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.)

 

Continuing to look at Pirates' minor leaguers as we move further into spring training.... Today we'll look at three outfielders all acquired in the 2010 amateur draft.

Mel Rojas Jr. --  Bats both/ throws right,  6' 3",  200 lb
Rojas was the first position player the Pirates took in the 2010 draft, going in the third round.  The 20-year-old, who came out of junior college in Illinois, is thought to have all the tools, plus a major league pedigree.  He had enough speed to play center field in State College, and combined with base running smarts, he stole 61 bases in his college season.  The steals dried up at State College, but Rojas also did not get on base nearly as much, hitting only .207 for the Spikes.  He did better in July (.265) than in August (.175), but almost identically against righties vs. lefties (.207 vs. .209).  Strikeouts were a big problem.  Still, the Pirates seemed encouraged by Rojas' pro debut, and also seemed to take into account the fact that he was playing with older players, who had had more college experience.  They hope that he develops some power over the next few years.  He will probably be assigned to West Virginia to begin the 2011 season.

Dan Grovatt  --  L/L,  6' 1",  195 lb
Grovatt was chosen in the 11th round of the draft, coming out of his junior year at University of Virginia.  He'd had two strong seasons at UV, hitting .324 and .356 in those years.  Grovatt slumped in his junior year, hitting .291, though his 9 homers and 60 RBI were both more than in either of his previous seasons.  He attributed the slump in part to a ligament injury in his left elbow.  That was also part of the reason that he signed with the Pirates at the last moment, instead of returning to UV for his senior year.  Because he signed late, Grovatt got in only 3 games in his pro debut with the GCL Pirates.  He went 2-for-22, and both hits were doubles, for 2 RBI.  He had good strike zone judgement in college, though not a lot of power, with an unusual swing, which the Pirates may end up tinkering with.  Grovatt might spend a little time at State College, but seems slated to move to West Virginia to begin 2011.

 

Continuing to look at some of the Pirates' prospects, starting in the outfield....

Junior Sosa --  L/L,  5' 10" , 139 lb
Sosa is a Venezuelan outfielder, who just turned 20 years old in October.  After two seasons in the Venezuelan Summer League, Sosa made his US debut in 2010 with the GCL Pirates.  His speed made him a good fit in center field, which is where he played most of his games (just a few in left and right fields).  He had not been doing much base-stealing in the VSL, but once he got to the GCL, Sosa got moving and did a lot of stealing (20 bases), showing off that speed.  Sosa is not a big guy, and he has not developed much power at all, but he was an effective lead-off batter, with a solid .296 average and a .379 OBP.  He could improve his walk rate -- he walked just 18 times, but he only struck out 20 times.  Sosa was hottest in July, when he hit .370 in 17 games, with 5 RBI.  He stole half of his bases (10) in August.  Getting on base and stealing bases is going to be his strength as he moves up, probably to State College for 2011.  A big thing for Sosa to work on -- he had a big differential facing right-handed vs. left-handed pitching:  .333 against righties and .209 against the southpaws.  

Exicardo Cayonez  --  L/L,  6' 0", 183 lb
Cayonez is another Venezuelan, a year younger than Sosa, and possibly ahead of him in development.  Cayonez played just one VSL season, then moved up to the GCL for the 2010 season.  Cayonez is also speedy and can probably handle center field, though he played all but 2 of his GCL games in left field in 2010.  He hit .263, a little lower than Sosa, in 2010, but showed some power -- 11 doubles, and 2 triples, with many of them line drives.  Cayonez also had a strong month of July, hitting .333, including 5 doubles and 11 RBI, though also with 17 strikeouts.  He slipped way down in August, when he hit .133, with 9 strikeouts.  Cayones needs to work on getting the strikeout rate down.  He might be doing that in State College, though he has a better chance than Sosa does to get a try at West Virginia