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Monthly Archives: March, 2011

We all follow the game of baseball for a different reason. It typically relates to our childhood. The game has a certain energy level and flow. There's a progression from nothing-nothing, no men on base, to...
Jared Jones throws an elite fastball, an elite slider, and showed promise with his curveball and changeup development this spring. He's a top 100 prospect. He's a rookie of the year candidate from the start of the...

Zack Von Rosenberg Video From Pirate City

Earlier this week I posted a video of Jameson Taillon pitching against the New York Yankees' farm system in a Spring Training game at...

Pirates Designate Aguero For Assignment

The Pittsburgh Pirates have designated relief pitcher Ramon Aguero for assignment, which opens a space for Jose Veras to be added to the 40-man...

2011 West Virginia Power Preview: The Infield

We've covered the Altoona, Indianapolis, and Bradenton infields so far.  The final full season team to cover is the West Virginia Power. Here is a look...

Pirates Sign Tim Wood

Yesterday we heard that the Pittsburgh Pirates were looking to add pitching, and that the 25-man roster wasn't set.  Today, MLBTR reports that the...

Pirates Release Seven Minor League Players

The Pittsburgh Pirates have released seven minor league players this week, Pirates Prospects has learned.  The players that have been released are Adenson Chourio,...

2011 Prospect Watching: Alderson, Thompson, Dubee, And More

More pitchers in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Tim Alderson --  R/R,  6' 6",  217 lb
Alderson joined the Pirates as part of the trade that sent Freddy Sanchez to the Giants in 2009.  There was some concern at the time that Alderson's velocity had dropped.  He struggled a bit when joining the Curve after the trade.  He made 7 starts, for 38.2 innings, with a 3-1 record and a 4.66 ERA.  He allowed 20 runs on 39 hits, with 13 walks and 18 strikeouts, though 7 of those hits and 11 of those runs came in his last start.  Alderson returned to Altoona to begin 2010, and his velocity improved through the season, though it didn't keep him from getting bombarded.  He'd had an odd delivery when he began his pro career, and the Giants had made some changes, thinking that the oddness would make him prone to injury.  Alderson wanted to go back to his original delivery, and the Pirates were ok with that, but it didn't work out as well as he'd hoped.  In his first start, Alderson pitched 5 shutout innings and allowed 4 hits.  After that, things went downhill.  He gave up 12 earned runs over his next 3 starts, giving him a 5.49 ERA in April.  He made 6 starts in May -- one was very good, going 7 scoreless innings with 4 hits, and one where he allowed one run in 6 innings, but the rest were problematic.  He finished May with a 4.32 ERA, allowing 16 runs on 37 hits in 33.1 innings.  June was no better, with a 5.11 ERA, and 14 runs in 24.2 innings, including one outing in which he did not get out of the 2nd inning.  Alderson gave up 15 runs in 12 innings over 3 starts in early July, and at that point, the Pirates decided to send him down to Bradenton, to be able to work on his mechanics more.  The move did not help tremendously.  He gave up 7 runs in 1.2 innings in his first start for the Marauders, then 7 more in 4 innings in the second.  Over the rest of the season, Alderson pitched 33 innings in 6 games (2 in relief), and allowed 18 runs, for a 4.91 ERA.  That added up to a 6.98 ERA for his time in Bradenton, and a 4-3 record.  In 38.2 innings, he allowed 30 earned runs on 47 hits.  Alderson struck out a total of 84 batters (5.8 K/ 9 innings in Altoona, and 5.9 K/ 9 innings in Bradenton).  He walked 40 (3.0 walks/ 9 innings and 2.7 walks/ 9 innings).  Alderson has said that he was surprised that he was traded from the Giants, and then was surprised and horrified to struggle so much in 2010.  He did feel that he was able to make some mental adjustments in Bradenton, even though his results were not much better.  He continued to work on his mechanics in the fall instructional league, and again in winter mini-camp.  The 22-year-old should be back in Bradenton's starting rotation to begin 2011, hopefully with mechanics that are working.  


