Slowly Moving

Wednesday was Zach Duke's last start of the spring season. His next one will be on Monday at PNC Park and it will be for real. Right now Monday seems so far, far away. It is at this part of spring that things just seem to literally take forever. The start of the season is right around the corner, there are not many other stories to watch for, and time is not my side.

The final portions of the battles of the spring, seem to fall on the bench. The bullpen seems mostly set, but we don't know who will fill out the bench. And if we are to believe Neal Huntington, there could be more moves coming before the start of the season. Huntington really likes to comb the waiver wire and this time of the year, there are plenty of guys that hit that wire for the taking. I would not be shocked if we do have a new Pirate before the weekend is up.

We most likely won't have Ramon Vasquez around anymore, though one would think that he would have been gone by now. What we do with him, could make for a rather interesting sub story, as we wait for Monday.

While it is seems so far away, there could be plenty to happen in the coming days, that could make us forget how far away Monday is.

Prospect Outlook: Jeff Inman

When I think about the Pirates farm system over the last 17 years there is one word that comes to mind, inconsistent. I’m sure that there are numerous words that could be used, most of which probably wouldn’t be proper to print, but inconsistent is a good word. When you look at any major league team, there are always going to be players who are supposed to be good, but don’t make it and others that come out of nowhere to have a great deal of success; but the Pirates over the last 17 years have basically experienced nothing but bad luck when it comes to the development of so called top prospects. One has to think that even through dumb luck a few of these players could make it to the majors but thanks in part to freak injuries and inconsistent development, that hasn’t been the case with many of the so called stars of the team’s future.

Now as they attempt to rebuild and approach another possible losing season, one of the young players that they and fans alike, will turn their hopes toward is pitcher Jeff Inman, a young pitcher with a very inconsistent past as a player. In an excellent article by Patrick Ebert for Perfect Game USA last spring titled “Jeff Inman: Consistently Inconsistent” (check it out, it’s free), Ebert looks at the inconsistencies in Inman’s game while singing praise about his stuff. Before we go any further into Inman’s stuff, let’s look into some of his background bio information.

Inman graduated from Garces Memorial High School in Bakersfield, CA where he was a highly decorated player after being named to a number of all area teams. Following his senior season he was drafted in the 19th round by the Kansas City Royals. According to Major League Baseball at the time he threw a FB, CU and CB all well and could locate all of them for strikes making him a very projectable pick. But like most being taken that late and having a Stanford scholarship in his back pocket he opted not to sign. He continued his baseball and education at Stanford whose history in developing pitchers in the college game is well documented. Following his freshman year in 2007, he was named most outstanding freshman after going 4-4 in 15 games (13 starts). He seemed to have a really good start to the season but wore down as the season progressed, which doesn’t seem to be a major surprise when making such a jump. His 2008 season and sophomore year saw Inman make huge strides that seemed to establish him as a big time future prospect. During that season, Stanford made the College World Series and Inman was second on the staff in wins, innings and starts compiling a 7-2 record and a 4.27 ERA.

Following that season and his strong performance in the College World Series, Inman made the move to the legendary Cape Code league where he pitched for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox. There he posted an impressive stat line, 1-1 with a 3.73 ERA in 6 starts. Probably the most impressive part of his stint there was the 34 strikeouts he totaled in 34 innings pitched. Following the summer league Baseball America ranked him as the 9th best prospect in the Cape for the 2008 season. With these accomplishments he was poised for a huge junior season which brings us to early 2009.

Entering the 2009 season Inman was ranked as the 20th best college prospect according to Baseball America and a potential first round pick. With all the fanfare and hype surrounding him going into the season, he was never able to live up to the expectations posting a 2-6 record with a 6.11 ERA and opponents batting average of .307 against him. He left a start on May 10th against New Mexico after one batter and didn’t pitch again the rest of the season. There was talk that he had shoulder tendonitis in part due to his drop in velocity. With the poor season, the loss of velocity, and the injury questions surrounding him, Inman fell to the Pirates in the 12th round. With the Pirates using the early part of the draft grabbing up young HS pitchers who offered a lot of upside Inman gave them a differed option, a potential 1st round college pitcher, if healthy. There was little risk on the Pirates part if he didn’t sign; after all it was the 12th round so the ball really seemed to be in Inman’s court. Going back to Stanford and improving his draft stock as a senior might have been the logical option for him, but there was the risk that another injury could ruin any chance he had to cash in as a professional ball player. With all that being said he and the Bucs eventually agreed on a signing bonus of $425,000 and his professional career was under way. With the late signing he only made 2 brief appearances for State College so fans weren’t able to see much of his ability.

