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With just a week left until the major league season begins, we have a few more prospects to look at. �Two outfielders today:

Jose Tabata (photo) came to the Pirates from the Yankees in the 2008 trade that included Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and Daniel McCutchen. �The Venezuelan native was with the AA Trenton Thunder at the time of the trade, and he was not having his best season. �He was hitting .248, the lowest he'd hit since coming to the US, with 3 homers and 36 RBI. �He had had wrist surgery in late 2007, and was probably still working his way back from that. �The change of scenery Tabata found when coming to the Pirates seemed to agree with him. �He was assigned to AA Altoona, and in 22 games with the Curve, Tabata hit 100 points higher than he'd hit in Trenton, with another 3 homers and 13 RBI. �There had been some questions about his attitude while with Trenton, but no such incidents were repeated once Tabata came to the Pirates. �Furthermore, Tabata was able to shake off the distraction that cropped up during spring training in 2009, when his wife was involved in the kidnapping of a baby. �Tabata reported back to Altoona to begin 2009 and got off to a moderate start, hitting .250 in 17 games, with 3 doubles and 6 RBI. �At that point, he injured his hamstring and went onto the Disabled List for nearly two months. �When he returned in June, Tabata hit .255 in his next 16 games, with one homer and 7 RBI. �Then he exploded in July, when he appeared in 28 games, and had at least one hit in all but 4 of them, including 3 hits on July 3rd and 4 hits on July 21st. �He hit .354 over the month, with 10 doubles, another homer, and 12 RBI. �That gave him an overall .303 average for his time in Altoona, with 15 doubles and 25 RBI. �He also stole 7 bases, though was caught stealing 25 times. �He worked 20 walks and struck out 25 times. �Tabata was promoted to Indianapolis for the beginning of August. �In 32 games with the Indians over the last 5 weeks of the season, the 21-year-old hit a solid .276, with 7 doubles, 3 homers, and 10 RBI. �Tabata played center field for the Indians, and both center and right fields in Altoona. �He made only 2 errors all season, and his arm is considered strong and reasonably accurate.

Looking at two shortstops today, both of whom should be starting the season at AAA Indianapolis:

Brian Friday was the Pirates' 3rd round pick in the 2007 draft. �The Houston native reported to State College in mid-July, and got in 40 games with the Spikes, hitting .295 with 2 homers and 13 RBI. �He spent most of 2008 with A+ Lynchburg, but his season was disrupted by a prolonged bout of back problems. �Despite missing about 2 months, Friday hit .287 with 20 doubles, 2 home runs, and 29 RBI. �He showed better plate discipline and fewer strikeouts than the previous season. �Friday was assigned to AA Altoona in 2009, and he got off to a blistering start, going 11-for-22 in his first 6 games. �An ear infection landed Friday on the DL after the first week of the season, and kept him out of the lineup until mid-May. �When he returned, Friday went on another tear, with a 7-game hitting streak, including four games in a row where he had 2 hits per game. �He slowed down at the end of the month, though, and hit .264 for the month of May. �He had another strong week in mid-June, but overall it was a slow month, as Friday hit only .206, plus 9 RBI. �July was a better month, and the righty's average popped up to .256, while his RBI total popped up to 15. �He also dropped his strikeout rate, from 14 and 15 in May and June, down to 9 in July. �Friday finished out the season on a high note. �He had a hit in all but two of his first 20 games in August, including a 10-game hitting streak (11-for-33). �He had 9 doubles, and 14 RBI, and hit .284 for August/Sept. �On the down side, he also struck out 28 times in August/Sept. �He finished with a .265 average, 22 doubles, 3 triples, 7 homers, and 46 RBI. �On the field, Friday played exclusively at shortstop. �He made 25 errors with the Curve, about on a par for what he did in Lynchburg the previous season.

