UPDATE 2:34 PM: West Virginia announces some moves to complete the process. Francisco Aponte is transferred to State College. Eric Avila, Taylor Lewis, and Ashley Ponce are all added to the West Virginia roster.
UPDATE 2:16 PM: More roster moves. To create room in Altoona, Anthony Norman and Greg Picart have been assigned to State College. Miguel Perez has been placed on the Altoona disabled list. Also, Wes Freeman has been transferred from Bradenton to West Virginia.
10:43 AM: The Pittsburgh Pirates made several moves in the farm system today, according to a Bradenton Marauders’ Facebook post. Highlighting the moves are the promotions of infielder Drew Maggi and outfielder Evan Chambers to Altoona. Those two will be joined by infielder Stefan Welch, who also got the promotion.
Maggi is hitting for a .241/.352/.308 line in 195 at-bats this year. He had a great April, with a .303/.411/.421 line in 76 at-bats, but has struggled since then. He does lead the organization in stolen bases, with 17 in 20 attempts.
Chambers also hasn’t put up the best numbers this year. He’s hitting for a .202/.352/.255 line in 188 at-bats. He’s played better in June, putting up a typical Evan Chambers line with a .217 average, a ridiculous .471 OBP, and a .304 slugging percentage.
Welch is playing the best out of all three players, with a .265/.320/.429 line in 226 at-bats. However, this is the fourth year that Welch has been in the Florida State League.
The promotions say one of two things. Either the Pirates are trying to push Maggi and Chambers by promoting them a level, giving them a make or break opportunity. That would be similar to what they did with Alex Presley in 2010, sending him to Double-A after two poor years in high-A. The other option is that those two have lost prospect status, and are moving up to fill holes in the Altoona roster, which is a role that organizational guys fill. I guess we’ll find that out once we see their playing time in Altoona, although I would guess it’s more of the latter.
The Pirates also promoted Junior Sosa, Kirk Singer, and Carlos Mesa from West Virginia to Bradenton.
Singer was hitting for a .262/.305/.321 line in 187 at-bats. His best asset is his defense on the left side of the infield.
Mesa is hitting for a .189/.199/.291 line in 148 at-bats. He was signed out of Cuba last year, but his lack of numbers and his age make him more of an organizational guy.
Sosa is a small, but speedy outfielder. He’s put up a surprising season this year, with a .270/.342/.356 line in 174 at-bats, and 15 stolen bases. He’s a singles hitter, which combined with his size makes him more of an organizational guy.