According to the article by Ebert, Inman has a “loose arm and easy arm strength.”. Over the course of the last few years he had the opportunity to see Inman pitch a handful of times, during that time he’s seen the best of Inman and the worst of him. One of the things that Ebert mentions is that Inman has a problem with consistency stating that at times his pitches are a thing of beauty that he is basically locating and putting the ball wherever he wants but at the same time he’ll very easily place one straight down the middle of the plate or throw a changeup that doesn’t change. One of the thoughts is that Inman has a very cool confidence on the mound, one where nothing seems to get to him, but could that possibly work against him? Who am I to say, but as we all know baseball players are very superstitious so sometimes the smallest things can throw one off their game.

When he’s at his best, Inman works with 3 above average pitches, a low 90’s FB that can touch 96, a CB and CU. He has the potential to be a solid middle of the rotation pitcher for the Bucs if he’s healthy and things are clicking for him. It seems like his health issues may be behind him as I’ve not heard of any major issues since signing, so consistency will be key for him. In my opinion he’ll be one of the key players to keep an eye on in 2010, let’s hope that this could be a big break out season for him.

So Long Moss

Early in the day the Pirates made a waiver claim for Hayden Penn, the former top prospect of the Orioles. I had immediately thought of how I liked Penn when he was coming up in the minors with the Orioles. I had seen him a few times the Bowie Baysox came to Altoona to play. I was then shocked to see that he was still just 25 years old.

When the move was made, I had immediately thought that the team had done something with Ramon Vasquez. Traded him probably or just outright released him. No instead the team did what I would have never guessed, designated Brandon Moss for assignment.

I could go over and over the Brandon Moss story, but quite simply, he was included in the Bay deal, was billed to be something special, but never put it together. It was disappointing to watch him in a Pirate uniform, as I was one that thought that any day the real Brandon Moss would put it together and suddenly appear. That never happend and his inability to be a solid big leaguer, makes the trade of Bay, look like a trade Neal Huntington would gladly redo if given the chance.

Huntington said of Moss, "The expectations were high for him when we got him, it just hasn't worked out. But it still wasn't an easy decision." He also later added when speaking to Chuck Finder, "He just cares so much. He wants to be so good, sometimes he gets in his own way. It didn't click with the bat."


Well there are high expectations for many talented young ballplayers, and Moss is no exception. It seems that the team really believes, as noted by the strange 'he just cares so much' quote, that Moss was never one that lacked work ethic or drive, it just never happened. With that Moss becomes like so many of the former Pirates in recent memory, full of promise but failing to deliver.


As for Penn, the Pirates get a guy that once had a really high pedigree. He reached the majors at a pretty young age, and that may have hindered his development as a pitcher. He had very limited success with Baltimore and had it all go down hill after a battle with appendicitis. He has spent the majority of the past two seasons in AAA as a starter, but came out of the bullpen for Florida last season.


He does not strike me as the prototypical Huntington guy, as he is not a big time strikeout guy. He gets his fair share, but Penn seems to be more an avoid walks guy. I would expect to see him in the Pirate bullpen to start the season.


Maybe we will luck out and Moss can come back to the organization after this all said and done. While he may never actually 'get it', it won't perhaps sting as much knowing that he is at least still our property.

Final Week

So begins the final week of spring training and there is still quite a bit that needs to fully sorted out. This past week were were treated to the news that Daniel McCutchen would be the fifth starter, not Kevin Hart. There are still many questions that need to be answered.

1. The backup outfield. Will Brandon Moss once again wear the Pirates uniform when the season starts or will he be an Indianapolis Indian or some other major league team? Will John Raynor, now in a bit of slump, be the guy that the front office chooses to be the bench outfielder?

2. Backup catcher. There are still a a great number of catchers left in camp, which might very well mean that Jason Jaramillo is ticketed for everyday dutiy in Indianapolis. Could Erik Kratz be the new backup?