Aaron Thompson --   L/L,  6' 2", 190 lb
The Pirates picked up Thompson from the Nationals on waivers in December.  He had been the Marlins' first round pick in 2005, and was traded to the Nationals in July 2009.  The Nationals had him at AA Harrisburg for all but one game in 2010 (one game at AAA Syracuse, with one run in 5 innings), and that was his third season at the AA level.  It was an up-and-down season for Thompson.  He allowed 8 runs on 24 hits in 27.1 innings for a 2.63 ERA in April.  That ballooned to an 8.31 ERA in May, when he allowed 28 runs on 54 hits in 30.1 innings -- a 10-hit game, an 11-hit game, and a 13-hit game included.  June and July were kind of medium, when he earned a 4.17 ERA, and won 2 games.  The season ended on a shaky note, as Thompson allowed 28 earned runs on 43 hits in 33.2 innings, for a 7.49 ERA.  Neither his walk rate nor his strikeout rate were really good or really bad --  53 walks (3.5 walks/ 9 innings) and 95 strikeouts (6.3 K/ 9 innings) while at Harrisburg.  Thompson just turned 24 years old.  He could be assigned to AA again, or possibly give AAA a try, but both levels are going to be crowded in both the starting rotation and in the bullpen.  Because he was picked up on waivers, he's on the 40-man roster.  

Pirates Take Final Warm-Up

Pirates  4,  Phillies  1

The Pirates appreciated the warmer temperatures this afternoon -- warmer than last night, anyway.  They held the Phillies to just 2 hits, and starter Charlie Morton gave up only one unearned run in 5 innings, as they won the second of two pre-season games in Philadelphia.  

A throwing error by 3B Pedro Alvarez put the first Phillies' batter on base in the bottom of the 2nd inning.  Two ground outs moved the runner to third, then brought him in.  Morton worked around a single and a walk in the 1st and another walk in the 3rd.  He made an error in the 5th, when he missed the catch on a toss from 1B Steve Pearce, but worked around that too.  When Morton was done, Mike Crotta and Chris Resop each pitched a perfect inning.  Joel Hanrahan pitched the 8th and allowed a two-out triple, but left the runner standing on third.  Jared Hughes pitched a scoreless 9th, with a walk.

The Pirates scored two in the top of the 2nd, when 1B Lyle Overbay doubled, then Alvarez blasted a home run over the right center field wall.  Steve Pearce doubled to lead off the 6th.  He moved to second on a ground out, then scored on 3B Jordy Mercer's RBI single.  The Pirates added an insurance run in the 9th.  SS Josh Rodriguez singled, then pinch-hitter Josh Harrison moved him to third with another single.  LF John Bowker drove in Rodriguez with a sacrifice fly.  

2B Brian Friday also singled in the game, and CF Starling Marte got into the game as well.


The Indy Indians were scheduled to play the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in Bradenton this afternoon. 

Interview With Neal Huntington: Part Two

Yesterday I posted part one of my interview with Neal Huntington from last week.  Part two focuses on the MLB draft, as well as...

Trade Rumors: Pitching, Andy Marte

Two trade rumors, probably not related to each other, but neither one big enough for their own post: -Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer reported...

Almost-Last-Minute Roster Adjustments

The Pirates announced two roster moves this afternoon:
RHP Mike Crotta had been not-entirely-officially told that he'd make the major league team.  Now it's official:  Crotta and reliever Garrett Olson are on the Pirates' Opening Day roster. 
That means that reliever Chris Leroux will be assigned to Indianapolis.  Olson, a lefty, will be the only lefty in the bullpen, at least until Scott Olsen is healthy again.  Olson also pitched more effectively in last night's pre-season game against the Phillies.  It was not a good night for Leroux to surrender runs.  

Also, the Pirates have traded INF Jim Negrych to the Marlins, in exchange for minor league catcher Carlos Paulino.  Negrych had asked to be traded if he was not going to be assigned to AAA Indianapolis.  
 
Paulino is a 21-year-old Dominican native, who made his US debut with the Marlins' GCL team in 2008.  He moved up to the short-season A Jamestown team in 2009, and hit well there, though without much power:  .291 average, 11 doubles, one triple, one homer, and 14 RBI in 42 games.  In 2010, Paulino caught 60 games for A level Greensboro, but did not hit well, and still showed no power:  .184 with 10 doubles and 10 RBI.  He made 9 errors and 2 passed balls, and he threw out 33 of 81 batters trying to steal.  He was moved up to A+ Jupiter for 3 games, where he hit an RBI double in 8 at-bats.  Paulino's small size makes it easy to see why he doesn't have a lot of power.  He appears to have been the back-up catcher for his team in the past two seasons, and he's likely to do that again for the Pirates.  The Pirates have a lot of catchers already vying for a spot on the West Virginia and Bradenton teams, so it's not clear where Paulino will be assigned.  

Spring Training Chat Transcript

Today I held a two hour chat, talking about various topics relating to the Pittsburgh Pirates, including what I took away from my trip...

Jim Negrych Traded to Marlins

Pittsburgh Pirates' infield prospect Jim Negrych has been traded to the Florida Marlins, according to Cory Giger of the Altoona Mirror.  Giger reported earlier...

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