Monthly Archives: March, 2010

The Pirates made a quick roster move on Wednesday morning, deciding on the back-up catching question. �Erik Kratz was reassigned to minor league camp, where he will join the Indianapolis Indians again for 2010. �Jason Jaramillo, who was the back-up to Ryan Doumit in 2009, will return to that role in 2010.

That leaves the final bullpen spot and the back-up infielder spot yet to be determined. �The Pirates also have to create two spaces on the 40-man roster to make room for relief pitchers Jack Taschner and DJ Carrasco. Management has hinted that more trades or waiver acquisitions could be coming.... stay tuned.

Looking at another prospect and another veteran, who will be playing in Indianapolis:

Neil Walker (photo) was the Pirates' first round draft pick in the 2004 draft, and the Pirates were excited to be able to sign a home-town kid. �Walker moved up through the organization, enduring a wrist injury that required surgery and a forced move from his original position of catcher to third base. �He reached the AAA level at the end of 2007, and struggled in his 19 games with Indianapolis, hitting just .203 with 3 doubles and no RBI. � He spent the entire 2008 season in Indianapolis, where he improved his defensive work at third base though did not do all that well at the plate. �He hit .242 with 25 doubles, 7 triples, 16 home runs, and 80 RBI. �Walker returned to the Pirates for 2009. �He began the season with a 5-game hitting streak, going 8-for-23. �Then he had only one hit over the next week, and not much over the rest of the month, finishing April with a .205 average, plus 3 home runs and 12 RBI. �He warmed up some in May, including three 3-hit games in the first 9 days of the month. �Walker had another 5-game hit streak at the end of the month, and ended May with a .264 average, 4 homers, and 18 RBI. �On June 2nd, on a play at first base, Walker made an awkward slide/fall onto the bag, which resulted in a dislocated left 5th finger and a sprain of his left knee posterior collateral ligament. �That bought Walker a 6-week trip to the Disabled List.

The Pirates moved six pitchers and one catcher to minor league camp today. �Jeff Karstens, who had been a starter for the Pirates in 2009 but was removed from the 40-man roster after the season, could be either a starter or a long reliever in Indianapolis to begin 2010. �Relievers Brian Bass, Anthony Claggett, Vinnie Chulk, Steven Jackson, and Jeremy Powell were all sent to Indianapolis. �Powell pitched for the Indians in 2009, and signed a minor league contract for 2010. �Bass and Chulk also were signed as free agents over the winter. �Also sent to Indy was another free agent, catcher Luke Carlin, who will likely play a back-up role for the Indians.

That leaves the Pirates with relievers DJ Carrasco and Jack Taschner. Neither of them are on the Pirates' 40-man roster, so two roster moves will have to be made to accommodate them. �There are a few more players and positions who remain in question. �Infielder Ramon Vasquez seems to have lost out to a group of other infielders (Aki Iwamura, Delwyn Young, Bobby Crosby, and Ronny Cedeno) and the Pirates are trying to trade him before they have to just release him. �A decision has to be made between the two prospective back-up catchers Erik Kratz and Jason Jaramillo. The Pirates have to determine whether or not they will keep Rule 5 outfielder John Raynor. �Steve Pearce might also be optioned back to the Indians, since he has an option left and is being squeezed out by Jeff Clement at first and a host of outfielders. �Then, the Pirates just picked up reliever Hayden Penn yesterday and have promised to give him a good look before making a decision.

In today's Grapefruit League action: � �Twins 4, �Pirates 1 �(box)

Apparently the Pirates used up all of their extra bat-power in yesterday's 15-hit attack. �Today at Fort Myers, they managed only 4 hits and one run in the loss to the Twins. �A host of minor leaguers got a chance to have some fun with the big leaguers today, but they were no match for Twins' starter Francisco Liriano, who allowed just 3 hits and 3 walks in 6 scoreless innings. �In fact, the Pirates didn't have a hit until the 5th inning, when LF Robbie Grossman singled. �SS Bobby Crosby and C Jason Jaramillo also singled. �The Pirates' only run came in the 9th inning, when 2B Shelby Ford tripled, then scored on C Erik Kratz's RBI ground out.