3. Ramon Vasquez. It seems to be that he will not be on the roster, but how will they get rid of him. Will he be released or traded?

4. The bullpen. This may be the most important part of the team that still needs to be decided. There are plenty of options remaining. You have lefties, righties, young guys and old. No one seems to be a lock outside of Dotel, Donnelly, and Meek. Joel Hanrahan will probably be on the DL, but even that has not been made certain as of yet.

That seems like plenty to keep us occupied here in the final week. Of course it has what has kept us occupied all spring as well. It will be great to hear that they are in Philadelphia at the end of the week. Granted those will be exhibition games, but it will be one more step closer to the beginning of the season.

Outfield Competition

If you were to just peruse the articles written this spring, you would think that John Raynor really had no chance at all at making this team. It has been very quiet in terms of press coverage for the Rule Five draft choice from the Marlins. In what was a battle of sorts for the last spot on the bench, Raynor has been in competition with Brandon Moss. Yet in one of the more out of left field developments of the spring, Neal Huntington said that Raynor is ahead of Moss at this point.

I have to wonder if Huntington did not just look at these two and think, who cares? Raynor has put up good numbers, though it is the spring, he has been slumping as of late. There are also questions about how Raynor is defensively in centerfield, which he'll need to know how to play just in case this Andrew McCutchen guy is for not for real I guess.

Perhaps Huntington did the math and finally thought that no one would be really interested in a corner outfielder with little power and not much contact ability. Perhaps he is finally seeing that the odds of Brandon Moss making it through waivers are better than what he might have originally thought. I can't imagine many teams wanting to jump at the 'opportunity' to have a player like Moss, especially with how little he has shown this spring.

It might be a risk in losing Moss to waivers, but one that I would think the team should make. The odds of Moss doing much to help the Pirates in the near future are not that great to begin with. For one you have two solid regulars in McCutchen and Milledge. Add in Jones and Tabata and the picture gets crowded for him. It might be time to admit the error and move on. Moss will be better served playing everyday in the minors, to see if he can find what made him a notable prospect. He is not going to regain any luster on the bench in Pittsburgh, that much is for certain.

The Pitching Battle

It was not really much of a battle to start. It seemed as though Kevin Hart had the inside track to be the fifth guy. Then as the spring progressed he was still considered the guy, but now some were not so sure. Then things just seemed to fall apart for Hart, but I still probably would have put money on him being the fifth guy. I should not be surprised that Daniel McCutchen is going to be the fifth starter, but I am.

For a team that has talked about not putting guys on scholarship, they sure do act a little weird with some players and who will be playing. Kevin Hart struck me as a guy, that come Hell or high water, would be fifth starter. Instead the Pirates went with McCutchen, who they had tried to sell short last season as the fifth starter. Remember when they were trying to play up the World Cup as though that would be better than a reward in the majors? Well it looks as though McCutchen won't have to worry about that come opening day.

When looking at the two players it seems to make perfect sense on why they are where they are. Kevin Hart is a guy with a good bit of upside, who is reworking a great deal of his craft. It would make sense for him to continue to try that in the minors, where it does not matter. Daniel McCutchen has really shown all that he can in the minors. He may have had a peak season last year, but has an extremely solid record for his career. It only makes sense then to see what he can do in the majors, as he is not going to do much more for the Indy Indians.

It will be interesting to see then how things play out with the back end of the Bucs rotation. One would think that at some point this season the team would like to see Hart bounce back or reform himself. When that time comes, it should be only a matter of time for him to be up in Pittsburgh. McCutchen if he continues to be the steady hand, will warrant staying up in Pittsburgh in some capacity. And add to that the eventual ascendance of Brad Lincoln to Pittsburgh and things are getting pretty crowded in the rotation.

Prospect Outlook: Dovydas Neverauskas

Ok, I’ll be the first to tell you that I sure didn’t see anything like this coming. When the Pirates stated that they would go anywhere to find talent, they weren’t joking. If one thinks back to July, the Pirates were in the process of trading away their core talent of players and signing a number of their talented draft picks. The signing of a 16 year old kid out of Lithuania might not have garnered a lot of attention, but it was pretty ground breaking move on the Pirate’s part.

