Two Pirates' minor league catchers, who apparently had some kind of magnetism for pitched baseballs in their heads last season:

Tony Sanchez  --  R/R, 6' 0",  220 lb
The top catching prospect in the Pirates' system, Sanchez was chosen in the first round of the 2009 draft.  He had a 4-game warm-up in State College, then reported to West Virginia to finish the 2009 season, where he hit .316 with 7 homers and 46 RBI in 41 games.  Sanchez stepped up to A+ Bradenton for the 2010 season, and got right back to business.  He began the season with a .348 average, 3 homers, and 18 RBI in April, then "slipped" to .314 with 12 RBI in May.  Sanchez was working around some shoulder stiffness, which may have been responsible for the drop in power in May, as well as trouble throwing.  He threw out only 9 of 61 (15%) potential base stealers.  Sanchez was named to the Florida State League All-Star team (mid-season), and the shoulder seemed to be getting better, when Sanchez was hit in the head by a pitch on May 26th.  He was back in the line-up the next day (as the DH), and seemed to be fine -- he had 8 hits over the next 4 days, and appeared to be just days away from a promotion to AA Altoona.  But on June 3rd, he was hit with a pitch again, and this time it broke his jaw, requiring surgery.  That was the end of Sanchez's season, and forced him to miss both the FSL All-Star Game and the Futures Game.  With his jaw was wired for several weeks, Sanchez worked to maintain his conditioning and keep his weight up on a liquid diet.  He was picked to play in the Arizona Fall League, to help make up for some of the time he lost.  No one gets tons of playing time in the AFL, though, and Sanchez had to share catching duties with the other catchers on the team.  He was still trying to regain his timing, and hit just .206 in 18 games.  Now in spring training, Sanchez is healthy, and he's with the major league club as a non-roster invitee, impressing the management with his work and his work ethic.  Look for Sanchez, who will turn 23 years old in May, to begin the 2011 season in AA Altoona, where he needs to work on his game-calling abilities.  With a healthy shoulder, he should have a better time against opposing base runners too.

More catchers in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Ramon Cabrera  --   Bats: Both / Throws: Right, 5' 7",  202 lb
The 21-year-old Cabrera made his US debut in 2009 with the GCL Pirates, and the organization thought well enough of him to promote him to West Virginia for 2010.  It worked out reasonably well for Cabrera, who took the job of the primary catcher for the Power.  He still needs work behind the plate, especially since he had only switched to catching shortly before going pro.  He threw out 22 of 158 baserunners (21%), and had 12 passed balls.  On offense, Cabrera started off well, hitting .286 in April with 3 RBI.  The average dropped to .269 in May, but the RBI's increased to 11.  He dropped further to .208 for June, but came back to .284 in July and .286 in August.  He wrapped up his year by going 14-for-37 (.378) over the last two weeks of the season.  That came out to a .269 average for the season, with 14 doubles, 3 triples, one homer, and 40 RBI.  Not a lot of power, but that could improve over the next few years.  Cabrera struck out 42 times in 90 games (12.3%), though his walk rate dropped almost in half -- from 28 walks in 2009 to 22 in 2010.   Cabrera should be ready for A+ Bradenton for the 2011 season.  

Jairo Marquez  --  R/R,  6' 1",  178 lb
Marquez, like Cabrera, is a Venezuelan native who also made his US debut in 2009.  Marquez started the 2010 season at State College, but after getting into just 4 games, he was moved up to West Virginia, where they needed a back-up catcher.  While Cabrera caught 90 games for the Power, Marquez caught just 21.  He has a little more power than Cabrera, hitting .303 with 7 doubles, one triple, 2 homers, and 9 RBI, though that's a small sample.  He threw out 9 of 28 potential base stealers (32%) in his limited action.  It's going to be crowded behind the plate at both the A and A+ levels, so it's not clear where Marquez will fit into that mix.  

Jordan Newton --  R/R,  5' 10",  195 lb 
Newton was the Tigers' 6th round pick in the 2006 draft.  After four seasons in the Tigers' organization, he had reached as high as A+, where he hit .263 with 8 homers and 29 RBI.  When the Tigers released him, Newton began the 2010 season with the New Jersey Jackals in the Can-Am league.  The Pirates signed Newton when they needed more catchers to try to not get hit in the face by pitches in Bradenton.  The Kentucky native got into 27 games for the Marauders, including 10 behind the plate and 5 in left field.  He was ok behind the plate, throwing out just 2 of 25 potential base stealers.  Norton hit well in Bradenton:  .331 with 7 doubles, a homer, and 16 RBI.  He would be able to back up Cabrera in Bradenton in 2011, but will have to fight the rest of the crowd for a spot.   

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.