PIRATES PROSPECTSPITTSBURGH PIRATES MINOR LEAGUE NEWS, TRANSACTIONS, AND ARTICLES

Continuing to look at Pirates' pitchers in the lower levels of the organization:

Jarryd Sullivan  --  R/R,  6' 0",  181 lb
The 21-year-old Sullivan came to the Pirates out of the new Australian Baseball Academy.  He has a fastball in the high 80's, a curve, and a strong changeup.  Sullivan made his US debut in 2010, and after extended spring training, he began the short season at State College.  He made 3 appearances there, for 3 innings, but allowed 5 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits and 4 walks, for an 8.10 ERA.  He went down to the GCL for the rest of the season, and pitched better there, making 5 starts and 7 relief appearances.  In 35 innings, Sullivan gave up 16 earned runs on 40 hits, for a 4.11 ERA.  He walked only 3 batters, and struck out 15.  Over the winter, Sullivan returned to his native Australia and pitched for the Sydney Blue Sox in the Australian Baseball League.  He made 5 relief appearances for the Blue Sox, for a total of 7.2 innings without allowing a run.  He did give up 4 hits and 3 walks, while striking out 7 batters.  Sullivan should get another try at State College to begin 2011.


Joely Rodriguez  --  L/L,  6' 1",  175 lb
Rodriguez is a 19-year-old Dominican, who made his US debut in 2010 after one year in the Dominican Summer League.  He made 9 starts for the GCL Pirates, for a total of 47.1 innings.  He allowed 44 hits and 21 earned runs, including 10 homers.  He walked only 7 batters, while striking out 26 batters.  That's a little high on the homers and a little low on the strikeouts, but the latter could improve with some more work on his off-speed pitches.  He gets a lot of ground-ball outs.  At the end of the season, Rodriguez was promoted to State College, where he appeared in 2 games.  The first was tough, as he allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and a walk, in one inning.  The second appearance went better -- one unearned run on 2 hits and a walk in 3 innings.  Rodriguez should be back in State College for 2011.

Continuing to look at some of the pitchers in the Pirates' lower minor league organization.  Today we consider five more of the Pirates' 2010 draft picks.

Stetson Allie --  R/R,  6' 4",  225 lb
Allie was the second round pick in the draft, coming out of high school in Cleveland.  He signed at the last moment, so he did not get into any games in the regular season.  He did go to Fall Instrux, where he again impressed the Pirates' management with his velocity and also with his maturity.  He has a fastball that reached into the 100's several times toward the end of his high school career, but he has better control of it when it's in the mid 90's.  He also throws a slider and needs work on a changeup.  Control, along with the slider and the changeup, are what Allie is going to need to work on as he makes his pro debut.  He has been pitching in the minor league spring training camp and has struggled a bit as he faced more experienced players.  Allie seems to be slated to do more work in Extended Spring Training before beginning the 2011 season in State College.  

James Archibald  --  Bats L / Throws R,  6' 1", 190 lb
Archibald came to the Pirates in the 36th round of the draft.  He got signed and got down to business in the GCL, at first working out of the bullpen.  He did well in 3 relief appearances, allowing 5 hits and one run (a homer) in 5 relief innings, for a 1.80 ERA, with 3 strikeouts and no walks.  Archibald was moved to the starting rotation, and in 8 starts, he had more trouble.  His first two starts went well, as he allowed one run in 3 innings and one run in 5 innings.  The next three were a little shakier, with 5 runs on 15 hits over 12.2 innings.  His best game was on August 7th, when he struck out 7 batters in 5 innings.  Archibald's last 3 starts were very tough.  He allowed 14 runs on 19 hits in 9.1 innings, ballooning his total ERA to 5.40 for the season.  Archibald will be 21 years old in May.  He might spend some more time in the GCL before heading to State College in 2011.  

Indianapolis Indians  7,  Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees  2
The Indians had both the pitching and the hitting tuned up this afternoon as they defeated the Yankees at Bradenton.   SS Jordy Mercer, 2B Josh Harrison, and C Eric Fryer each drove in two runs.   The scoring started when Harrison tripled in the 3rd inning, when 3 runs came in. Mercer blasted a solo homer, then Fryer's 2-run double was the gem of the 8th inning, as 3 more runs scored.  Starter Justin Wilson pitched 3 scoreless innings, with 4 strikeouts, to earn the win.  The Yankees scored their 2 runs in the 5th, with reliever Jared Hughes on the mound.  Hughes pitched 2 innings and also struck out 3 batters.  Tony Watson pitched 2 scoreless innings (3 K), and Anthony Claggett (2 K) and Ramon Aguero each pitched a scoreless frame.  

