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
 

Spring Training is underway, and it's time to start looking at the prospects.  This season, I thought we'd do it by position, and working up from the lower levels to the upper levels.  We'll begin in the outfield:


Daan Cornelissen  --  bats L / throws R  6'4"  194 lbs
Cornelissen is a 19-year-old Dutch outfielder, who began his affiliation with the Pirates in the Australian Acadamy in 2009.  He didn't hit all that well (.191) in Australia, but was moved to the GCL Pirates for 2010.   Cornelissen played in 32 game for the Pirates, half in the outfield, and half at first base, when regular first baseman Michaelangel Trinidad was unavailable.  He did ok in the field, with only one error, which came while playing first.  At the plate, though, Cornelissen still needs a lot of work.  He had 10 hits in 83 at-bats (.120), with 4 doubles and 5 RBI.  He also had 38 strikeouts.  He hit a little better in July than in the rest of the month (.147), but he also had half of his strikeouts in that month.  Cornelissen will need to return to the GCL Pirates for 2011, and he'll need to figure out how to make more contact.

Gregory Polanco  -- L/L  6' 4"  170 lbs 
Polanco is another 19-year-old, and he is from the Dominican.  Like Cornelissen, Polanco is long and lean, but he has more speed than Cornelissen, so he's been tried in center field.  Polanco also made his US debut with the GCL Pirates in 2010, where he hit just .202 in 53 games, with 5 doubles, 1 triple, and 3 homers, plus 23 RBI.  His speed also gave him 19 stolen bases (caught stealing twice), which was 4th in the GCL.  Polanco's best month was June, when he hit .297 in 9 games, but his batting average dropped off in July (.194) and August (.155).  The speed is a plus for him, and the Pirates are hoping that Polanco develops some power as he grows over the next few years.  He needs to get in a lot of outfield work, too, of course.  Polanco could get started in short season State College in 2011.


Other notes:
Former Pirate farmhand (Altoona in 2010) Dustin Molleken signed a minor league contract with the Rockies.  Another former Pirate pitcher Chris Bootcheck, who pitched in Japan in 2010, has signed a minor league contract with the Rays for 2011.