Minor League Breakdown

The minor league season is over. That means it is time to get excited about next season, and it provides a good deal of hope for the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirate organization is much stronger than it used to be. The minor leagues show this quite well, despite ESPN’s analysis. The top of the minors is still a bit thin, but the bottom is strong and will be the hope of the Pirate future. It is time to take a look at the Pirate Minor League system and put out some names to keep an eye on.

AAA – Indianapolis Indians
The Indians finished with an awful record and are clearly the worst of the Pirate minor leagues. They are still suffering from the pre-Coonellly (Pirate President) years. They finished 9th out of 14 teams in the International League with a 70-73 record. Their best players all were promoted to the majors for one reason or another. McCutchen only played 49 games, Garrett Jones 72, Steven Pearce 77 and Robinson Diaz played only 44. All saw time at the major league level. That left Neil Walker who had a disappointing year. He rallied at the end to raise his average to .264. Brian Bixler hit .275, but has never been any good when given chances at the big leagues.
The Good – The good news is that several players played well at the major league level including McCutchen, Jones, and Diaz. Jose Tabata showed up late in the season to hit .276 over 32 games. And Daniel McCutchen showed his big league promise with a 13-6 record. Chris Bootcheck had 20 saves, but has been shelled at the big league level. Brad Lincoln went 6-2 in his 12 starts after being promoted from Double A. Tim Alderson went 9-2 over all this year at Double A, and proved he was worth a trade.
The Bad – Some players did not perform up to expectations after their arrivals through trades. Jeff Clement hit only .224 through 24 games, although an injury may have had something to do with that. Argenis Diaz hit .233 through 43 games. Pitcher Ty Taubenheim went under expectations with a 7-9 record. He walked 37 over 106 innings while only striking out 63.
The Ugly – Several prospects played way below expectations. Neil Walker has already been mentioned, but he was not the worst. Shelby Ford, who the club has high hopes for at second base, had to be demoted to Double A after going .188 in 86 games. His ten errors were not good either.

AA – Altoona Curve
Altoona finished 11th out of 12 teams in the Eastern League. They were 62-80. But, they had some great things happen. They had a tail spin at the end of the season. They probably would have finished 9th or 10th if they had not fallen apart. Alvarez was out for that tail spin.
The Good – The stars on this team were great. Jose Tabata spent the first 61 games in Altoona this season and he hit a blistering .303 with only one fielding error. Pedro Alvarez was promoted to Double A and he hit an even more impressive .333 with 12 homeruns over 60 games. Brad Lincoln earned a promoting with his 2.28 ERA and 65 to 18 strike out to walk numbers. Daniel Moskos did manage 11 wins and so did Yoslan Herrera, who was 11 and 1. Several prospects began to emerge like Miles Durham (1B), hitting .275, Jason Delaney, hitting .271, and Jim Negrych, hitting .272.
The Bad – Some people did not do as well as people would have hoped. Gorkey Hernadez, who came over in the McClouth trade, did not do the organization any favors after going only .262 with 76 strike outs. Brian Friday could have done better than his .265 especially with the Short Stop position being open at the Big League level. Jamie Romak, who came over from the Braves back in the original LaRoche deal, still struggles.
The Ugly – This team’s record could not have been worse. That speaks poorly of the pitching over all. Shelby Ford arrived here to help his swing and confidence, and he only continued to stink up the place. A .233 average at Double A does not make his future look any brighter.

High A – Lynchburg Hillcats
The Hillcats are where the talent starts to really show through. Here the effects of Frank Coonelly drafting can be seen and the real future of the Pirates can be seen. Lynchburg won the first half of the season, but faded in the second half. The promotions of Miles Durham and Pedro Alvarez had something to do with that.
The Good – Chase d’Arnaud hit .295 over 54 games. He was the fourth round draft pick last year, and he is showing why. His glove needs a lot of work. Matt Hague, the ninth round selection last year, hit an impressive .293. Then of course Alvarez and Miles Durham were so good promoted. Jeff Locke struck out 99 batters in 127 innings. And Matt McSwain went 11-8. R.J. Rodreguiz managed 27 saves.
The Bad – Third round draft choice last year, Jordy Mercer, underachieved. His .255 batting average was not as disappointing as his 21 errors, although some of that was not in his natural short stop position, but rather at second. This is not ugly because he did lead the team in RBI’s.
The Ugly – This team collapsed at the end of the year. Admittedly they lost Alvarez, who still finished second on the team in RBIs despite playing only half a season, and Durham who was also in the top ten in RBI’s as well as Ray Chang, who was 11th on the team in RBI’s after only 36 games, and had the highest average on the team. But a stronger finish would have been nice. You could see some of the players get tired.

Low A – West Virginia Power
This team was in an actual hunt for the playoffs. They finished four games out. The team is proof that the Pirates are getting better.
The Good – Tony Sanchez, this year’s first round pick, hit a nice .316 with a .976 OPS. Eric Huber, a 2007 pick, hit even better at .318. Starling Marte, a Dominican player, hit .312, Kyle Morgan hit .296 with an OPS over .900, and d’Arnaud hit .291 before getting the promotion. You cannot talk about good unless you mention Rudy Owens. Owens, drafted in the 28th round in 2006, struck out 91 in 100 innings and went 10-1 with a 1.72 ERA. Aaron Pribonic, aquired in the Jack Wilson trade, went 4-2 with a 2.15 ERA.
The Bad – Robbie Grossman faded at the end of the year. The 18 year old 6th round pick from last year, ended up hitting .266. He hit .295 pre-All Star game, and then fell off the truck. This is not really bad, but more of what you might expect from a kid out of high school playing his first long season. He only made 5 error in center field all year. He has a good future. This was about all you could come up with for a bad.
The Ugly – There was nothing really ugly about the Power season.

Short Season A – State College Spikes
State College had a .500 season in the NY-Penn League. It is a little hard to read too much into this league, but it is worth a shot. Since these kids are so young and it is too early for them all there will be no ugly for Short Season or Rookie League ball.
The Good – Victor Black looked good. He was the 49th overall pick this year. He struck out 33 guys in 31 innings. Brock Holt the 9th round selection this year, hit .299 with six homers and three triples.
The Bad – Evan Chambers, the 3rd round selection, hit only .245. He did manage 4 homeruns.

Rookie League – The Gulf Coast League Pirates
A 29-31 record, which was only four games out is not too shabby.
The Good – Ramon Cabera, a Venezula born player, hit .291. He plays catcher and can give some competition to Sanchez in the future maybe. He is just 20 years old. The Pirates had long neglected the Latin America market, and Cabera is one of the faces that shows the Pirates are ready to compete in that area. Brooks Pounders, second round selection this year, struck out 20 in 23 innings and had a 3.04 ERA. Zack Dodson and Zack Von Rosenburg (4th round and 6th round this year) each pitched one hitless inning where they struck out one a piece.
The Bad – a losing season is still a losing season. The Pirates have had enough of those lately. The other bad thing is that it is too hard to tell what is really going on with these guys. Next year will be the year for a lot of these guys.