Lithuania who one could say is a relative newcomer to the baseball world has really only been involved in the game since the late 80’s. Despite that, the game has slowly grown and in no small part thanks to the time and effort put in Dovydas’ father, Virmidas. There he was involved in forming one of the first clubs in his home city of Kaunas. So I think it’s pretty safe to say that baseball has been a major part of Dovydas’ life since a young age.

A veteran of 2 years at the MLB European Baseball academy, Dovydas played on a Lithuanian traveling team that in June of 2009 toured the US, playing games against some of the top amateur summer league teams. Apparently between academy play and the summer league, Pirates scout Tom Randolph saw enough to convince the Pirates front office to make an offer. After signing with the Bucs in July, he made the trip back to the European Academy for a second time and was one of several signed players who made an appearance. In limited exhibition play he posted a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings with 3 strikeouts and 3 walks. Despite the limited play, he was considered to be the hardest thrower there at the Academy. At the present time he has a 85-86 MPH FB and the makings of a decent CB and CU.

Here is a brief scouting report on Dovydas as provided by Pirates international scout Tom Randolph.

"He's a 16 year old with a classic pro pitcher's body, long and loose, and has made huge progress since the summer of 2008. The sky is the limit with Dovydas, and I honestly believe he was the best pitching prospect to come out of Europe this year. I truly believe he has the arm to be a major league pitcher."

Like a lot of the Pirates other international signings, this isn’t one that’s going to make or break the organization but it’s a step in the right direction. It still seems like Lithuania is a long way off from becoming a major baseball power in Europe and without baseball in the Olympics, one has to wonder if the funding will continue to be there for the sport. With a tall and lanky build, Dovydas fits the profile for those who like old school scouting and may offer more upside then any of the Pirates international signings outside of Latin America. He’s a long way from a finished product but it will be fascinating to see how and if he can develop over the next few years. If Dovydas develops as the Pirates hope, it could quite possibly contribute to developing baseball in this former Soviet block country and potentially to the Pirates benefit.

Signings and Things

While being preoccupied with the NCAA tournament all weekend long, one thing has been nagging at me the whole weekend from a Pirates perspective. On Friday the Post Gazette published a story about the Twins hot prospect Miguel Sano. You know the name. Long and short he was the prized Dominican prospect that badly wanted to play for the Pirates. Dejan also commented even more about the story on his blog, he also mentions the loss of signing Tanner Scheppers as well. (I will defend the club for not signing an injured pitcher no matter how good he could be.)

Reading the article, as well as hearing sports talk radio bash the Pirates for not signing Sano, really got me thinking and a little peeved. For one the Pirates are being bashed for not going out and getting a player they really wanted. Well take a look around baseball and many teams really want a few players. Every team probably really, really wants to have Albert Pujols, but they can't have him. For someone to say that if the team really wants a guy they need to get him, is little short sided.

So Sano really wanted to play for the Pirates you say? Well that has me thinking as well. Here we have a 16 year old kid, a 16 year old kid, that everyone seems to say has great potential and the Pirates seem to have the inside track? I read over the first article about Sano and there was no mention of other teams being involved. The portrait it painted was a slam dunk for the Pirates.

I have to wonder, as the story unfolded over the summer, if other teams were scared of Sano's real age. Look at Edward Salcedo, another talented youngster that signed rather recently with the Braves, due to his age questions. Perhaps the Pirates were the only team that was not initially scarred off. Due to them being the initial team, the kid latched on being swayed by the temptations of money from the first people calling.

I think there is more to the story than we have heard, though it is now being painted by some as the team being cheap for not signing him. I tend to feel there are a lot more moving pieces that made the story end the way it did. Could the Pirates have been a little more loose with the money? Probably. But is the story as cut and dry as it has been presented? I highly doubt it.

Dateline 2010: Brandon Moss

The outfield position is one in which the Pirates seemingly have plenty of options. All of those options are either at or are close to the major league level. Unfortunately not all of the those players have options themselves. That leads us to the continuing story of Brandon Moss.

Granted, spring training stats are meaningless. Usually players on working on specific parts of their game during the spring. Still you would expect that in 22 at bats, even if you were trying a new hitting approach, or picking up switch hitting, you would get a base hit. Brandon Moss has been unable to do just that this spring.

