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Pirates Split Series With Brewers

The Pirates couldn't hold the lead against the Brewers on Thursday, dropping the final game 7-5 to split a four game series. Milwaukee got on...

P2Daily: More Premium Articles For Pirates Prospects Subscribers

Six weeks ago, Pirates Prospects returned as a solo project. Since that point, this article is the 122nd that I've posted. If you're doing...

Bailey Falter Shuts Down the Brewers

The Milwaukee Brewers aren't a big swing and miss team. Prior to Tuesday night's game against the Pirates, they ranked 22nd in baseball in...

Jared Jones is Appointment Viewing

During the 2004 season, Oliver Perez had one of the best pitching seasons I can recall from a Pittsburgh Pirates starter in the last...

Prospect Watch

Pirates Prospect Watch: Paul Skenes Pitches Into the Fifth in Latest Start

Paul Skenes is human, after all. The 2023 first overall pick gave up his first runs of the season against Omaha on Wednesday afternoon, in...

Pirates Prospect Watch: Nick Gonzales Extends Hitting Streak

Nick Gonzales keeps hitting. The middle infielder, playing second base on Tuesday night for Indianapolis, went 2-for-4 with a walk. That extends his hitting streak...

Pirates Prospect Watch: The Pirates Have Hitting in Triple-A

The Pittsburgh Pirates are struggling at the plate at the Major League level. Fortunately for them, a lot of their hitters in Triple-A are...

Player Features

Jack Brannigan is the Next Gold Glove Quality Third Baseman in the Pirates System

The Pirates have Gold Glove third basemen in Ke'Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo. They've got another candidate in the system in power hitter Jack Brannigan.

Mitch Jebb Brings Elite Speed and Swing Decisions to Greensboro

With so many three-true-outcome approaches in pro ball, 2023 second round pick Mitch Jebb brings a refreshing style of contact, speed, and hustle.

Discussion

Saturday Sleepers

Saturday Sleepers: Carlos Jimenez Has One of the Best Changeups in the System

In early 2022, I saw Carlos Jimenez pitch for the Bradenton Marauders. Of all the players who played in Single-A on that particular day,...

Saturday Sleepers: Valentin Linarez Added Velocity and Improved Control in 2023

Valentin Linarez had one of the biggest recorded velocity jumps in minor league baseball last year. Baseball America tracked the year-over-year four-seam velocity gainers from...

Saturday Sleepers: “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a 17 year old throw 100 miles an hour”

At the start of the 2023 international signing period, the Pittsburgh Pirates added David Matoma as their first signing out of Uganda. The right-handed...

Saturday Sleepers: Omar Alfonzo is a Catching Prospect to Follow

On March 26, 2023, the Pittsburgh Pirates sent Omar Alfonzo to big league camp for a day. A catcher entering his age 19 season,...

ARCHIVES

Will Josh Rodriguez Make the Roster?

In each of the last four years, Neal Huntington has made a selection in the Rule 5 draft.  In 2008 the Pirates selected Evan...

Cesar Lopez Deal Confirmed

A month ago we learned that the Pittsburgh Pirates had signed Cuban pitcher Cesar Lopez for $600,000, thanks to a report from Ben Badler...

Fixing the Compensation System

Yesterday I brought up the fact that the compensation system for the Major League draft is a broken system.  The system is intended to...

2011 Prospect Watching: Hague, Plus Clement

Finishing up our look at the first basement in the Pirates' organization:

Matt Hague  --  R/R,  6' 3", 225 lb
Hague was chosen by the Pirates in the 9th round of the 2008 draft.  The Washington State native was drafted as a third baseman, though he also played outfield and pitched in college.  Hague played third for the State College Spikes (7 games) and the Hickory Crawdads (57 games) in the 2008 season, but in 2009 at A+ Lynchburg, Hague was shifted over to first base because Pedro Alvarez had dibs on third.  Hague played one game at third in 2009 and one game at third in 2010, with the rest all at first base.  In 134 games at first for the AA Altoona Curve in 2010, Hague made 10 errors.  At the plate, Hague has been solid over the past two seasons.  He hit .293 for Lynchburg, then .295 for Altoona in 2010, with 30 doubles in both seasons.  Hague's power hitting got better in 2010, with 15 homers and 86 RBI.  His plate discipline also showed some improvement, with 61 walks (10.5%) and 62 strikeouts (12.2%, down from 14.8% in 2009).  He was named to the Eastern League All-Star team and went 0-for-2 for the Western Division team in the All-Star Game.  Hague did not hit well in the Curve's playoff run, with a .161 average and 4 RBI.  After celebrating the Curve's Eastern League championship, Hague spent a little time in the Mexican Pacific League, where he also did not hit well -- in 8 games, he went 3-for-21 (.143) with no extra-base hits or RBI, but one walk and 6 strikeouts.  The 25-year-old should be ready to make the move to AAA Indianapolis for 2011, where he will need to improve his power numbers, and a boost in his defense would be a good idea too.

