Here is a recap of how each of the top 2011 draft prospects did this past week. Click on their names to go to their tracker pages.
Rendon had another poor weekend, going 2-for-9 at the plate, but walking six times. He did have a big day on Friday, going 1-for-3 with a homer and two walks. The home run was his fifth of the year, and first one since April 23rd. On the season, Rendon is hitting for a .322/.530/.515 line in 171 at-bats. He has walked 72 times this year, which is already more than his 65 walks in 2010, which came with 50 more plate appearances.
Rendon’s struggles have opened the door for other names to enter the picture. I discussed a few of those options on Friday in my weekend preview.
Cole had a rough outing on Friday, going up against CSU Bakersfield, which should have been an easy opponent for him. He allowed five runs on ten hits in nine innings, with four of the runs coming in the first two innings. Despite the complete game, Cole only threw 113 pitches, which is a good pace. However, his struggles lately raise some concerns. In his last five starts he’s allowed 24 runs in 35 innings, a figure which is lowered by one outing where he allowed one run in 7.1 innings of work.
I added a Hultzen tracker this weekend, which you can check out by clicking his name above. I also talked about him in the weekend preview (link above), as there has been some discussion that the Pirates are seriously considering him for the first overall pick. Neal Huntington was on hand to see him this past weekend, as he went up against Miami. Hultzen allowed five runs, three earned, on six hits in seven innings, with a walk and nine strikeouts. All of the runs came in the first inning, and he cruised for the next six frames. The downside is that Hultzen threw 127 pitches in the outing, which came after a two week layoff.
OTHER PROSPECTS
-The Pirates are also considering prep pitcher Dylan Bundy. Check out my write up of Bundy here.
-Catching up on a few 2008 Pirates’ draft picks who went un-signed and are draft eligible this year:
Zach Wilson, 3B, Arizona State: Drafted in the 26th round in 2008, and is the 37th best prospect in the draft this year. Wilson is hitting for a .259/.324/.402 line in 189 at-bats, which is down from his .275/.340/.427 line in 178 at-bats from the start of last week.
Drew Gagnon, LHP, Long Beach State: Drafted in the 10th round in 2008, and is the 49th best prospect in the draft this year. Gagnon allowed three runs on eight hits in seven innings, with two walks and four strikeouts.
-Catching up on an un-signed prep pitchers from the 2010 draft:
Austin Kubitza, 7th Round, Rice: Kubitza allowed four runs, three earned, on eight hits in 6.1 innings this weekend, with two walks and six strikeouts.
