Cole Figueroa

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

Figueroa is something of a computer and stats geek who’s programmed his own routines for analyzing baseball stats.  That certainly isn’t likely to hurt him with the Pirates.

2008
A-:  289/410/474, 114 AB, 6 2B, 5 HR, 24 BB, 16 K, 7-9 SB

In his debut, Figueroa split his time between short and second, while showing his exceptional plate discipline from the start.  After the season, Baseball America rated him the Padres’ 28th best prospect and the Northwest League’s 19th best.

2009
A:  319/408/403, 238 AB, 15 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 37 BB, 38 K, 10-17 SB
A+:  187/256/227, 75 AB, 3 2B, 6 BB, 14 K, 5-5 SB

Figueroa continued to produce in low A, again while splitting his time between short and second.  He turned 22 at mid-season, which made him a little old for a prospect at that level.  BA ranked him 29th in the Padres’ system, his last appearance on a BA prospect list.

2010
A+:  303/408/392, 482 AB, 25 2B, 3 3B, 4 HR, 81 BB, 54 K, 26-35 SB

Figueroa spent the entire season in the high-offense California League.  Despite his lack of speed, he stole a lot of bases.  He played mainly second.  After the season, the Padres sent him to Tampa Bay with three other players for Jason Bartlett.

2011
AA:  283/375/398, 410 AB, 20 2B, 6 3B, 5 HR, 55 BB, 41 K, 9-14 SB

Figueroa had largely the same season as ever in AA.  The Rays played him mainly at second and third, with just a dozen games at short.

2012
AA:  314/419/512, 86 AB, 6 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 17 BB, 9 K, 1-3 SB
AAA:  286/344/386, 311 AB, 17 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 26 BB, 22 K, 3-5 SB

The Rays sent Figueroa back to AA despite his good season the year before.  After he had a big month of April, they moved him up to AAA.  He played exclusively at second and third.

2013
AAA:  286/361/367, 461 AB, 20 2B, 4 3B, 3 HR, 54 BB, 30 K, 10-12 SB

Figueroa spent the entire season in AAA, continuing to hit for average with excellent plate discipline.  He played mostly at third.

2014
AAA:  282/371/389, 262 AB, 13 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 39 BB, 29 K, 4-5 SB
MLB:  233/286/326, 43 AB, 2 2B, 1 3B, 4 BB, 4 K

Figueroa returned to AAA, but finally reached the majors when the Rays brought him up in May when Ben Zobrist got hurt.  Figueroa was up only briefly, but returned for six weeks starting at the end of June.  He played mostly third and short in the minors, second in the majors.  The Rays did not call him back up in September and designated him for assignment after the season.  Figueroa chose free agency and signed a minor league deal with the Yankees.

2015
AAA:  292/355/359, 449 AB, 19 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 44 BB, 47 K, 4-8 SB
MLB:  250/250/500, 8 AB, 2 2B

Other than a very brief callup in July, Figueroa spent the season in AAA, where he played mostly third and short.  The Yankees outrighted him at the beginning of September.

Figueroa is very similar to Dean Anna, a utility infielder who was with the Pirates in AAA briefly, and also to Ivan DeJesus, Jr., who was with the Pirates briefly following the Joel Hanrahan trade.  The Pirates never called up Anna or DeJesus, as they’ve preferred players with no offensive ability but better gloves, like Michael Martinez and Jayson Nix.  Of course, then they’ve ended up using guys like that as pinch hitters, a role in which they’ve been useless.  They seemed enthused about Figueroa from the start, though, and he made the team out of spring training.  His plate discipline gives him the potential to be very useful as a utility infielder who can handle pinch-hitting duties.  It’s possible, though, that he’ll only be in the majors until Jung-Ho Kang returns.

UPDATE:  Figueroa had two stints in the majors and did little with the bat in limited opportunities.  In late June, the Pirates evidently decided that Adam Frazier offered more potential and they designated Figueroa for assignment to make room for Frazier.