2011 Prospect Watching: Cunningham, Gonzalez, And Friends

Greg Picart —  Bats: Both / Throws: R;  5′ 11″,  155 lb
Picart was the Pirates’ 23rd round choice in the 2003 draft, and he has hung around as a utility infielder for several years.  He was sent to A+ Bradenton for 2010, and due to all the injuries there, he got into about half of the Marauders’ games.  He played about two-thirds of his games at shortstop, and most of the rest at second base, plus one at third.  His defense is solid though not spectacular, but his biggest asset is his versatility.  Picart has had good and bad years at the plate, and the 2010 season was neither his best nor his worst.  He had a hot April, hitting .311 with 5 RBI.  That dropped to .162 in May, popped up to .280 with 13 RBI in June, and back down to .171 and .156 in July and August respectively.  His best months, April and June, were also the months in which he got into the highest number of games.  He finished with a .245 average and 25 RBI, plus 14 stolen bases.  At age 25, Picart has enough time in to be a minor league free agent; he signed a minor league contract with the Pirates for 2011.  He will probably be a back-up, mostly at second base and shortstop, again in Bradenton.

Adenson Chourio  —  Bats: Both / Throws: R;  5′ 9″,  160 lb
Chourio is a Venezuelan native who made his US debut in 2008 after three seasons in the Venezuelan Summer League.  He began the 2010 season at West Virginia, where he hit .217 with 4 RBI in 15 games.  When the Marauders had so many players injured, Chourio moved up, and played both shortstop and second base there, plus 5 games at third (with 3 errors) an one game in left field.  He also missed some time due to injury (he collided with Brock Holt).  Chourio hit .224 for the Marauders, again with limited power — just 2 doubles, 2 triples, and 14 RBI.  He also struck out 37 times in 49 games (25.2%).  In the off-season, Chourio played in 11 games for Los Caribes de Anzoategui, but he was primarily a pinch-runner.  He had only 4 at-bats and no hits, though he stole 2 bases and scored 2 runs.  Chourio could return to either West Virginia or Bradenton as a utility infielder for 2011.