Matthew Skirving

MATTHEW SKIRVING
CATCHER
Born: December 12, 1989
Height: 6′ 2″
Weight: 215
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Drafted: 30th Round, 897th Overall, 2010
How Acquired: Draft
College: Eastern Michigan
Agent: N/A

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

Skirving had a big sophomore season, but was hampered by injury as a junior and didn’t come close to his previous hitting numbers. He also wasn’t able to catch that year. Skirving probably figures to be an organizational player unless he can recover the stroke he had in 2009.

2010
A-:  217/286/292, 120 AB, 7 2B, 1 3B, 12 BB, 21 K

Split catching duties at State College with Miguel Mendez.  He got off to a good start with the Spikes, hitting .282 in June and July, but collapsed after that, batting .095 the rest of the way.  He threw out only 18% of base stealers and had an alarming 17 passed balls.

2011
A-:  277/344/434, 166 AB, 15 2B, 1 3B, 3 HR, 13 BB, 38 K, 3-6 SB

Returned to State College and improved substantially at the plate, hitting for pretty good average and power.  His plate discipline was a little weak.  He had a substantial platoon split, with an OPS of .815 against RHPs and .659 against LHPs, but he had only 39 ABs against the latter.  He split his time between first and catcher.  He threw out only 14% of base stealers, but he had no passed balls.

The Pirates have a number of catchers at the lower levels who’ve performed very well, including Samuel Gonzalez at State College and Jonathan Schwind in the GCL in 2011.  Still, a farm system always needs a lot of catchers and Skirving improved both offensively and defensively in 2012.  He’s likely to compete with Derek Trent for a backup role at West Virginia.

STATS
Baseball Reference–Minors
Fangraphs
MiLB.com

NCAA
BA
OBP
SA
AB
2B
3B
HR
BB
K
SB
CS
2008
.250
.381
.519
52
2
0
4
11
12
0
0
2009
.348
.432
.647
201
12
0
16
25
32
1
1
2010
.259
.353
.429
205
17
0
6
27
36
1
0
CONTRACT INFORMATION
2012: Minor League Contract
PLAYER INFORMATION
Signing Bonus: N/A
MiLB Debut: 6/20/2010
MLB Debut: N/A
MiLB FA Eligible: 2016
MLB FA Eligible: N/A
Rule 5 Eligible: 2013
Added to 40-Man: N/A
Options Remaining: 3
MLB Service Time: 0.000
TRANSACTIONS
June 8, 2010: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 30th round, 897th overall pick; signed on June 14.