart of the plate. The location just wasn't there like it was in his last start against the Orioles. He also hit three batters. Not too good.
THE ASYLUM
Three observations: Davis goes the opposite way
Three observations from the Pirates' 5-1 loss to the Twins here today at Hammond Stadium:
• Henry Davis' tendency to pull the ball more often than not made his opposite-field RBI single in the third inning an encouraging sight to see. Davis, who now has two hits this spring, has a 17.2% career oppo air rate, a metric that measures the frequency a batter hits fly balls or line drives to the opposite field. That's below league average compared to his career pull air rate (23.2%), which is significantly above average. Davis needs to hit, and if he could avoid pulling the ball as much and hit to all fields when he is making contact and putting the ball in play, he'd be better off. The team that drafted him No. 1 overall back in 2021 would benefit, too.
• Rafael Flores hasn't shown much in terms of results in his first spring with the Pirates. There's a little bit of weight on his shoulders being the key piece of the team's return in last summer's David Bednar trade. Plus, he's the No. 10 prospect in the system, according to MLB Pipeline. With an opportunity to show what he can do with the bat, Flores has struggled mightily, collecting just two hits in 22 at-bats over 12 games this spring. He's walked five times and scored four runs, but the nine strikeouts have stood out. Flores will certainly start the year at Class AAA, a level at which he's only played 46 games. He showed promise in Indianapolis upon the trade deadline, so he'll have to do the same in order to push himself into a major-league opportunity at some point in 2026.
• Four of the five runs that were scored off Noah Davis came via third-inning home runs allowed to Luke Keaschall and Victor Caratini. In both instances, Davis left pitches -- a sinker to Keaschall and a sweeper to Caratini -- right over the heart of the plate. The location just wasn't there like it was in his last start against the Orioles. He also hit three batters. Not too good.
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