Durham And Atkins Both Homer For Pirates

The Pirates played two split-squad spring training games this afternoon (Monday):

Orioles  6,  Pirates  4
The Pirates were held to 5 hits at McKechnie field this afternoon, but one of the big ones was a 2-run homer over the left field wall in the bottom of the 9th by RF Miles Durham, who was up from minor league camp.  1B Lyle Overbay also singled for the Pirates, scoring the first Pirates' run of the game in the 5th.  3B Pedro Alvarez knocked in the remaining run for the Pirates, in the 6th inning.  LF Jose Tabata led off the inning with a single, stole second base, then scored on Alvarez's single    Alvarez also doubled for the Pirates.

LF John Bowker, SS Brian Friday, CF Mel Rojas, 3B Andy Marte,  1B Steve Pearce, 2B Chase d'Arnaud, 2B Jim Negrych, and C Wyatt Toregas all got into the game for the Pirates.   

Paul Maholm took the loss for the Pirates.  He gave up a run in the 1st inning on a double and a single, then another on a solo homer in the 2nd.  Jeff Locke allowed a run on two hits in the 6th.  He allowed a single and a walk, then with two outs, an RBI single brought in a run.   Justin Wilson got the first out, then walked the next three batters to load the bases in the 8th.  A double and a sacrifice fly drove in all three of the base runners.  Jeff Karstens pitched 2 scoreless innings, then Tyler Yates, and Mike Crotta each pitched a scoreless frame.   Cesar Valdez finished up the 8th for Karstens, then pitched a scoreless 9th, facing only 4 batters.

Baseball America’s Top 150 Prospect Lists

Baseball America released their 2011 top 100 prospects a week ago, with three Pittsburgh Pirates prospects making the list.  Those players were Jameson Taillon,...

2011 Prospect Watching: Baker and Anderson

Continuing to look at the first basemen in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Aaron Baker --  Bats L/ Throws R,  6' 2",  220 lbs
Baker was chosen in the 11th round of the 2009 draft, and began his pro career right away with the State College Spikes.  He was promoted to A level West Virginia for 2010, where he hit for close to the same average -- .247 with the Spikes and .253 for the full season in West Virginia.  Baker's power performance improved, as he hit 34 doubles, 18 homers, and 79 RBI for the Power.  His high strikeout rate in State College (54 strikeouts in 62 games, 24%) continued in 2010 with 115 strikeouts in 115 games (25%), but he also continued to work a reasonable number of walks --  52 (10%).  Baker's best months at the plate were April (.282, 12 RBI) and May (.278, 16 RBI).  His average slipped to .179 in June, though hit hit 5 homers and 12 RBI.  He bounced back up to a .274 average in July and hit 7 homers and 21 RBI, then slid back to .247 in August, with 2 homers and 16 RBI.  He'd had a big righty-lefty split in 2009, but that disappeared in 2010 (.252 against left-handers and .253 against right-handers).  In the field, Baker played all his games at first (with a few DH appearances).  He made a whopping 19 errors at first, and that's going to need a lot of work.  Baker should be the primary first baseman at A+ Bradenton for 2011, with some possible back-up by Matt Curry.  The Pirates would like to see him continue to increase the power numbers, and cut back on the strikeouts.  

Calvin Anderson  --  R/R,  6' 7",  240 lb
Anderson was the Pirates' 12th round pick in the 2008 draft.  He moved up to A+ Bradenton for the 2010 season, where he was the starting first baseman (plus a few games as the DH).  He started the season with a so-so April, a .239 average, one homer, and 8 RBI.  May began in the same vein, then Anderson had a 12-game hitting streak in the second half of the month, during which he went 22-for-46 (.478) with 3 homers and 16 RBI.  That included a 5-RBI game on May 22nd, and a 4-for-4, 4-RBI game on May 26th, and Anderson was named the Florida State League Player of the Week for that week.  Unfortunately, that hitting spree came to an end, and Anderson did not do that well again for the rest of the season.  He finished with a .259 average, 29 doubles, 11 homers, and 73 RBI.  Strikeouts had been a problem for Anderson in previous seasons, and that did not change in 2010 --  141 strikeouts in 125 games (30%).  In the field, Anderson struggled even more than Aaron Baker did -- 23 errors at first base.  The combination of low hitting and difficulty in the field may make the Pirates re-think the idea of moving Anderson up to AA Altoona for 2011.  If he remains at Bradenton, though, he's going to be squeezed by Baker, and without some big improvement this season, Baker may well pass Anderson by.
 

Kevin Creagh on Savran on Sports

Kevin Creagh of Pirates Prospects was on Savran on Sports today, discussing last week's interview with Pittsburgh Pirates' president Frank Coonelly. If you missed the...

Four Pirates in Kevin Goldstein’s Top 101 Prospects

Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus has released his top 101 prospects for the 2011 season.  Goldstein has four Pirates prospects on the list, with...

2011 Draft Prospects Rundown: 2/28

Here is a recap of how each of the top 2011 draft prospects did this past week.  Click on their names to go to...

The Battle of the Pirates Blogs

Thanks to your votes, Pirates Prospects has reached the Final Four of The Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog tournament, hosted by Sean's Ramblings.  Pirates Prospects...

Kevin Creagh on Savran on Sports Today

Kevin Creagh of Pirates Prospects will be on Savran on Sports on ESPN 970 at 11:30 AM today.  Kevin will be discussing last week's...
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