That probably would not be alarming, but Moss just has not hit since he became a Pirate. In 2008, he hit .222 in 45 games. Last season he hit .236. He has a total of 13 home runs since he has become a Pirate. Those 7 home runs last season were less than what Jack Wilson and Ronny Cedeno hit for the shortstop spot last season at 9. Sure you can get power from elsewhere, but you first need to hit the ball.

The past season or more Moss has been hurt by not having any options left. I am sure there were points last season that the pirates would have loved to send him down for work in AAA, but the could not. Instead Moss has to ride it out in the majors, much to the detriment of his development and the progress of the Pirates. But decisions like sending him down are why they pay Neal Huntington to do what he does. It seems as though they may be reluctant to send down one of the major pieces of the Jason Bay trade.

Again this year the story is the same. Moss is not doing well and probably should not be on the major league roster taking up space. Perhaps the sport is best used for John Raynor, or someone else. I would not count on it this soon. Moss will be on the opening day lineup, maybe not later in the season, but definitely in April.

Links and Lights

Kevin Hart is doing his best to take himself out of the running for the fifth starter's job by getting lit up like a Christmas tree in his starts. Not to make light of the situation, but his quotes are sounding almost Vogelsong-esque in nature. Take this one:

"It's funny because I think I can really succeed. That's the frustrating thing: I feel like I'm beating myself. I'd like to see some results, and I will. It's a matter of time. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time right now."

That sounds like a guy that has no clue what is going one. Perhaps he does need time.

Also wanted to share some stuff that came up from the guys over at Fangraphs. They are breaking down the teams in the majors and recently did stories on the Pirates. It is a three part saga, starting with the current talent, future talent, and overall organization health.

I point these out as these are articles from an outsider perspective, but not the typical outsider perspective (i.e. New York). In summary the views are what a Pirate fan may call 'pessimistic' as the only thing that they really like is Andrew McCutchen. After him there are question marks all over the place. What I found interesting is the their take that the organization is more hitter focused now and needed to draft all of those pitchers last season to balance it out.

I guess that may be the case at the major league level, as the pitching is kind of thin, and we have a rotation of guys that are good but not great. That seems to be a strike against the Bucs, but I would suggest that it is better for a collection of good than one great and a load of crap.

I would highly recommend reading them, if anything it may give you a chance to level expectations a notch and to think more rationally than a fan might be apt to do.

Dateline 2010: Kevin Hart

It might seem a bit presumptuous to say that a guy that has not officially locked down a starting spot will be an important cog in the Pirates season. It is still officially an open competition between Hart and Daniel McCutchen. If one were to look at the handling of McCutchen, who has yet to start a Grapefruit League game, it would appear that Hart has the upper hand.

The bulk of the Pirates starting staff is already in place with the veteran lefties, Maholm and Duke, to go with the two right handers, Ohlendorf and Morton. Those four will get the bulk of the starts and should provide a stable starting rotation for the Bucs, the likes of which we have not seen in some time.

The key to improvement will be to get something more from a place where the team is not expecting it to come from. That place would be Kevin Hart, of the 1-8 record and near 7 ERA with the Bucs last season. I know that saying that there could be something to come from Hart that would be worthwhile, might seem a little stupid after what he did last season, but the team seems to be behind him.

Hart has reworked his delivery with Joe Kerrigan, who did the same with Ohlendorf last season with great results. Perhaps this reworking will help Hart in much the same way. He has a good arm and stuff, it is a matter of consistency and work to get it there.

If Hart can be an average or close to average starter, at the number five spot, we could have something special in the rotation. All we would need is something approximating average and we would have a leg up on the other teams. Granted that is thinking that the others also maintain or improve as well.

They say baseball is a game of inches, well with Kevin Hart, it is a game of small steps. If he takes the baby steps towards average, the Pirates too might take those same steps.

Dateline 2010: Lastings Milledge

There are plenty of Pirates this upcoming season that will need to have big seasons for the team to look more like a competitive team. I want to highlight a few of them that are going to be crucial to the success of the ball club. As these players go, so too the team may very well go. An easy choice for a player that could have a huge impact on the 2010 Pirate season is Lastings Milledge.

