Minor League Report: April 15

The Pirates Minor League System continues to look fairly impressive.
Triple A Indians lost again because they have trouble with offense. Pedro Alvarez had some early season power, but is now only hitting .219. On a positive note, he is not striking out all the time. Getting the bat on the ball. Pierce is super hot, but it is bound to fade as it did tonight. Donald Veal gave up 3 in five innings of work. Stephen Jackson worked 2 innings and gave up another run. That was more than enough to sink the Indians. The Postive Note is Jose Tabata. He is ready. A .344 average and his fifth stolen base has him ready for the pros.

Double A Altoona continues to show case the future infield of the Pirates. Tim Alderson pitched his first win. He now has a 3.60 ERA, but strike out totals are still low. I still believe he is going to be a great big leaguer because he just wins. Of course it does not hurt when the Curve put up 13 runs. D'Arnaud is struggling right now with an average below 2. Mercer is hitting well with a .310 average, and Harrison has a .344 average. Negrych DHed tonight and continued to hit well at .300. The Curve are really trying to get him in the game anyway they can. Daniel Moskos continues his path to a major league bullpen with a save. He got two outs in the 8th inning when it was a one run game. The Curve belted 7 in the ninth to take the pressure off, but it counts as a save nonetheless.

High A Maulers are still in progress, but they have the best record and the best outfield. The Pirates future lies here. Only three regulars have averages below .300. Grossman is hitting .333, Marte is hitting .333, and Owen Lattimore is hitting .400. Behind them waiting for Marte to get called up to Double A is McClune who in three games is hitting .429. First rounder Sanchez is hitting .368. Worth noting is 3B Jeremy Farrel, who is hitting .348 with 12 RBIs and three homeruns. There are also several pitching prospect there including Bryan Morris who has no decisions yet in two starts, but a very nice 1.86 ERA. Nathan Adcock pitched 5 scoreless innings a got the win.

Single A Power are a dissapointment. They were not going to be world beaters, but they have been real bad. And tonight was no different. They managed to struggle up 4 runs, but still lost. Evan Chambers is not hitting well right now, and they need him to provide some offense. The pitching is saving the Power right now. Miller and Baker have had good starts and Zachary Foster and Erickson have been good out of the pen. But Kyle McPherson put up his second straight poor outing. Hunter Strickland has alos struggled in his two starts giving up more hits than innings pitched.

Right now the Pirates look good in Double A and both Single A teams as far as prospects go. Alvarez could pick it up more, but other than that one has to be happy right now about the future of the Pirates. I still think 2012 is the year the Pirates take down the World Series.