After late-season tear, Pirates' Siani not letting up in Fall League

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- Players can be a stubborn sort, but Sammy Siani knew something had to change. The Pirates outfield prospect was entering his third season with High-A Greensboro and had hit just .217 over 2022 and ‘23 combined with a 33.7 percent strikeout rate. When upward mobility is the name of the game, no one wants to get that comfortable in the South Atlantic League.

“I had a couple of seasons where I wasn’t happy with my results,” Siani said. “I thought I needed to make a change, I needed to do something different and I think it’s worked out for me so far.”

The difference-maker has been altering his bat path. Over those first two years, he was way too steep with his approach, a huge contributor to the swing-and-miss. He tried to do too much and being more direct to the ball has enabled him to maximize the tools he has much more consistently.

“The big thing was fixing my path, flattening that out, getting to more fastballs and doing the things I know I’m really good at,” Siani said. “It’s been huge for me. It’s been really, really helpful, minimizing strikeouts, just putting the ball in play.”

The results speak for themselves. Now 23, the No. 37 pick in the 2019 MLB Draft had a .966 OPS over 20 games with Greensboro to start the ‘24 season, finally earning a trip up to Double-A Altoona for the first time. While he wasn’t as productive with the Curve (.254/.325/.368), he continued to work on adjusting his path and making consistent contact. The biggest indicator? His K rate plummeted to 18.9 percent.

He’s continued that trend with a very impressive showing in the Arizona Fall League. He’s hit in all but two of his 17 games for the Scottsdale Scorpions, including going 2-for-3 with his third home run of the fall on Wednesday night, showing he can still get to his sneaky pop without that steep path.

“I knew he was a fastball-cutter-slider guy,” Siani said of Braves right-hander Landon Harper, whom he took deep to right-center field for a solo shot in the fifth inning of an eventual 8-1 Scorpions victory. “For me, it was stay on the fastball, see him middle-away and wait for that cutter to come down the middle and stay in front of it. And that’s what I tried to do.”

After his two-hit night -- he also drove in a run with a two-out single in the first -- Siani stands second on the circuit with his .407 average. He’s sixth in slugging (.610) and OPS (1.088) while continuing to keep his strikeouts to a minimum (19.4 percent).

If he keeps showing his new swing can help him be productive at the plate, Siani has a chance to be a valuable fourth-outfielder type in the big leagues. He’s shown he can defend in all three outfield spots well. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, given the fact his older brother, Michael Siani, is one of the better defensive center fielders in the game who just spent the year patrolling for the Cardinals. There’s a third Siani outfielder as well, with youngest brother Jake finishing up his playing career at Johns Hopkins University. Check out the William Penn Charter School archives in eastern Pennsylvania and you’ll find one game in which all three Sianis played the outfield at the same time.

📩 CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO BEN'S BIZ

“The way we were raised, we play the game really hard,” Siani said. “I always talk to Mike and my little brother too about baseball. We’re always bouncing ideas off each other, learning from each other. Having Mike as a role model as a young kid was awesome because I saw the way the game is supposed to be played. It’s great having him in the bigs just to learn from him.”