We are all familiar with the Lastings Milledge story. Top prospect, turned suspect, turned damaged goods, to revival story in Pittsburgh. If he has been undergoing a revivial of sorts here in Pittsburgh, what is to suggest that he does not reclaim the promise that he once had rocketing up through the Mets' system?

 He was labeled one of those ever elusive five tool guys. While his skill set may have change as he has matured physically, the tools are still there. Look at what he did at the plate at the end of the season here in Pittsburgh, he batted .291/.333./.395 in 220 at bats. He supposedly was still hampered by his hand injury, which he says now is 100 percent better. Granted those 220 at bats are a small sample size and he has never hit for that high an average in the majors, but perhaps his attitude has been adjusted and the atmosphere here is a lot different.

Think about his role in New York an in Washington. He was the anointed one or being counted on to be an integral piece, a face of the franchise type guy. Here he does not have to be that. We have Andrew McCutchen as Mr. Pirate and Pedro Alvarez shouldering the 'next big thing' mantle.

 Here Lastings just has to play ball and we know he can do that well. If he is able to live up to some of the hype that he had coming up with the Mets, we could have a real surprise on our hands. Just being a solid hitter alone would be a big improvement. If we could add a solid bat to the middle of the lineup, where Lastings is probably going to bat, it will greatly help this sometimes anemic offense.

 Milledge is probably my 'pick to click' offensively and should turn many heads with what he does this season. Hopefully a strong performance from him, will make many forget that we traded Nyjer Morgan away for him.

Doumit's Sidekick

While watching the Pirate Exhibition Game/Season Ticket Telethon today, I got to thinking that the backup catcher's position may not be an open and shut case for Jason Jaramillo. The topic was broached in the game and it is something that may be a bit of a story in a spring where there has been little.

We all know that last season Jaramillo had an excellent rookie season and posted offensive numbers that were pretty surprising. Add the added offense to his good work behind the plate and it was a really good year and one to build upon for him. His success though may cause him to go to Indianapolis this year instead of Pittsburgh.

Why would they do that? At bats. At Indy, Jaramillo can continue to get consistent at bats and improve that aspect of his game. He won't at least right now get that in Pittsburgh, at least until Ryan Doumit visits the DL again.

If one of the NRI guys can take the back up job, it would make sense to allow Jaramillo more development time instead of sitting on the bench in Pittsburgh. As for the candidates, the run from Luke Carlin, 46 major league games with San Diego and Arizona, Hector Gimenez, 2 games in Houston in 2008, and Erik Kratz, the all-star for Indianapolis last season.

None of those guys really stand out and Jaramillo is probably better than all of them, but the question is what is best for Jaramillo. Right now the answer might be more consistent at bats and to get that, he would have to use up his last option year in Indianapolis.

News of the Future

As could be expected the game that was to be televised at night in Pittsburgh, the Pirates had Pedro Alvarez inserted into the lineup so that the fans could get a good look at the uber prospect. Alvarez did not really disappoint either. He played well in the field and had a solid hit. He definitely made a pretty good impression and dominated most of the chatter between Greg Brown and Bob Walk. At one point they made the comparisons of the hype surrounding Alvarez to that of Kris Benson and Chad Hemansen, here is hoping he far surpasses both.

I would also want to mention that looking at Alvarez, I could see that he had lost a good deal of weight from what I can remember from him in Altoona. I'd say that they way he looks now is pretty much how he will look, it is just how he is built. He looked a lot better physically than last summer.

Also making news from the minor leagues was one the release of Chris Aure. You may remember him as the lefty that the Pirates drafted out of the North Pole, in Alaska. He had trouble staying on the field in his two seasons, though it seems to me a little early to give up on a young lefty with promise. Then again I am sitting here and not in the employ of a major league team.

Also making headlines was the fact that the Pirates have a few hands on the farm that are not going to be able to pitch for a while. Two of them are from the draft class from just last season, kids given a higher bonus to not go to school.

Colton Cain has a previous injury that flared up, Zac Fuesser has a broken finger, and Brett Lorin, thought to be a break out candidate this season by some, had offseason hip surgery. The injuries are not anything that Neal Huntington says will make them miss significant time, but you have to worry about this little nagging things that crop up. In the case of Cain and Fuesser, this is really valuable time that they could be using to develop. Each player has a bright future and this year was to be crucial for each. Hopefully, they will be back in a short time frame.

