Continuing to work our way up through the catchers in the Pirates' minor league organization

Matt Skirving --  Bats Left / Throws Right;  6' 2",  215 lbs
Skirving was the Pirates' 30th round pick in the 2010 draft.  He reported to State College, where he played in 43 games, all but one behind the plate.  Skirving had a great month of July at the plate, when he hit .306, but that dropped sharply to .103 in August, and he finished the season with just one hit in his last 10 games.  Overall for the season, Skirving hit .217, with 7 doubles, a triple, and 10 RBI.  His strikeouts and walks were ok -- 21 strikeouts (17.5%) and 12 walks (8.8%).  Skirving threw out 14 out of 76 base runners (18%).  He's got a lot to work on, but he's 21 years old and has some time.  Skirving will likely be ready for West Virginia in 2011.  

Kawika Emsley-Pai --  Bats Both / Throws Right;  5' 11",  195 lbs
Emsley-Pai was drafted by the Diamondbacks in the 10th round of the 2010 draft.  He went right to Yakima in the Northwest League (Low A).  He did not hit well there -- .167 with 3 doubles and 8 RBI in 42 games.  He did do a little better in August, when he hit .212.  Emsley-Pai reportedly has an accurate arm (he pitched in high school) and he did throw out 19 of 36 base stealers for Yakima (53%).  It wasn't good enough for the D'backs, though, who released him after the 2010 season.  Emsley-Pai has a connection to the Pirates -- the scout who signed him for the D'backs, Jim Dedrick, is now working for the Pirates.  Dedrick probably put in a good word for him, and the Pirates signed Emsley-Pai to a minor league contract.  His 2011 assignment might depend on where Elias Diaz goes.  It's likely that one of them will go to State College and share duties with Schoenfeld, and the other will go to West Virginia and share with Skirving.

Travis Scott  --  Bats Left / Throws Right;  6' 3",  220 lbs
The Pirates picked up Scott in the minor league part of the Rule 5 Draft in December.  He had been the Mariners' 20th round pick in the 2005 draft, but had not moved up far in their organization.  He spent all of the 2007 -09 seasons at A+ High Desert, and after another 33 games at High Desert in 2010, he was given a brief shot at AA West Tennessee.  In 4 games at West Tennesseee, Scott went 1-for-11, then was released.  He hit .276 overall in all that time with High Desert, with 45 homers and 201 RBI, and his best year at the plate was 2009, when he hit .285 with 15 homers and 71 RBI.  After being released by Seattle, Scott joined Rockford in the independent Northern League, where he played 65 games and hit .300 with 5 homers and 29 RBI.  Scott was going to be back in affiliated ball in 2011 on a minor league contract with the Angels, when he was selected in the Rule 5 Draft.  He could fit in as a back-up at either A+ Bradenton or maybe AA Altoona.

Blue Jays  5,  Pirates  0
 
The Pirates were held to just 4 hits in this afternoon's game against the Blue Jays at McKechnie Field.  3B Pedro Alvarez had two of the hits --  a two-out single up the middle in the 1st inning, and a single on a pop up in the 6th.  The single in the 1st moved CF Andrew McCutchen, who had walked, to third base, and the single in the 6th followed a line drive double by 2B Pedro Ciriaco and moved Ciriaco to third base.  Both times, however, the innings ended without the Pirates being able to get the run in.  The only other hit in the game was by 2B Brian Friday, who led off the top of the 9th by beating out a grounder to third.  After a strikeout, 1B Andy Marte walked, putting two runners on base.  But pinch-hitter Gift Ngoepe struck out and C Jason Jaramillo grounded out to end the game.  

James McDonald made the start and was responsible for 4 of the Jays' runs.  He gave up a double, two singles, a walk, and a sacrifice fly for 2 runs in the top of the 1st.  He retired the side in order in the 2nd, but got into trouble again in the 3rd.  A double and a throwing error by SS Corey Wimberly gave the Jays a run in the 3rd.  With two outs and a runner on second base, McDonald had reached his pitch limit (about 50 pitches), and he was relieved by Justin Thomas.  Thomas gave up an RBI single and a walk, then ended the inning with a strikeout.  Chris Resop surrendered the remaining Toronto run in the 5th.  Back-to-back doubles by former Pirate Jose Bautista (who went 3-for-3) and Travis Snyder brought in that run.  Resop struck out the next two batters, and ended the inning with a ground out.  Joel Hanrahan, Aaron Thompson, Daniel McCutchen, Justin Wilson, and Jeff Locke each pitched one scoreless inning for the Pirates.  McCutchen gave up two hits and Locke gave up one.  Wilson walked one batter and struck out the other three he faced.  

Also in the game:  SS Chase d'Arnaud, LF Gorkys Hernandez, CF Alex Presley, RF Andrew Lambo, 3B Garrett Atkins. 

As we continue to look at the minor leaguers in the Pirates' organization, we'll move on to the catchers:

Joey Schoenfeld -- R/R,  6' 2",  187 lb
Schoenfeld was chosen by the Pirates in the 10th round of the 2009 draft.  He got in just 5 games with the GCL Pirates in that year, and went 0-for-14 at the plate.  In 2010, Schoenfeld was back with the GCL Pirates, sharing playing time with Elias Diaz and Dylan Child.  Schoenfeld still needs a lot of work on his defense, though the Pirates believe the potential is there.  He threw out 2 of 21 base stealers -- definitely a work in progress.  With the bat, Schoenfeld hit .273 in July and improved to .296 in August, to average out at a solid .281, with 3 RBI.  He did strike out a lot:  21 strikeouts in 23 games (32.8%), but also took a lot of walks (10, or 13.3 %).  He'll turn 20 years old in June, so he still has some time to work on everything.  He should begin 2011 in State College.

