The Pittsburgh Pirates have promoted Jose Osuna to the Altoona Curve. Osuna was told he was being promoted after tonight’s Bradenton Marauders game, and will fly up to Altoona tomorrow.
“I feel very good. I was working for going up. Now I have to keep working hard, going up to the next level.”
Osuna was a first baseman heading into the season, which left him blocked in Bradenton for the third straight season. He moved to right field this year, in order to give him another position to play when he would eventually get the promotion. The move to right field was rough at first, as he hadn’t played outfield in a few years.
“The first couple of games [were] a little hard, because of a long time not playing the outfield,” Osuna said. “The last couple of games, and the last many games, I played very good. I feel better.”
He shows off a great arm in right field, and has improved his angles and fielding. He lacks range and speed, but is really only at the position to get his bat some work, with first base being a better long-term option. He had been playing first base the last three games since Harold Ramirez joined the team, which left Edwin Espinal on the bench. This promotion will put Espinal back in the lineup. Osuna looked good at first base tonight, making a perfect pivot and a strong throw to second base on a pickoff/caught stealing.
Over the last few weeks it became obvious that there was nothing Osuna needed to work on to move up. His hitting was outstanding, with a ton of hard hit balls. His defense was looking passable in right field. But he was blocked by the talent in Altoona.
“It’s baseball,” Osuna said. “All the time [you] have people in front of you and behind you. But you have to work hard…It’s a little hard when I know I [had] a good year last year [and] I had to start here. But that will make you work hard.”
No word yet on who will be leaving Altoona to make room for Osuna.