Of the three the injury to Cain is the one that has me worried. One it is undisclosed as of yet what the issue is and two he has the most upside of the three. I'd really like to know what the injury is, to see if this is something that is nagging or could lead to something bigger. The Pirates have lost plenty of young guys to injury that they were going to be counting on, I hope this is not the case with these two.

Feast or Famine

It almost seems as though things have not changed since the regular season last year. It was during that long season that the Pirates seemed to go from feast to famine offensively and so far during this brief spring, it seems to be the same. Yesterday against the Yankees, the Pirates jumped all over CC Sabathia, after failing to do much against the Yanks in previous games.

Perhaps the alarming thing about the games thus far have been the fact that the Pirates starters have been having a rough go at. Maybe they are working on something while they are out there on the mound, but they have not looked all that good collectively. Charlie Morton got roughed up yesterday and it seems that every guy has taken his knocks this spring.

I am looking forward to getting another look at the club, as those living in the Pittsburgh area, will get a chance to see them play on FSN tonight against the Orioles. (It is also listed as MLB Network as well, now that I look.) I am hoping that Alvarez will get a start, just so that I can see the slimmer version of him play. I am also interested in seeing John Raynor, who had a run scoring hit yesterday, as well as Bobby Crosby, who I have an inkling may supplant Ronny Cedeno as the starting shortstop. I have nothing performance-wise to base that on, just feeling from quotes about Cedeno.

It should be fun to sit and watch baseball and to hear the local announcers on the game. With the warm weather here in Pittsburgh, it might almost feel like May.

Battles of the Spring

The spring Grapefruit League is not all that far along with its duration, yet we can get an early feel for how the team is feeling about some of the players. Spring stats are really meaningless except for the number of at bats and the pitcher's workload. The higher the number, perhaps you can believe, the more the team thinks of that player.


I found it interesting to take a look at the number of at bats so far for many of the position players. Through the games on Monday, Pedro Alvarez has the most at bats with 14. That stands to reason as he will more than likely be a big part of this team down the line and it is good to have him work against big leaguers, even if it is the spring.


Steve Pearce has 12 at bats, leading me to think that they may be giving him one long last look, before deciding what to do with him. Ronny Cedeno and Bobby Crosby are even in the number of at bats, so it does not look as though there is a favorite on who will play shortstop as of yet. John Raynor, who we have not heard a lot about, Delwyn Young and Brandon Moss are all pretty even, so we don't really know much about the bench battles.


One thing is for certain, the Pirates don't seem to like Neil Walker all that much as he has only 4 at bats. Granted this is pretty early in the spring, but that is a pretty low number for a guy that is not a backup catcher.


There is not much else to be had by looking at the numbers, but it does seem as though the battles for the position players that we had thought would be tough coming in, are still going strong. It looks a little too early to say one guy is outperforming the others or is warranting more playing time. In another week, if we are to look at these numbers, it may tell a different story.

Prospect Outlook: Walker Gourley

Back when we first unveiled HyzduHQ, one of the things that we were attempting to do was to provide some intriguing information on a few of the lesser known Pirates Prospects that caught our attention. Since then, we’ve profiled players such as Rudy Owens, whose star has never been brighter in the organization, and some who have never been able to pull it together such as Duke Welker, Brandon Holden and Austin McClune. Putting pieces together like this can be a very time consuming effort that I haven’t always had the time to devote to, but their popularity has inspired me to set some time aside and put a few more together. Hopefully they are something everyone can enjoy.

Gourley whose father John played for the Canadian National Team in 1979-80, honed his skills on the baseball rich fields of North Carolina. As a teammate of San Diego draft pick John Wooten, Gourley helped lead East Wayne High School to the 2008 East Carolina Conference Crown. As an All Area and All State performer, Gourley has led his team in numerous offensive categories throughout his illustrious HS career. During his junior year, he led his team in stolen bases (20), runs scored (39) while hitting .407 and posting a .562 OBP. In an all star game pitting the best of North Carolina against the best from Virginia, Gourley starred by going 4-5 with 2 HR, a double and a triple while driving in 7 runs. All of these accomplishments along with his skill set, led him to make a commitment to further his baseball career at East Carolina University. One of the things that stood out the most to ECU head coach Billy Godwin was his versatility on the field and that he was such a student of the game, having a great presence and focus on the diamond.

