Moving across the infield to look at some of the third basemen in the Pirates' organization:

Chase Lyles  --  R/R,  6' 2",  210 lb
Lyles was chosen by the Pirates in the 32nd round of the 2010 draft.  He reported to State College, where he played third base and DH-ed (plus one game at shortstop).  Lyles started on a tear, hitting .327 with 2 homers and 11 RBI in 13 games in June.  He dropped off in July though, with a .204 average but two more homers and another 13 RBI.  August was a little better, at .217, another 2 homers, and 9 RBI in 14 games.  Lyles did have a nice last week of the season, going 5-for-17 (.294).  All that combined to give him a .241 average with 6 homers and 33 RBI for the season.  Lyles struck out 34 times and walked 24 times, neither really high or really low.  The 24-year-old should be able to move up to West Virginia for 2011.  He's even a little bit older for that level -- he's going to need to show the Pirates some improvement this season so that he can keep moving up.  

Eric Avila  --  R/R,  6' 1",  165 lb
The 20-year-old Dominican has been in the Pirates' organization for four years, with three of those spent in the Dominican Summer League.  By his third season there, he'd boosted his batting average to .315 with 9 homers, though he was getting older for that league.  Avila made his US debut with the GCL Pirates in 2010, where he played for the whole season.  In 54 games, he hit a solid .277 and showed some power:  15 doubles, a triple, 7 homers, and 29 RBI.  Those 7 homers put him into a tie for the GCL home run leader, and he was also tied for second in the league in doubles.  His average tailed off a bit in August, when he dropped to a .239 average, though he still drove in 10 runs and had 2 homers.  Avila played all but two of his games last season at third base, but he has played some short and second base in the DSL.  Avila could be placed at either State College or West Virginia for 2011.  Lyles and Kelson Brown (who is listed as a shortstop, but also played third last year) will probably have priority at West Virginia, so that might squeeze Avila to State College.
 

Pirates  2,  Yankees  0

Six Pirate pitchers combined to shut out the Yankees at McKechnie Field this afternoon.  James McDonald and Aaron Thompson each pitched 2 scoreless innings, and each allowed 2 hits.  That was all the hits the Yankees could get.  Daniel McCutchen pitched 2 innings, retiring 6 batters in order, including 2 strikeouts.  Chris Resop, Ramon Aguero, and Daniel Moskos  all contributed one scoreless and hitless inning, and Moskos earned the save.  

The Pirates posted just 6 hits.  Two of those belonged to C Chris Snyder.  He singled to lead off the 3rd inning, but was caught trying to steal second base, then singled again to begin the 6th, and was replaced by pinch runner Jeremy Farrell.  2B Josh Rodriguez bunted Farrell to second base, and SS Pedro Ciriaco drove in the first run of the game with an RB double into left field.  The Pirates scored again in the 7th, when DH Garrett Jones opened the frame with a walk.  1B Steve Pearce bounced a ground-rule double over the left field wall, moving Jones to third base.  3B Josh Fields brought in Jones with a sacrifice fly.  

CF Alex Presley walked, singled, and was hit by a pitch in the game.  LF John Bowker also singled.  Also getting in the game:  CF Gorkys Hernandez, LF Miles Durham, RF Andrew Lambo, 1B Garrett Atkins, RF Matt Diaz, C Wyatt Toregas, 2B Brian Friday, and SS Corey Wimberly.  Doug Bernier, who played for the Indy Indians in 2010, got into the game for the Yankees.   




Other notes:
The Pirates have signed 3B Christian Colonel to a minor league contract.  Colonel was the Rockies' 5th round draft pick in 2003.  He has played all around the field, he has spent more time in the infield, and most of those at third base.  More about Colonel to come in the next few days.
Former Pirate farmhand C James Skelton (Bradenton 2010) signed with the Brewers.  



 

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.