Continuing to work our way up the chain of outfielders in the Pirates' organization, today looking at two from the 2009 draft.


Evan Chambers  --  R/R,  5' 11",  210 lbs
Chambers is a Florida native who will turn 22 years old next month.   He was chosen by the Pirates in the 3rd round of the 2009 draft.  After a slow start at State College that season, he picked it up in the last month of the season, to finish 2009 with a .245 average, 4 homers, and 22 RBI in 58 games.  Chambers was promoted to A level West Virginia for the 2010 season, and he spent the whole year there, as the team's starting center fielder.  Chambers appeared in 116 games, all but one in center field.  He has reasonable speed and a reasonable throwing arm  -- he had 12 outfield assists in 2010.  At the plate, Chambers has shown a lot of patience, which turns out to be both his strength and his weakness.  He led the South Atlantic League in walks with 92 (18%).  But, sometimes he also watched strike three go by, averaging one strikeout per game (116,  28%).  That added up to a low batting average for most of the season.  He did hit .284 in May, then dropped back down to .226 in June and .294 in July.  Chambers started pulling it together in August, hitting .311 in the first half of the month, but then had his hot streak abruptly halted when he was hit in the head by a pitch.  When he returned to the line-up two weeks later, he went 1-for-19, then finished with a pop, going 3-for-4 on the last day of the season.  He showed some power, with 21 doubles, 2 triples, 12 homers, and 52 RBI.  Chambers hits righties and lefties about the same (.236 vs. .247).  When he does get on base, he can steal.  He stole 35 bases, though was thrown out 17 times.  Chambers should move up to A+ Bradenton for 2011, where he'll need to work on dropping that strikeout rate.   More hitting will also mean more power numbers.

 
Jose Hernandez  -- Bats Right / Throws Left,  5' 11",  190 lb
Hernandez was the Pirates' 23rd round pick in the 2009 draft, taken in his senior year of college (University of  Texas - San Antonio).  That makes him on the older side for playing in West Virginia last year (24 years old) and presumably Bradenton in 2011.   He reported to State College after being drafted in 2009, but only got into 8 games before being sidelined by an ankle injury.  Hernandez was assigned to West Virginia for 2010, despite so little time at State College, and once he got some playing time, he was able to get going.  He hit .242 in May, but popped up to .319 in June, with 5 homers and 14 RBI.  The average dipped to .267 in July, but he kept up the power, with 4 more home runs and 18 RBI.  He was back to .312 in August, adding 3 homers and 13 RBI.  His strikeout rate was high (81, 22%), but not as high as Chambers'.  Hernandez was steady in the outfield, both left and right, and he also did a lot of DH-ing.  He may not be a regular in the outfield in Bradenton, but they will be happy to have his bat in the lineup, so look for him to DH quite a bit.

We're looking at the Pirates' minor leaguers, starting with the outfielders.  Generally, we're moving from the lower levels to the upper levels of the minors, but not specifically in any order.
Today, we'll consider two outfielders who need to show some improvement this season:


David Rubinstein --  R/R,  6' 2",  190 lb
Rubinstein was chosen in the 11th round of the 2008 draft, coming out of Appalachian State University.  In college, he pitched a little, but mostly played outfield and hit well.  He had a so-so start at State College for the remainder of the 2008 season, hitting .249, then another uninspiring season back at State College in 2009, when he hit .267 with 3 homers and 36 RBI.  Rubinstein was moved up to A level West Virginia for 2010, and things got better.  He split outfield duties with a handful of others, playing mostly right field but also some center field.  He's got a reasonable amount of speed, so it isn't crazy to have him playing in center.  Rubinstein took a big step forward at the plate in 2010.  His average popped up to .289, and he started hitting doubles (37), along with 3 triples, 3 homers, and 50 RBI.  He hit lefties much better than righties, so that will be something to work on for 2011.  He also needs to work on dropping the strikeout rate (95 in 113 games) and being more selective at the plate --  only 31 walks.  He'll probably be doing that work at A+ Bradenton, but he needs to get moving, because he's going to be 24 years old in May, and he can't afford to fall further behind others his age.  

Austin McClune --  R/R,  6'2", 175 lb
McClune is 22 years old, and because he was drafted out of high school, he has already been in the Pirates' organization for 5 seasons.  He was the 7th round pick in 2006, and that season he had his highest batting average in pro ball:  .291.  He has not been an offensive star at all, hitting just .222 with 13 doubles, a triple, and a homer, plus 30 RBI in 99 games for Bradenton in 2010.  McClune's strength is his defense.  He played both right field and center field for the Marauders.  His throwing arm is strong and accurate -- he had 17 outfield assists last season.  The problem he's going to run into is that other prospects are coming along who can play decent outfield but who can also hit.  McClune will likely start back with Bradenton for 2011, and he needs to figure it out at the plate.

