After hitting .308 in 2012 with the Billings Mustangs, Daniel Pigott got a late start to his 2013 season as he spent the first two months of the season in Arizona rehabbing from surgery to repair a foot injury. Once healthy in early June he was sent to Dayton to play the outfield and first base with the Dragons.
On the 8th of June against Fort Wayne, Pigott got his first start of the year. He went 1-4 on the day with a sacrifice bunt. The next day he went 0-3 with a walk, then saw the next two days off. The 2012 9th round pick caught fire after that, getting hits in his next eight games, including five multi-hit games. On the 21st he would go 2-4 with 2 doubles. While his hitting streak came to an end on the 25th when he went 0-2 with a walk and a run, he had hits in he next three games as well, including his first home run of the year on the 28th against West Michigan. He finished up the month of June with a .300/.338/.433 line in 68 plate appearances with 3 walks and 8 strikeouts. A strong start after missing most of the first half of the season.
July started out where June was heading, more hits. Pigott went 5-10 with a double, home run, 3 runs and 3 RBI over the first three games. After that though he headed into a slump, going 6-45 (.133) over the next 12 games. He broke out of his slump on the 22nd against Wisconsin, going 2-4 with 2 runs. On the 27th he went 2-4 with a double and a triple against Fort Wayne. He finished out the month of July with a .238/.299/.388 line in 87 plate appearances with 7 walks and 13 strikeouts. The walk rate went up and the strikeout rate was still strong, but the slump really pulled down his overall numbers.
The August and September stretch to end the season got off to a ho-hum start, going 1-7 over the first two games, but Pigott heated up some as he would have hits in nine of the next ten games, while hitting three doubles and a home run. The middle of the stretch hit a rough spot from the 19th-21st as he went 0-10 with 6 strikeouts. The 21st was the last game he would go without a hit on the season though. Over the next four games he would have two hits each, including the 24h against Lansing where he had two doubles and 4 RBI. His hitting streak ran to 11 games before the season came to an end, going 18-41 (.439) with 5 walks. He finished the final five weeks of the season with a .303/.361/.444 line in 112 plate appearances with 8 walks and 21 strikeouts.
Season Stats
| PA | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | SB | CS | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| 267 | 239 | 33 | 67 | 16 | 3 | 4 | 22 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 42 | .280 | .335 | .423 |
Overall Thoughts
Daniel Pigott had a solid season, even if it was basically just half of a season due to an injury. His walk rate was a little low, but he made contact at a good rate and outside of one slump, hit well for the year. His walk rate went from 3.8% in 2012, which is very low, to 6.7% in 2013, which is just a bit below-average. His strikeout rate also dropped off from the 2012 rates. Despite missing time with the injury and joining a league where most guys had been playing for 2 months, he improved his peripherals against better competition. Defensively he spent time in left, right and at first base. He had 26 starts at first, 26 in the outfield and 14 at DH.
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