Coming into Thursday night, Stolmy Pimentel had made four starts and failed to go longer than two innings in three of those games. He had a .364 BAA in those four starts, with seven walks and just four strikeouts. Except for the strikeouts, he really turned things around in his fifth start. Pimentel allowed one run on three hits and a walk in five innings. He had nine ground ball outs as well, though he picked up just one strikeout.
In that same game, Gustavo Nunez grounded into a double play in the seventh inning, then remained in the game on defense at shortstop. He signed as a minor league free agent with the Pirates earlier this week.
Wirfin Obispo allowed one run on one hit in one inning. He has a 2.19 ERA in 12.1 innings, with 16 strikeouts. He is still a minor league free agent.
Gregory Polanco took batting practice with his Leones del Escogido team. There isn’t a set date for his return, though he could be in uniform within a couple days according to a couple sources.
Willy Garcia is out with the flu. He hasn’t played the last couple games, though he could have used the time off because he has been in a big slump the last two weeks. Garcia is 8-for-40 in his last nine games, with no walks and 13 strikeouts. He was added to the Pirates 40-man roster on Thursday.
The Pirates picked up Pedro Florimon off waivers on Thursday. He is playing for Leones del Escogido, where he has a .213/.250/.279 slash line in 18 games.
In Colombia, Tito Polo went 1-for-6 in his last two games, striking out four times. He is 5-for-26 with no walks and 11 strikeouts. The level of play in Colombia isn’t as good as the four Caribbean Leagues, but it’s still better than what Polo saw this season in the Gulf Coast League.
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.
I think the Pirate’s should bring up a few guys such as Alen Hanson & Jamison Tailon . J.Mercer can play SS N.Walker 3B and A.Hanson at 2B. N.Walker at third base because he’s a strong and good at the bat , he also is a good fielder. That would make a strong pirates lineup, rotation and fielding team.
What is the allure of Pimental? There seems to be a lot of chatter about him good and bad. Does he have that much of an upside?
As Freddy pointed out , he was hurt . His stuff will start to resemble his rep again… And he passes the eye test, Even w his velocity down and not being very effective in a limited ’14 , he keeps the ball down, simple theory , but guys don’t do it consistently. Even at 88 his fb looked like a B.B. , on a line just below the knees. As Volquez sharpened thru the summer it was an attribute that he displayed as well. Stolmy won’t be a starter but i believe they have real reason why they value him , eventually for 7th or 8th inning.
With the current staff Pimentel is an important guy. He still has the potential to be in the rotation or be a key bullpen guy. I hope he continues to look good.
I think Pimental is gone. His velocity has dropped and his K’s have dropped, and his control hasn’t gotten better. That’s a waiver candidate if ever i saw one
He was hurt
Not to change the subject but I am a bit disappointed that Alvarez has not agreed to play WINTER BALL. It seems to me that since he had a terrible second half last year and is being penciled in to play first he would be down in the Caribbean to try to get ready for spring training. Maybe he has a different work out planned but playing against live competition is better than working out in a gym.
I would say, Pedro has nothing to gain from going down. He is supposed to have power, so that won’t change how the Pirates and other teams see him. If he goes down there and either doesn’t have power or fields like a member of the Bad New Bears, it hurts his value. It’s better for him to stay home
His value can’t get lower than it is right now. All he can do is help his value by learning to play his new position. He needs reps, and for God’s sake, he needs to go somewhere that throws nothing but changeups. He should hire Trevor Hoffman and Johan Santana to pitch to him personally everyday until their arm falls off or until he learns what one looks like and to not swing at the damn pitch
His value can’t get lower than it is right now. All he can do is help his value by learning to play his new position. He needs reps, and for God’s sake, he needs to go somewhere that throws nothing but changeups. He should hire Trevor Hoffman and Johan Santana to pitch to him personally everyday until their arm falls off or until he learns what one looks like and to not swing at the damn pitch
Is it impossible for a player Pedro’s age to learn to hit lefties? Wouldn’t an offseason full of looking at them in a controlled environment be beneficial in any way?
I’m not too worried. He did have a few weeks of work last year and we know his glove is good and he had decent range at 3B. Those things almost always translate well when a 3B moves to 1B. I just worry about his throws to second starting double plays with his history of wildness…at least that throw is short. I hope he works with an instructor or something at some point this winter and then he will have all spring. He definitely should report with the P’s & C’s to get extra work. A fail at 1B and another weak hitting system will cost him millios of dollars so I like that he is motivated to have a good year…although I have no idea what motivates Pedro. He has always seemed like a sensitive and somewhat fragile guy that has to have his head together…and he has skipped winter ball before when it could have benefited him to clear his head or whatever. He is a huge piece. If Polanco hits even .280 at the top and Pedro gets near .250 and 25-30HR the Pirates offense could be the best in the NL.
If you remove throws from 3B to 1B, Ike Davis had more throwing errors than Pedro last year. Seems like it was just that one throw that got in his head.
And FWIW, Pedro started five more double plays as a 3B last year than Garrett Jones started in his entire career as a Pirate 1B. Now, Garrett Jones isn’t exactly the stellar defender you’d hope Pedro will be, but that fact does kind of show how relatively minor the 3-6 play is in baseball.
Well, he did overthrow Martin by a few feet on a throw to home and also put one into RF on a throw to 2b…
Good memory, bucs. Those were the two.
I suppose all Pedro really has to do is be as good/better at the 3-6 than Garrett Jones. Ike airmailed one of those too and in the same game Pedro overthrew Martin, Ike threw well wide of him.
So there you go… limited downside.
pickoffs and general force outs are important too, not just double plays, but it IS minimal i’ll agree. Maybe the injury and forced time away from the problems is what he needed. He may come in and have no problems throwing this year. It’s been said that it was all mental anyways, so that reset button might be all that was needed.
As of right now he is still in the rehab process, so even if he agreed to play, he wouldn’t be playing yet. There is still time to change his mind and he might see that it’s the best option for him.There is still two more months of winter ball left, assuming his team(yes a winter team holds his rights) makes the playoffs.
Thank you for the reply it clears up some of my concerns.
Believe me, Pedro will not play winter ball. Never has, never will. I couple of years ago everyone wanted/expected him to play in the DR, which is where he is from. No dice.
He was born there but moved to NYC with the rest of his family before he was a year old.