Moving along with the third basemen in the Pirates' minor league organization.  Two new faces today, plus a familiar friend:

Jeremy Farrell  --  R/R,  6' 3",  200 lb
The Pirates selected Farrell in the 8th round of the 2008 draft.  His playing time has been limited by a series of injuries, so that he's only played in 73 games and 79 games in his two full years of pro ball.  In 2010, it was knee problems.  He began the season on fire in A+ Bradenton, hitting .315 in April and .327 in May, with a combined 7 homers and 33 RBI.  In June, the knee got bad, had to be drained, then got infected.  Farrell was out of the lineup until August, but when he returned, he went right back to hitting, though without the modest power he'd had earlier in the season --  .333 in August, but with no homers and just 6 RBI.  He did strike out less in August.  Farrell played some first base in State College in 2008, but has been exclusively at third in the two seasons since.  He's made 25 and 20 errors at third over those two season (respectively), and that's going to have to improve.  Farrell will likely be moved up to AA Altoona for 2011, where his two main jobs will be to cut back those errors and to stay healthy.

Pirates  4,  Blue Jays  1
Pitchers were the story for the Pirates this afternoon in Dunedin, Florida.  Five Pirates' pitchers combined to hold the Blue Jays to 4 hits this afternoon in Dunedin, Florida.  Charlie Morton made his second strong start in the Grapefruit League.  He gave up one run in the top of the 1st, courtesy of two former Pirates:  CF Rajai Davis led off with a double, legged out when LF Matt Diaz was a little slow in picking up (the Pirates should have anticipated Davis' speed).   3B Jose Bautista drove the run in with a single slipped through into left field.   Morton ended the inning by inducing a double play, then he retired the side in both the 2nd and 3rd innings.  That included a nice barehanded snatch of a bunt attempt, and a whirl to throw the batter out at first.  Brad Lincoln buzzed through the next three innings, retiring all 9 batters he faced.  Morton and Lincoln each struck out one batter, and neither gave up a walk.  Tyler Yates and Jeff Locke each took an inning, and neither gave up a hit, though Yates walked one.  Cesar Valdez gave up the other two Jays' hits in the 9th inning.  After a strikeout, he surrendered two singles, and with a wild pitch, that gave him runners on the corners.  But he picked the runner off first, then ended the game with a strikeout.

The Pirates' hitters were having some trouble with Blue Jays' starter Brett Cecil.  Cecil struck out 5 of the first 6 Pirates' batters, and allowed only one hit, a double by C Jason Jaramillo, in the 3rd inning.  Jaramillo doubled again to lead off the 6th inning.  CF Andrew McCutchen followed with a walk, then a ground out put both runners into scoring position.  3B Pedro Alvarez drove in both with a standing triple into the right field corner, to give the Pirates a 2-1 lead.  They added a run in the 7th, when 2B Brian Friday doubled into left field with two outs, then scored on C Dusty Brown's single.  Another two-out rally provided the Pirates' fourth run in the top of the 9th.  SS Pedro Ciriaco lined a singled into right field, then stole second base.  3B Josh Rodriguez slipped a single into left field, and Ciriaco came around to score.  Rodriguez also stole second base, and Brown was hit by a pitch, but the rally ended when CF Corey Wimberly popped out.  
 
Also getting into the game:  Jeremy Farrell pinch-hit (ground out) in the 8th inning;  his father, John Farrell, is the new manager of the Blue Jays.  1B Josh Fields, LF Alex Presley, RF Gorkys Hernandez, and 3B Andy Marte also played.

Continuing to look at the third basemen in the Pirates' minor league organization:

Elevys Gonzalez --  Bats Both / Throws R,  5' 11",  175 lb
Gonzalez is a Venezuelan native who made some big improvements in 2010.  He appeared to be headed for a return trip to State College to begin the season (he'd played 13 games there in 2009), but due to injuries further up the ladder, Gonzalez was instead assigned to A level West Virginia in May.  He embraced the challenge, hitting .303 in 9 games there, with a homer and 2 RBI.  He dropped down to .195 in June, but by the end of the month, he was getting more playing time, and in July he had the average back up to .300, with 7 RBI.  At first Gonzalez was splitting his playing time between second base, third base, and shortstop, functioning as the Power's utility infielder.  But by August, he was playing regularly at third base, as Jesus Brito struggled defensively there.  More time on the field translated to more plate appearances and better hitting for Gonzalez -- .289 with 2 homers and 16 RBI in August.  He finished the season with a flourish at the plate, with 3 homers in the last 5 games, and 3 hits in the last game.  Overall for the season, Gonzalez hit a solid .275, with 9 doubles, 4 triples, 6 homers, and 31 RBI.  The 21-year-old should be ready for A+ Bradenton for 2011, where he will likely play more third base, but also spend some time at second and short.