Not really a "prospect", but a veteran who had a very good year in 2009:

Jean Machi is a Venezuelan native who was first signed by the Phillies in 2000. �He came to the US for the 2002 season, and spent two seasons in the Phillies' organization here, then one more season (2004) back in the Venezuelan Summer League. �He was selected by Tampa Bay in the Rule 5 draft, and spent two seasons in their organization, then moved on to Toronto, who signed him as a free agent. �In 2006 with Tampa Bay's AA level team, he earned a 6-1 record, 16 saves, and a 2.55 ERA in 48 relief appearances. �The following season for the Blue Jays' AA affiliate, Machi made another 48 appearances and earned a 2-4 record, just 2 saves, and a 3.53 ERA. �Machi missed the early part of 2008 due to injuries, and he had a tougher time when he got back onto the mound -- a 4.65 ERA and a 2-6 record in 21 appearances. �That lead him to the Pirates and a minor league contract for the 2009 season. �The right-hander was sent to AA Altoona in the middle of the April, and in 28 relief appearances, he earned a 2-3 record with 6 saves and a 2.08 ERA. �He pitched 34.2 innings, and allowed 8 earned runs on 28 hits and 13 walks, with 25 strikeouts. �That was a significant drop in his walk rate -- 3.4 BB/9 innings, compared to 5.2 BB/ 9 innings in 2008. �His ERA was just 0.84 in 10.2 innings in April, up to 3.11 ERA in 8.2 innings in May, and 2.77 ERA in 13 innings in July.

Pirates 13, �Astros 1 �(box)

After several games in which the Pirates struggle to find hits, today they busted out with 15 of them, beating the Houston Astros 13-1 in Grapefruit League play.

CF Andrew McCutchen got things started with a 2-run homer in the 1st inning, and another run came in on an RBI single by 1B Jeff Clement. McCutchen tripled in the 2nd inning, and RF Garrett Jones' homer brought him in, to give the Pirates a 5-0 lead. �In the 3rd inning, it was 3B Andy LaRoche's turn to send one over the fences, following another single by Clement. �When starter Paul Maholm (batting 8th, in the Pirates' new plan) also singled, and 9th slot hitter SS Bobby Crosby also got on base,�2B Aki Iwamura brought both of them in with a 3-run homer. �That gave the Pirates a 10-0 lead after 3 innings. �Clement picked up his third hit of the day and his second RBI with a double in the 4th inning. �Iwamura also had 3 hits for the afternoon, and in the 5th, C Ryan Doumit hit his second double, for an RBI. �The Pirates also added one more run in the 8th.

Besides going 1-for-3 at the plate, Paul Maholm had a good day on the mound. �He earned the win with 5 innings of work, and allowed one run, which came on former Pirate Matt Kata's RBI single in the 4th inning. �Maholm gave up 6 hits and 3 walks, but worked himself out of trouble, aided by a timely double play in the 4th. �The rest of the pitching staff allowed only one baserunner, who got on with a walk in the 9th inning. �Octavio Dotel pitched for the second day in a row. �Dotel, Evan Meek, and Jack Taschner each pitched a 1-2-3 inning of relief. �Javier Lopez allowed that walk in the 9th, but retired the other three batters he faced.

Also in the game: 2B Brian Friday, C Luke Carlin (scored a run), and LF Evan Chambers (walked).

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The Indianapolis Indians were scheduled to play a AAA game against the Las Vegas 51's this afternoon -- no word on the results at this point.

The Pirates have picked up pitcher Hayden Penn off waivers from the Marlins today, and designated outfielder Brandon Moss for assignment.

