Pirates Insider: Wyatt Sanford continuing mastery of 'new toy' in Arizona Fall League

A few swings into Spring Training, Wyatt Sanford sensed something was different.

When the Pirates drafted Sanford in the second round in 2024, they liked his speed and defense, viewing his left-handed swing as more contact over power ... but also believing that could change over time.

Sanford, 20, did his part over the winter, adding strength to his 5-foot-11, 175-pound frame and revamping the mechanics of his swing. As a result, Sanford increased his OPS more than 200 points (.760 to .963) while barreling toward MLB Pipeline Top 100 status.

“It just felt a little different off the bat, a little different sound,” Sanford said of those early-spring hacks at Pirate City. “It gave me a really good feeling of what’s to come.”

Sanford followed with a stellar season, supplying a stacked High-A Greensboro lineup with speed and all-fields power. It’s also what Sanford has carried with him to the Arizona Fall League, where he’s soaking up extra at-bats and trying to perfect a more powerful stroke after missing two months due to a hand injury.

Sanford, who’s considered Pittsburgh’s fifth-best prospect behind Seth Hernandez, Edward Florentino, Derek Curiel and Murf Gray, homered in the Glendale Desert Dogs’ loss to the Salt River Rafters on Saturday, turning on an inside cutter and launching it over the right-field fence at 100 mph.

In three AFL games so far, Sanford is hitting .364 (4 for 11) with the home run, two RBIs, three runs scored, two walks and three strikeouts. In the process, he’s learned more about himself, his revamped swing and making better decisions when it comes to pitch selection.

“This year was kind of the first time I was able to hit some balls out in BP," Sanford said. “That came with a lot of excitement, getting up to the plate and wanting to swing at a lot of stuff that, looking back, I shouldn’t have swung at.

“That’s one of the big things I’m working on here: staying under control, controlling the zone and still being aggressive.”

Sanford has some things to improve, sure. But he should be plenty proud of the work he did in 2026.

In 77 games between Low-A Bradenton and High-A Greensboro (all but five of those with the Grasshoppers), Sanford hit .282 with 16 doubles, two triples and 19 home runs.

For better year-over-year context, Sanford's slugging percentage jumped from .376 across two levels in 2025 to .546 in 2026. He also had 44 RBI, 77 runs scored and stole 33 bases on 35 attempts.

Sanford struck out 111 times in 363 plate appearances, a rate of roughly 31% that obviously needs to drop.

"He can now swing the bat really fast and hit the ball a long way, something he wasn’t necessarily doing in the past," Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said in August.

“He’s kind of now adapting to that new toy he has and trying to bring the contact back into it. On top of being a really good defensive infielder and athlete and baserunner, we think there’s the makings of a really good player here. He’ll be a fun one to watch in the year or two with how he continues to develop.”

MLB Pipeline estimates Sanford will arrive in the big leagues in 2028, though it probably won’t be at shortstop because of Konnor Griffin. The good news for the Pirates is that Sanford is very athletic and could seemingly adapt to another infield spot or the outfield.

If hits like he did this past season, those moves become even easier.

After Sanford’s homer, he singled twice on Sunday, slapping a breaking ball the opposite way and turning on another heater. It’s a diverse set of tools Sanford didn’t necessarily have during his first pro season, but he’s shown himself to not only be talented but also a quick study.

The hand injury might've disrupted some of that progress, but he’s making up for lost time now in the AFL.

“To see the power really come this year was good to see,” Sanford said. “It was really fun to go out there and play with that extra tool. ... Being super excited having that extra power came with a lot of bad swing decisions early on in the year.

“Before I got hurt, I was trying to find that happy medium. That’s what I’ve been working on here, instead of contact over power or power over contact, making sure that I’m a complete hitter.”

Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.