 

Continuing to look at Pirates' minor league outfielders:

Rogelios Noris --  R/R,  6' 2",  192 lbs
Noris is a 21-year-old Mexican native, who made his US debut with the GCL Pirates in 2009.  He was promoted to A level West Virginia for 2010, where he hit .236, a little lower than the .250 he'd achieved in the GCL.  Noris blasted 15 homers and had 57 RBI for West Virginia, and he has the potential to be a power hitter.  His big drawback, though, is his high strikeout rate -- he struck out 144 times in 111 games (35%).  Combined with very few walks (15), Noris needs to work on his approach at the plate this season.  He did show some improvement in that regard in his second winter season with his hometown Venados de Mazatlan.  Noris appeared in 49 games in the winter league, hitting .246 with 2 homers and 10 RBI.  He walked 12 times, and struck out 34 times, which was a drop to 27%.  He could go back to West Virginia for 2011, but there are going to be a lot of outfielders at that level, so Noris could be pushed on up to A+ Bradenton.

Pat Irvine  --  Bats L / Throws R,  6' 0",  197 lbs
Though Irvine is listed as an outfielder, he has also played some third base and has also done some catching.  Irvine was the Pirates' 33rd round pick in the 2009 draft.  He played third base and left field at State College in 2009, then began the 2010 season in West Virginia as a catcher.  Unfortunately, the opponents' base runners took Irvine's presence behind the plate as their free ticket to the next base.  In 10 games, 19 batters stole on him (he threw out one), and he had 3 passed balls.  He also struggled at the plate, hitting .212.  Irvine was sent back to State College, where he proved again that catching was not his future.  He returned to the outfield, where he was ok but not spectacular.  Irvine hit .271 in July, with 7 RBI, but sagged to .227 in August, with 6 more RBI.  He did draw 25 walks in 39 games, but that alone is not going to be enough to get the 25-year-old back to West Virginia for 2011, and he is getting "old" for those lower levels.

Other notes:
Remember infielder Tony Mansolino?  He was the Pirates' 26th round pick in the 2005 draft, but was released in June 2008.  He played in the Northern League in 2009 and in the American Association in both 2009 and 2010.  Last week he was signed to a minor league contract by the Cleveland Indians.  
C Miguel Perez, who played for the Curve and the Indy Indians in 2008 -09, signed a minor league deal with the Nationals.  

All of the Pirates' position players have arrived at camp in Bradenton, even Jose Ascanio, who had been held up in Venezuela due to visa issues. Pitcher Scott Olsen is going to be out for a few days due to a hamstring injury.  The only other "injured" player at this time is pitcher Donnie Veal, who is working his way back after elbow surgery ("Tommy John").  

Continuing to look at the Pirates' minor league outfielders... today we have two outfielders who have a lot to overcome:

Wes Freeman  --  R/R,  6' 4",  215 lb.
Freeman was the Pirates' pick in the 16th round of the 2008 draft.  The 21-year-old Florida native spent the remainder of the 2008 season and all of 2009 with the GCL Pirates, where he struggled at the plate.  He struck out in more than a third of his at-bats in 2009, and unfortunately that did not get any better in 2010.  Freeman began last season in West Virginia.  He did fine in right field, and his arm is strong, but at the plate, he was getting into more and more trouble.  In 24 games for the Power, he hit .187 with 44 strikeouts -- almost 2 strikeouts per game.  Freeman injured his ankle, and when he was ready to come back, he was returned to the GCL.  He finished the season with 21 games for the GCL Pirates, hitting .187 there.  His strikeout rate was 52% in those 21 games, for a total of 35 K's.  With all the other outfielders who are vying to start the season in West Virginia, Freeman is going to have to look very good in spring training if he's going to join the Power.  Then he's going to have to figure out how to stop striking out if he's going to stay in the organization.

Cole White  --  R/R,  6' 4",  205 lb.
White has a completely different situation to work around.  He was the Pirates' 42nd round pick in the 2008 draft, and along with fellow West Point graduate Chris Simmons, White signed and reported to State College, where he hit .338 with 6 doubles, one homer, and 9 RBI in 21 games.  But he ran into a snag -- the US Army changed its policy regarding athletes and their required military service.  So, White was off to military duties, and his baseball career was on hold.  Then the Army changed policy again, and White was able to ask to return to baseball.  He rejoined the State College Spikes at the end of June, and showed his excitement to return by hitting .306 in July.  He slid into a slump in August, but finished the season with a .250 average, 8 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homers, and 19 RBI.  White should be able to start 2011 in West Virginia, but he's going to have some catching up to do.  He'll be 26 in early April, and relatively speaking, that's 3 - 5 years older than most of his teammates will be.   (White still owes the Army 3 years of service.)