Looking at some Pirates' first base prospects...

Justin Howard  --  L/L,  6' 0",  205 lb
The Pirates acquired Howard in the 24th round of the 2010 draft.  He had a hot-hitting senior year at University of New Mexico, where he hit .456 with 32 doubles, 10 homers, and 72 RBI.  He injured his knee, though, which kept him from being drafted higher, and also kept him from getting started in his pro career until August.  He got in 15 games with the GCL Pirates, where he picked up the hot bat again.  Howard went 15-for-44 (.341), with 6 doubles and 3 RBI.  He did strike out 12 times (27%), and he'll have to work on that.  At 23 years old, Howard could skip State College and go to West Virginia to begin 2011.

Matt Curry --  Bats L/ Throws R,  6' 2",  235 lb
Curry was the Pirates' 16th round choice in the 2010 draft.  After playing with Texas Christian University in the College World Series, Curry joined the State College Spikes.  Curry jumped out to a great start at State College, hitting .364 in July, with 3 homers and 18 RBI.  That slipped to .247 in August, and his doubles dropped from 10 to 4.  He finished with a .299 average in 58 games, with 14 doubles, 7 homers, and 29 RBI.  Curry had a high walk rate in his senior year at TCU, and that continued at State College, with 39 walks in 58 games (16%).  He also struck out 47 times (24%).  Curry could begin 2011 either at West Virginia, where he might share playing time with Howard, or he could make the jump to A+ Bradenton, and share time with Aaron Baker.

Looking at the Pirates' prospects as spring training continues...  Today we'll begin with the first basemen, moving up from the lower levels to the upper levels of the organization.

Michaelangel Trinidad  --  L/L,  5' 11",  232 lb
Trinidad is a 22-year-old Curacao native who has been in the Pirates' organization since the 2006 season.  He played in the Venezuelan Summer League for three years.  In the third season, 2009, Trinidad hit .318, with 14 homers and a .604 SLG.  He made the move to the US and the GCL in 2010, but the start of his season was delayed by injury.  Once he got going, at the end of June, Trinidad hit .267 in July with 3 homers and 10 RBI.  That dropped to .211 in August, with one more homer and 6 RBI.  Trinidad's upside is his power, especially since it was not accompanied by a ton of strikeouts (14 strikeouts in 27 games in the GCL, 16%).  His downside is his size.  He could get to State College for 2011, where he will need to continue the power surge but also make sure he stays in shape.

Gerlis Rodriguez  --  Bats: both/ Throws L,  6' 2",  185 lb
Rodriguez is also 22 years old, a Dominican Republic native.  Like Trinidad, he also spent 3 seasons in the VSL, where he bumped his batting average up to .291 in the third year.  Rodriguez spent 2009 with the GCL Pirates, hitting .266 with little power.  He moved up to State College for 2010, where he played first base and did some DH-ing (plus one game in left field).  He made 6 errors at first in 26 games.  At the plate, Rodriguez hit .201, with just 8 doubles, one homer, and 24 RBI in 48 games.  His walk rate dropped (11 walks, 6%) and his strikeout rate climbed (34 strikeouts, 21%) in 2010.  He should probably return to State College to work on some plate discipline and get the errors down. 

Rays  9,  Pirates  5  

The Pirates opened the official Grapefruit League season with a loss to the Rays.  The Pirates were held to just 6 hits.  All but two were singles and all but one were by the established major leaguers.  1B Garrett Atkins smacked a ground rule double for an RBI in the top of the 9th, and C Dusty Brown singled moments later.  LF Jose Tabata, 2B Neil Walker, 1B Lyle Overbay, and C Chris Snyder had the other hits.  LF Alex Presley walked twice in two trips to the plate; the second walk came in the top of the 9th, with two outs and a runner on second base, and the Pirates management watching carefully to see how he'd handle the situation.