Elias Diaz  --  R/R,  6' 1",  175 lb
Diaz is a 20-year-old Venezuelan, who made his US debut after just one season in the VSL.  Of the three catchers, he got the bulk of the playing time behind the plate for the GCL Pirates in 2010 (38 games).  Diaz was the best of the three defensively, including throwing out 21 of 51 base stealers.  His hitting needs some work, as he hit just .218, with 2 homers and 20 RBI.  Diaz started out stronger, with a .261 average in 6 games in June, then dropping to .227 in July and .182 in August.  The Pirates are hoping that he will develop more power over the next few years.  He'll probably begin 2011 in State College, sharing duties with Schoenfeld.  He's got an outside chance of being assigned to West Virginia, where he'd share with Matt Skirving.  
Dylan Child --  R/R,  6' 1",  181 lb
Child is an Australian and a product of MLB's Australian Academy.   He made his US debut with the GCL Pirates in 2010, though of these three catchers, he got the least amount of time behind the plate -- just 8 games.  He also played 14 games at first base, and 2 at third.  Partly because he is relatively new to catching (he was a shortstop initially), he needs the most work on his defense.  He threw out only one of 12 base stealers last season.  Child needs to work on his hitting as well -- he hit .179 in 12 games in July and .217 in 9 games in August.  Overall, he had a .180 average with a double and 2 RBI.  His strikeout rate was not high -- 11 strikeouts in a total of 24 games (18%).  Child was listed as a "reserve" on the Adelaide Bite in the Australian Baseball League over the winter, but was never placed on the active roster.  With so little playing time behind the plate last year, the 20-year-old will probably return to the GCL in 2011.

 

Pirates  4,  Phillies  3
 
A 2-run homer by 2B Neil Walker in the top of the 6th gave the Pirates the go-ahead run and one more for insurance, as the Pirates beat the Phillies in Clearwater, FL.   A solo homer by Phillies' DH Ben Francisco off Pirates' starter Paul Maholm put the first run on the board in the bottom of the 2nd.  It was the only run Maholm allowed in his 3 innings of work.  He did not walk any batters and struck out two.  Jeff Karstens took over for Maholm to begin the 4th.  He also gave up a run, when Francisco and 2B Delwyn Young both doubled.  Karstens retired the side in order in the 5th inning.  

1B Lyle Overbay had 3 hits for the Pirates, beginning with a lead-off single in the 2nd inning.  That time, he was forced out at second on a subsequent play.  Overbay led off the 4th with a double into left field.  He moved to 3rd base on Neil Walker's ground out, then scored on DJ Garrett Jones' sacrifice fly.  RF John Bowker tied the score in the top of the 5th, when he doubled into left field, then scored on ground outs by SS Chase d'Arnaud and CF Andrew McCutchen.  Overbay's third hit of the game was a line drive single in the top of the 6th, and Walker followed that with his blast over the right field wall to give the Pirates a 4-2 lead.  

Tony Watson came on to pitch the 6th inning.  He had two runners get on base, with a walk and a throwing error by d'Arnaud.  But d'Arnaud redeemed himself moments later, when he took the throw from Watson on a bouncer back to the mound, and turned the inning-ending double play.  Watson gave up a run in the 7th on a pair of singles, a sacrifice bunt, and an RBI single.  That inning also ended on a double play, when Watson struck out former Pirate Brandon Moss, then C Dusty Brown threw out the runner from first as he tried to steal second base.   Sean Gallagher buzzed through three batters, retiring all on a total of 5 pitches in the 8th inning.  Chris Leroux took the top of the 9th, and he also got out of a jam with a spectacular double play.  A walk, a sacrifice bunt, and another walk put two runners on base with one out.  SS Freddy Galvis lifted a long fly ball to left center field, but LF Alex Presley tracked it down with a long running catch, then whirled and fired in to the infield.  A relay by SS Brian Friday, then to 1B Garrett Atkins, and the runner from first base was doubled off, ending the game.  Leroux was credited with the Save, and Karstens got the win.

Also in the game:  2B Pedro Ciriaco singled in the 8th and stole second base.  CF Corey Wimberly, 3B Josh Fields, PH/DH Andrew Lambo, an PH/RF Steve Pearce all got into the game.   

Winding up with the third basemen in the Pirates' organization.  

Josh Harrison --  R/R,  5' 8",  175 lb
Harrison was chosen by the Cubs in the 6th round of the 2008 draft, and he came to the Pirates at the trading deadline in 2009.  He hit a solid .270 in 34 games at A+ Lynchburg to finish up that season, and went to the Carolina League Championship with his new teammates.  He moved up to AA Altoona for 2010, where he played about 60% of his games at third base and the rest at second base.  He's also played outfield a few times.  Harrison's bat took a step forward with the Curve.  He's not a big power hitter, but he did hit 33 doubles while he hit an even .300.  Harrison drew 32 walks (5.5%), which was an improvement over previous seasons.  He swings at a lot of pitches, but can hit the bad ones, so his strikeout rate (10%) dropped in 2010.  He also has some speed -- stole 19 bases for the Curve.  Harrison was named to the Eastern League All-Star team, and had a nice All-Star Game:  a 2-RBI triple and a single.  In the Curve's playoff run, Harrison hit .297 with 7 RBI.  After the regular season, Harrison was invited to the Arizona Fall League, where he hit .330 for the Mesa Solar Sox.  He contributed 10 doubles, 2 triples, one homer, and 8 RBI, while walking 10 times and striking out 12 times.  Harrison should be ready for a move to Indianapolis, but he might be competing with players who don't make the major league team.