Pirates  7,  Red Sox  5
A 5-run 4th inning put the Pirates well on their way to a win this afternoon at Bradenton.  The rally began when 2B Neil Walker reached base on a fielding error and CF Andrew McCutchen walked.   1B Lyle Overbay lifted a double into left field, which brought in both Walker and McCutchen.  3B Pedro Alvarez grounded to third, where Overbay was out, leaving Alvarez on first.  RF Matt Diaz lined a single up the middle, and C Dusty Brown loaded the bases on an infield grounder that bounced off Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett.  With two outs, Pirates' starter Kevin Correia slipped a grounder into left field, driving in Alvarez and Diaz.   When the throw in to the plate was not in time to get Diaz, the Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia tried to throw back to third to surprise Brown.  The real surprise was when Saltalamacchia's throw sailed into left field, allowing Brown to score and Correia to move up to third.  LF John Bowker gave the Pirates 2 more insurance runs with a homer in the 7th inning.  Correia also singled in the 3rd inning but was out in a force play at second.

2B Pedro Ciriaco doubled after Bowker's homer in the 7th.   CF Corey Wimberly, RF Josh Fields, and SS Josh Rodriguez got into the game.  Steve Pearce played a few innings at third base as well.

Correia pitched 5 innings in his start.  He gave up two singles in the top of the 1st and one in the 2nd, but double plays got him out of both innings.  He zipped through the 3rd and 4th innings, then gave up 3 runs in the 5th.  A walk, a single, and a sacrifice fly brought in the first run.  Two more singles added a second run, then a throwing error by Walker at second and a sacrifice fly added an unearned run.  Joel Hanrahan pitched a scoreless 6th, with 2 strikeouts.  Then Justin Thomas allowed a run to score in the 7th on a run, a double, and a wild pitch.  Fernando Nieve pitched the final two innings and earned the save even though he gave up a run on a double, a walk, and a single in the 9th.  

The Pirates had a busy Spring Training day today:
LHP (starter) Garrett Olson was claimed off waivers from Seattle.  Olson is a 27-year-old California native who was the Orioles' 1st round pick in the 2005 draft.  He made his major league debut in July 2007, and split both the 2007 and 2008 season between Balitmore and AAA Norfolk.  His combined stats for Baltimore:  10-13 record in 31 starts, 165 innings, 6.87 ERA, 111 K, 90 BB.  And combined stats for Norfolk: 10-9 record in 29 starts, 164.1 innings, 3.12 ERA, 159 K, 55 BB.  One big problem, though, is that he surrendered 35 homer runs over those two years.  At the beginning of 2009, Olson was traded to the Cubs, and 10 days later was traded to the Mariners (with Ronny Cedeno) to the Mariners.  He split both the 2009 and 2010 seasons between Seattle and AAA Tacoma.  In 2009, he started 9 games for Tacoma, earning a 2-3 record and a 4.94 ERA, but in Seattle, he was also used in relief.  He made 11 starts and 20 relief appearances for a total of 80.1 innings  -- and gave up 19 home runs.  Olson made 6 starts and 6 relief appearances for Tacoma in 2010, then made 35 relief appearances in Seattle.  His record in Seattle was 0-3 with 1 save, and a 4.54 ERA.  In 37.2 innings, he allowed 6 homers, 15 BB, with 21 K.  Throughout all these seasons, Olson allowed about as many or more hits as innings pitched:  79 hits in 80.1 innings in Seattle in 2009, and 42 hits in 37.2 innings in 2010.  His overall major league total is 10.53 hits/9 innings.  The Pirates plan to have Olson compete for a spot as a lefty out of the bullpen.  Scott Olsen (oh, we're going to have fun confusing those two) and Joe Beimel are also in consideration but have lost time time this spring due to injury.  Brian Burres and Justin Thomas are also in the mix.  In order to make a spot for Olson on the 40-man roster, the Pirates placed Kevin Hart on the 60-day DL.  Olson is out of options, which is why the Mariners had to put him on waivers.  If he does not make the Pirates' active roster out of camp, then he will have to go on waivers again.  The hits and the homers are concerning, and the Pirates will have to see how Olson does in some spring appearances in the next two weeks.


Phillies  3,  Pirates 2
The Phillies rallied in the bottom of the 9th for a come-from-behind win over the Pirates in Clearwater, FL this afternoon.  With Chris Leroux on the mound, the first two batters of the frame both singles.  Former Pirate/Indian Erik Kratz bounced a pinch-hit grounder to third, but instead of going for the double play, 3B Jeremy Farrell went for the tag of the runner going from second to third.  The runner avoided the tag but was called out anyway because he went out of the basepath.  That left runners on first and second with one out.  The next batter slapped a grounder to second, and though 2B Josh Harrison made a great stab to keep the ball from going into right field, he was only able to make the out at first.  With two runners in scoring position, Leroux gave up a single up the middle, and both runners (including Kratz) scored, for the walk-off win.