Penn is a righty starting pitcher, who was originally drafted by the Orioles in the 5th round of the 2002 draft. �He began his pro career in 2003 at two Rookie levels, then quickly moved up the ladder -- A+ and A levels in 2004, and AA and the major league level in 2005. �Penn spent most of 2006 at the AAA level (Ottawa), where he earned a 7-4 record and a 2.26 ERA in 14 starts. �He also made 6 starts for Baltimore in that season, but did not fare well there (0-4 and a 15.11 ERA). �Penn missed a bit of 2006 due to appendicitis, and a lot of 2007 due to injury. �He was back in full force in 2008 at AAA Norfolk, where he made 21 starts (99.2 innings) for a 6-7 record and a 4.79 ERA. �He allowed 110 hits and 53 earned runs, with 35 walks and 65 strikeouts. �The California native was with the Orioles for spring training in 2009, but on April 1st was traded to the Marlins, where he made one start and 15 more appearances in long relief, for a total of 22 innings. �He struggled with his control in those innings, giving up 19 earned runs on 30 hits and 20 walks, with 27 strikeouts. �Penn was designated for assignment and passed through waivers, so was assigned to AAA New Orleans. �In New Orleans, he went back into the starting rotation for all but one appearance, and pitched another 70 innings, allowing 32 earned runs on 70 hits and 26 walks, with 62 strikeouts. �He posted a 2-4 record and a 4.11 ERA. �The soon-to-be 25-year-old reported to Marlins' spring training as a candidate for their starting rotation. �He made 5 appearances in Grapefruit League play, two good and three disappointing. �On March 10th, Penn pitched 3 perfect innings with one strikeout, and on March 16th, he went 3.1 innings and allowed only one home run, and one more strikeout. �But he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in 2 innings on March 5th, and more recently, gave up 4 runs on 5 hits in 1.2 innings on the 21st and 5 runs on 5 hits on the 26th. �Penn was put on waivers, and is now on the Pirates' 40-man roster. �He was out of options when he was with Baltimore and Florida, so he's still out of options for the Pirates. �If they decided they don't want him at the major league level, then he'll have to go through waivers to be sent to AAA.

In order to make room for Penn on the 40-man roster, the Pirates removed Brandon Moss and designated him for assignment. �Now he'll have to clear waivers before he can be assigned to AAA, or else the Pirates can release or trade him. �Moss came to the Pirates in 2008 in the trade involving Jason Bay, the Red Sox, and the Dodgers. �He struggled at the end of the 2008 season, and then again in 2009. �He did better at the plate in May, but then found himself on the bench again when Andrew McCutchen, Garrett Jones, and Lastings Milledge joined the team. �With those three firmly entrenched in the Pirates' lineup, and Jose Tabata on the way, Moss was going to have some tough competition. �Then, the Pirates signed Ryan Church, took John Raynor in the Rule 5 draft, and talked about keeping Steve Pearce around too.... getting to be pretty crowded in that outfield, even if some of the spillover could handle first base. �Now it looks like Jeff Clement is going to handle most of the first base duties, and the outfield gets even more crowded. �Moss appeared in 19 Grapefruit League games, but had just 3 hits in 37 at-bats, and that certainly didn't help his cause. �While the Pirates might say that they still like Moss and hope he can get through waivers and get to wait around at AAA, he might be better off if another club has a spot for him.

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With just a week left until the major league season begins, we have a few more prospects to look at. �Two outfielders today:

Jose Tabata (photo) came to the Pirates from the Yankees in the 2008 trade that included Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Daniel McCutchen. �The Venezuelan native was with the AA Trenton Thunder at the time of the trade, and he was not having his best season. �He was hitting .248, the lowest he'd hit since coming to the US, with 3 homers and 36 RBI. �He had had wrist surgery in late 2007, and was probably still working his way back from that. �The change of scenery Tabata found when coming to the Pirates seemed to agree with him. �He was assigned to AA Altoona, and in 22 games with the Curve, Tabata hit 100 points higher than he'd hit in Trenton, with another 3 homers and 13 RBI. �There had been some questions about his attitude while with Trenton, but no such incidents were repeated once Tabata came to the Pirates. �Furthermore, Tabata was able to shake off the distraction that cropped up during spring training in 2009, when his wife was involved in the kidnapping of a baby. �Tabata reported back to Altoona to begin 2009 and got off to a moderate start, hitting .250 in 17 games, with 3 doubles and 6 RBI. �At that point, he injured his hamstring and went onto the Disabled List for nearly two months. �When he returned in June, Tabata hit .255 in his next 16 games, with one homer and 7 RBI. �Then he exploded in July, when he appeared in 28 games, and had at least one hit in all but 4 of them, including 3 hits on July 3rd and 4 hits on July 21st. �He hit .354 over the month, with 10 doubles, another homer, and 12 RBI. �That gave him an overall .303 average for his time in Altoona, with 15 doubles and 25 RBI. �He also stole 7 bases, though was caught stealing 25 times. �He worked 20 walks and struck out 25 times. �Tabata was promoted to Indianapolis for the beginning of August. �In 32 games with the Indians over the last 5 weeks of the season, the 21-year-old hit a solid .276, with 7 doubles, 3 homers, and 10 RBI. �Tabata played center field for the Indians, and both center and right fields in Altoona. �He made only 2 errors all season, and his arm is considered strong and reasonably accurate.