Charlie Morton pitched the first two innings for the Pirates.  He had the lead-off batter reach base in both innings, on a walk and a single, but both times he got out of the innings courtesy of a double play.  Brad Lincoln worked around 2 singles to keep the Rays from scoring in the 3rd, but gave up a solo home run to Evan Longoria in the 4th.  Overall, an encouraging outing for Morton, and not too bad for Lincoln.  Chris Resop also gave up a solo home run in the 5th, which tied the score at 2-2.  After Daniel Moskos pitched a scoreless inning, Daniel McCutchen got into trouble in the 7th.  A double and two walks loaded the bases, and another double cleared them, giving the Rays a 5-2 lead.   Justin Thomas also struggled in his inning, the 8th, though the 4 runs that came in were all unearned, after a fielding error by 3B Josh Fields.  Tom Boleska, up from minor league camp, finished the inning, giving up a single before getting the final out. 

Other minor leaguers getting some playing time:  2B Josh Rodriguez, CF Gorkys Hernandez, SS Pedro Ciriaco.

Finishing up our look at the outfielders in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Andrew Lambo  --  L/L,  6' 3",   190 lb
Lambo is a 22-year-old California native, who came to the Pirates' organization at the end of July 2010 in the Octavio Dotel trade.  He had been the Dodger's 4th round draft pick in 2007, and actually played in 8 games at the AA level that season.  He went 14-for-36 in those few games, but when he returned to AA in the 2009 season, he slipped -- .256, with 11 homers and 61 RBI.  Lambo began 2010 back in AA Chattanooga.  He began the season better, but after just a few weeks, he was suspended for testing positive for a "drug of abuse" --presumed, but never confirmed, to be marijuana.  Between the suspension and his less-than-stellar hitting stats in 2009 and again after the suspension, Lambo found his star falling instead of rising in the Dodgers' system.  When the opportunity came up for a trade, Lambo was on his way to the Pirates.  He joined AA Altoona, where he started off hitting well.  In the first two weeks of August, Lambo had a .400 average for the Curve, with 7 RBI.  But when Lambo ran into the outfield wall, he injured his shoulder.  He was not playing much outfield after that, but doing a lot of DH'ing.  His hitting slipped again, and he finished the season with a .275 average in 26 total games, with one double, 2 homers, and 10 RBI.  Lambo got a charge in the playoffs, as the Curve earned the Eastern League championship.  He hit .286 over the course of the playoffs, with 2 homers and 7 RBI.  He went to the Arizona Fall League to help make up for some of the lost time during the regular season, and continued to show some better work there.  He hit .274 in 28 games, with 8 doubles, 4 homers, and 23 RBI.  Lambo is in the big league spring training camp as a non-roster invitee, hoping to boost his standing in the eyes of the management.  Lambo has expressed his appreciation for the Pirates' willingness to give him the chance to make a new start.  He's determined to not waste the opportunity.  The plan is to have him begin the 2010 season in AAA Indianapolis, probably in right field.  

Pirates 21,  Manatee-Sarasota  1   (7 innings)
The Pirates' top prospects and players fighting for a major league job got the chance to show off their stuff this afternoon in the Pirates' annual charity game against the State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota.  The Pirates pounded out 20 hits, including home runs by 1B Garrett Atkins and 2B/3B Brian Friday.  Atkins and Josh Fields, who took turns as the DH, and at third and in left field, each had 3 hits.  2B Corey Wimberly, 1B Steve Pearce, CF Gorkys Hernandez, Friday, C Wayne Toregas, and C Tony Sanchez all had 2 hits.  Pearce's two hits were both doubles, and along with a walk, he drove in 4 runs.  Atkins and Hernandez each had 3 RBI.  The Pirates jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the 1st, with 3 runs.  Pearce's first double drove in two, then a sacrifice fly by RF Andrew Lambo brought in Pearce.  Wimberly began a rally in the bottom of the 2nd with a double, and the rest of the Pirates took off, adding 7 more runs in that inning.  The Pirates scored in each of their 6 at-bats (it was only scheduled for 7 innings).  

The Pirates' pitchers were not to be outdone.  Aaron Thompson began the game by striking out the Manatees in order in the top of the 1st.  Tyler Yates pitched the 2nd, and gave up the lone Manatees' run on a single, a wild pitch, a ground out, and a sacrifice fly.  Yates gave up another single before ending the inning.  Jeff Locke surrendered a single in his scoreless inning, as did Rudy Owens.  Mike Crotta struck out the side, and Justin Wilson and Kyle McPherson both struck out 2 batters without allowing a hit.