Apparently Coach Godwin wasn’t the only one who liked what they saw in Walker, as the Pirates drafted him as their 13th round pick in the 2009. Much of the information on the ‘09 draft pinned Gourley to be drafted close to this round as he was rated the 18th best player in the state by Baseball America. He signed in early July, which to me seemed relatively quick for a HS player drafted outside the top ten rounds. Unfortunately for Gourley, he got off to a very slow start going only 2 for 24 before an ankle injury eventually sidelined him just as he seemed to be getting in a groove. He came back for the final 3 games of August where he collected 3 hits in his final 8 at bats to raise his totals hits to 9 for the season.

Unfortunately for Pirates management and fans alike, the injury put a dampener on his debut season. Though drafted as a shortstop, he seemed to play a majority of his professional games as a 3rd baseman, which makes me wonder about his long term position status. He seems to lack the range to be a shortstop but doesn’t seem to have the power yet, to be a prototypical 3rd baseman. Since versatility was considered a strength to his game, he might eventually get a look at catcher with his arm being his only plus tool. Despite some physical limitations and an unspectacular debut, Walker Gourley could quite possibly be an intriguing sleeper from the 09 draft who’s worth keeping an eye on.

So It Begins

On Wednesday the Pirates will begin their march on their 123rd season of professional baseball in Pittsburgh. Sure it is only an exhibition game, and for some reason they always seem to open Grapefruit League action against the Yankees anymore, but it is the start of the long grind that will be yet another baseball season.

In the past few seasons, I was always filled with anticipation, awaiting to see what will happen in yet another season. The feeling this year is different for me. It is a feeling of anticipation, sure, but also a feeling of excitement. That is something different than in years past.

You might be asking what excitement? How can there not be excitement when if watch Andrew McCutchen round the bases, seemingly never touching the ground as he glides his way to third. Or how a Charlie Morton fastball seems to have more movement then some guy's breaking pitches. Or how Lastings Milledge looks more and more like that former top pick every day. Or how Pedro Alvarez can seemingly take anything and with a simple flick of the wrist send that ball into orbit.

There is a lot to look forward to this season, as it is the beginning of the coming together of the vision that Neal Huntington has been putting together. Is it a finished product? No of course not. Is this a playoff team? Probably not, so many things would have to go right, that you are probably more likely winning both the Powerball and Mega Millions, while being struck by lightening. Will this team be better than last year? That I think is a possibility.

Tomorrow when I get home from work, I will quickly look to watch the game on DVR, as the season begins with an exhibition against the Yankees, and who knows where it may end and take us in between.

Extensions Anyone?

Last week when the top brass met with the team, one of the many talking points to come out of it was that Bob Nutting had not decided what to do with the contracts of either John Russell or Neal Huntington. That story may have been overshadowed by the Frank Coonelly 'dynasty' remark, but it might be more telling of a story.

Take Russell first. By all indications he seems to be good calming and steady voice to lead the club. He has assembled a team of coaches that are coaches and he seems to be a good fit for a young and growing team. Granted his performance in the win loss column has not been all that great, but it is not as if he was given much of a chance to do anything with the club as the better players have been dealt away.

I would think that you would want to extend Russell if only because we don't know what to think of him as a manager. He has not had much to work with as a team. I would at this point only consider getting rid of him if there seemed to be some striking difference in philosophies, perhaps Russell tiring of the trades for example. It does not look like that is the case, so I don't know why you don't look to keep him around.

As for Huntington, well you can argue that he has just finally gotten to where he would like to start with the team. He has systematically taken apart the Dave Littlefield machine and given himself a blank canvas with which to start. To let him go without seeing his vision unfold would be very unfair as well. It would also be pretty stupid to have one guy blow up a team and bring in another to do just the same again.

Of the two it seems more mystifying that Huntington has not been extended, as he has just started his work. Managers seem to come and go, though I would not advocate getting rid of Russell either. It is odd that we start the season with neither having been extended, but there is still time this spring for them to do so. If it goes past spring training and into opening day, then there really might be some head scratching over what Nutting is thinking.