Continuing to look at the middle infielders in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Jarek Cunningham --  R/R,  6' 1",  185 lb
Cunningham was the Pirates' 18th round pick in the 2008 draft.  After a solid debut with the GCL Pirates (.318 average with 5 homers and 22 RBI), he missed the entire 2009 season due to knee surgery.  He returned with a healthy knee in 2010, assigned to West Virginia.  Cunningham jumped right out to a good start, hitting .304 in April, with a homer and 5 RBI.  He slumped in May to just .194, with 2 more homers and 5 RBI.   Then he popped up again in June, with a .317 average, 3 homers, and a big 17 RBI.  The average slipped a little in July, to .279, though the power production continued, with 4 homers and 14 RBI.  The slip continued into August, as he dropped to .214 with 2 homers and 6 RBI.  He finished the season with a .258 average, and not much left-right difference (.265 against lefties and .256 against righties).  He had 37 doubles, 7 triples, 12 homers, and 49 RBI.  He struck out a lot -- 132 times in 121 games (27%), and that rate was highest in July and August.  He walked just 30 times (5.6%), and that was best in June and July.  Cunningham played entirely at second base during the 2010 season (2008 was split between shortstop and third).  Now that there is less concern about his knee, and with his good range and arm, he could spend time at shortstop too.  The 21-year-old should be ready for A+ Bradenton for 2011.  He'll need to work on plate discipline and cutting back on the strikeouts.  

Benji Gonzalez  --  R/R,  5' 11",  160 lb
Gonzalez was picked in the 7th round of the 2008 draft, coming out of the Puerto Rican Baseball Academy.  After two seasons in the GCL, Gonzalez was promoted to West Virginia for the 2010 season.  He had hit a solid .286 in the GCL in 2009, but that did not carry over to 2010 with the Power.  He hit .196 in the first half of the season, then he improved to .279 for the second half, for a .236 average overall.  Gonzalez has limited power, with just 12 doubles, one triple, one homer, and 35 RBI in 2010.  He stole 18 bases, but was also thrown out 14 times, so that needs some improvement.  Gonzalez was the main shortstop for West Virginia in 2010, and showed strong defensive play with good range and a strong arm.  He'll need to work on cutting back on the errors (32) of course.  After the regular season, Gonzalez went back to Puerto Rico and played in 19 games for the Puerto Rican Winter League's Gigantes de Carolina.  He did not hit well there either, just .184 with 2 doubles.   Despite the low hitting, Gonzalez will likely be assigned to A+ Bradenton for 2011, where his hitting will need to improve.

Continuing to look at the middle infielders in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Kelson Brown  --  R/R,  6' 3",  170 lb
Brown was the Pirates' 34th round draft pick in 2010, coming off some surprising success as a senior at Linfield College (.443 average, 9 homers).  Brown reported to State College, where he was a little "old" for the level.  He jumped out to a big start, hitting .348 with 6 RBI in June.  That dropped to .247 in July, though his RBI bumped up to 12.  He settled out to .298 with 7 RBI in August.  The overall average for the season was .293, with 12 doubles  and 26 RBI.  Despite being listed as a shortstop, Brown played most of his games (40) at third base, where he did well -- just 3 errors.  He also played 11 games at second base and 3 at short.  He's said to have a strong arm, and that's probably why he played so much at third.  the 23-year-old Brown should be moved up to West Virginia for 2011.  It will be interesting to see if his hitting continues.

Drew Maggi  -- R/R,  6' 0",  175 lb
Maggi was chosen in the 15th round of the 2010 draft.  He signed late, so did not get to State College until August, and got into only 18 games for the Spikes.  All of those games were played at shortstop, where Maggi made 8 errors.  He struggled at the plate, too, hitting just .156, with 3 doubles and 2 RBI.  He struck out 15 times in 18 games (23.4%), though he also walked 8 times (11.8%).  He stole 5 bases, and has good speed.  The tough start to his pro career could be just a fluke, or just getting used to the pro life (and wooden bats) and a layoff after finishing the college season.  The Pirates think highly of him, and it's likely that he'll be promoted to West Virginia anyway.  Maggi will turn 22 years old in May.

Moving on to look at the middle infielders in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Jorge Bishop --  R/R,  5' 10",  152 lb
Bishop is a Panamanian native who did very well at age 18 in the VSL, where he hit .308 with 9 homers and 41 RBI.  He made his US debut in 2010.  In the early part of the season he got 4 fill-in starts with A+ Bradenton, where he went 3-for-12, which was very nice for playing a few levels up.  He spent the rest of the season with the GCL Pirates, where he hit .257 in 50 games.  He had solid power, with 10 doubles, 4 triples, and 4 homers, and the potential is there for his power to improve.  Bishop split his playing time between second base and shortstop and is thought to have good speed -- 12 stolen bases.  He'll turn 20 years old this week, and he should be ready to move up to State College for 2011.

Walker Gourley  --  R/R, 6' 0",  180 lb
Gourley was the Pirates' 13th round pick in the 2009 draft.  He missed a lot of playing time due to an ankle injury in 2009, but was slated to move to State College for 20100.  He also got in a few games as a fill-in at Bradenton in May of 2010, where he went 1-for-8 at the plate, before the State College season began.  Gourley did not hit well at State College, though, and he did not show much power either.  His best month was July, when he had a .204 average and 13 RBI.  He finished with a .168 average, 8 doubles, 1 triple, 1 homer, and 23 RBI.  Strikeouts are a big problem for Walker --  76 in 61 games (32.8%).  Gourley's playing time was divided between second base (32 games), shortstop (21 games), and a little bit at third (9 games).  There is some question about whether he has the range to be an effective middle infielder, or whether he might be better moved to third base.  Gourley will turn 20 years old in June, so he still has time to figure it out, as long as he starts hitting soon and cuts back on the strikeouts.