Francisco Aponte

FRANCISCO APONTE
SHORTSTOP
Born: February 9, 1991
Height: 5′ 11″
Weight: 135
Bats: Both
Throws: Right
Signed: Int. FA, Pittsburgh Pirates, 2008
Country: Panama
Agent: N/A

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

Aponte is a slightly built infielder who’s split his time between all four positions.  He spent three years in the VSL and has been used as a utility player since he got to the US, so he’s probably going to be an organizational player at the lower levels.  He’s a solid defensive player with good range.  Baseball Reference continues to show Aponte’s first name as Carlos, although they did finally correct a misspelling of his last name.

2008
VSL:  237/340/289, 135 AB, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 18 BB, 24 K, 6-8 SB

Played second and didn’t do much at the plate except for drawing a lot of walks.

2009
VSL:  410/500/492, 61 AB, 3 2B, 1 3B, 7 BB, 10 K, 4-10 SB 

Didn’t play much in his second VSL season; I’m not sure whether it was due to injury.  When he played it was mainly at second.

2010
VSL:  311/438/361, 180 AB, 9 2B, 40 BB, 24 K, 28-33 SB 

Hit for average and drew a ton of walks while splitting his time among the four infield positions.  As in previous years, he showed little power.  He stole a lot of bases for the first time, with a very good success rate.

2011
R:  262/438/338, 65 AB, 5 2B, 15 BB, 11 K, 9-11 SB 

Served as a utility player in the GCL, not playing a great deal at first.  After Yonathan Barrios got hurt and Ashley Ponce was promoted, he played semi-regularly, splitting his time between second and third.  He continued to walk a lot and hit for very little power, and did well stealing bases again.

2012
A-:  143/250/143, 7 AB, 1 K
A:  234/288/303, 188 AB, 9 2B, 2 3B, 15 BB, 30 K, 6-9 SB

Aponte replaced Jodaneli Carvajal at West Virginia in May and served as a utility player there the rest of the year, except for a cameo at State College when the Spikes needed a player.  He didn’t hit much and his walk rate dropped, which isn’t surprising, as higher level pitchers won’t be hesitant to challenge a hitter with no power.  The Power used him about equally at second, short and third.  He played about 40% of his games in left when the team had some injuries, and he made two appearances in center.

2013
A-:  181/253/264, 72 AB, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 BB, 15 K, 4-4 SB
A:  000/143/000, 5 AB, 1 BB, 2 K

Aponte didn’t get as much playing time as the previous year.  He got into just two games with West Virginia and otherwise served as a utility player for Jamestown, mainly at second and third.

2014
A-:  250/307/413, 80 AB, 4 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 7 BB, 21 K
A:  286/286/286, 7 AB, 2 K

Aponte went back to Jamestown, where he again got only limited playing time, mostly at third and some in the outfield corners.  He also again had a two game stint filling in at West Virginia.  Aponte actually hit for some power with the Jammers.

Aponte ranks behind Ashley Ponce on the organizational utility infielder depth chart.  It also probably hasn’t helped him that the team has added a lot of infielders through the draft and has several from Latin America coming up through the ranks.  If he returns in 2015, he’ll continue filling in as needed at the lower levels.

STATS
Baseball Reference–Minors
Fangraphs
MiLB.com
CONTRACT INFORMATION
2015: Minor League Contract
PLAYER INFORMATION
Signing Bonus: N/A
MiLB Debut: 2008
MLB Debut: N/A
MiLB FA Eligible: 2014
MLB FA Eligible: N/A
Rule 5 Eligible: Eligible
Added to 40-Man: N/A
Options Remaining: 3
MLB Service Time: 0.000
TRANSACTIONS
2008: Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an international free agent.