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.   

Perth Heat  7,  Adelaide Bite  1
The Perth Heat dominated the Adelaide Bite in the tie-breaker winner-takes-all third game of the Australian Baseball League championship series.  Pitchers ruled during the first four innings of the game, though the Adelaide bats had no bite for the rest of the game either.  The Bite went down in order in the first two innings, then DH Scott Gladstone singled to lead off the 3rd.  But Gladstone was immediately thrown out trying to steal second base, and the next 9 Bite batters were retired in order.  Perth starter Benjamin Moore hit a batter in the 6th and had a Bite runner reach base on an error in the 7th, but he worked around those runners with ease.  He gave up a single in the 8th, but erased that minor threat with a double play.  Moore allowed two more hits in the 9th, and even though one of those was a solo homer by 3B Stefan Welch, he held on to finish the inning for the complete game.  LF Quincy Latimore went 0-for-4 for the Bite.
Former Altoona Curve hurler Paul Mildren made the start for the Bite, and like Saturday's starter, he was able to keep the Heat scoreless for 4 innings.  The first inning was a bit tricky.  Mildren gave up a lead-off single, though that runner was caught stealing.  Then a walk and another single put two runners on base.  A timely double play got Mildren and the Bite out of the jam.  Mildren went on to retire the next 10 batters in order, taking him into the 5th inning.  As on Saturday, that's when things fell apart.  A single, a walk, and a ground out put two runners into scoring position, and a double drove both runners in.  Another single plated the runner from second base, and the Heat had a 3-0 lead.  That was all for Mildren, who was charged with the loss.  He was replaced by the Bite's top reliever, Dushan Ruzic, who finished the 5th, then retired the Heat in order in the 6th and 7th.  The Heat rallied again in the 8th inning.  A single and a double drove in one run, then a 2-run homer made the score 6-0.  The Heat added one more run on a hit batter, a wild pitch, a passed ball, and a sacrifice fly.  The Bite's lone run in the top of the 9th was too little, too late, and the Heat had the championship and the Claxton Shield, the traditional trophy of Australian Baseball.


So, that's the end of the 2010-2011 winter ball.... just in time for Spring Training, as the Pirates' pitchers and catchers report to Bradenton today!