Continuing to look at the prospects -- another outfielder today:

Gorkys Hernandez came to the Pirates from the Braves' organization. �The Venezuelan native came to the US in the Tigers' organization, and hit very well in his two seasons with them: �.327 for the GCL Tigers, and .293 for A level West Michigan. �He was traded to the Braves, and played at their A+ level Myrtle Beach affiliate in 2008, hitting .264, with 23 doubles, 5 homers, and 42 RBI. �Though he had stolen 54 bases at the A level in 2007, he did not do much stealing in 2008 -- just 20 steals and 4 times caught stealing. �The drop was thought to be due to a hamstring injury. �Hernandez was moved up to the AA level (Mississippi) to begin the 2009 season. �In 52 games, he hit .316 with 11 doubles and 19 RBI. �He stole bases at about the same rate (10) and struck out at a little higher rate than in 2008 (54 K's). �In early June, the outfielder was traded to the Pirates in the deal that sent Nate McLouth to the Braves. �Hernandez was assigned to AA Altoona, but his success in the Southern League did not translate well into the Eastern League. �He hit .244 over 24 games for the rest of June, with just 4 RBI and just 2 stolen bases. �He also struck out 19 times in 24 games. �In July he showed a little more power: �.243 with 2 home runs and 13 RBI, three stolen bases, but a whopping 25 strikeouts in 28 games. �Hernandez's average climbed a bit in August/September, when he hit .285 over 34 games. �He contributed 14 RBI, but still struck out at a high rate -- 32 K's. �That gave him a .262 average for his time with the Curve, with 14 doubles, 2 triples, 3 homers, and 31 RBI. �He stole a total of 9 bases but was caught 8 times. �He also walked 24 times and struck out 76 times. �In the field, Hernandez made 4 errors while with the Curve, but he has good speed in the field and has a strong throwing arm. �There was also some concern about attitude issues when a couple of incidents occurred on the field, but after those two incidents, nothing more happened. �It may have been a matter of a 21-year-old getting used to a new place and new coaching staff. �Hernandez was added to the Pirates' 40-man roster at the end of the season, and he's reported to spring training with the major league club. �He got into 8 Grapefruit League games with the Pirates, and went 2-for-10 at the plate, with a walk and 4 strikeouts. �In the first round of cuts, Hernandez was optioned back to Altoona, where he'll begin the 2010 season. �He'll need to be working on that strikeout rate, and the Pirates would like to see him show more power. �It would be interesting to have him stealing more bases too.

Looking at two more pitching prospects today....

Donnie Veal came to the Pirates as a Rule 5 Draft pick in December 2008. �He had been the Cubs' 2nd round draft pick in 2005, and had climbed as high as the AA level in their organization, but ran into difficulties with his mechanics and subsequently his control. �Veal had to be kept on the Pirates' major league roster for all of the 2009 season (or else be sent back to the Cubs), and it must have been a frustrating season for him. �He did begin the 2009 season in the Pirates' bullpen, but made only 5 relief appearances over April and May. �Veal was placed on the Disabled List with a groin strain at the end of May, which enabled him to make some "rehab" starts in the minor leagues. �He reported to the Indy Indians on June 8th, and over the next month, the Mississippi native made one start and 8 relief appearances. �He accumulated 14 innings with the Indians, but continued to struggle with his control. �In those 9 games, he allowed 16 walks and 6 hits, for 10 runs and a 6.43 ERA. �He also struck out 13 batters. �Veal continued to see occasional action with the Pirates upon his return, but then he sprained his left index finger, and went onto the Disabled List again. �This time, his rehab time was spent in Altoona, from August 18th to .

The most-heralded prospect in the Pirates' system:

Pedro Alvarez was the Pirates' first-round draft pick in the 2008 draft. �The third baseman had played for three collegiate seasons at Vanderbilt University, where he accumulated a .349 average, 49 homers, and 162 RBI. �His third season was hindered by a broken hand, sustained when he was hit by a pitch. �After being drafted, Alvarez was at the center of a huge controversy involving the signing of his contract and his new agent, Scott Boras. �The Pirates had hoped that Alvarez would be able to get his feet wet professionally in the last few weeks of the 2008 season, but the contract controversy precluded that. �Instead, Alvarez made his pro debut at the beginning of the 2009 season, when he was assigned to A+ Lynchburg.

Alvarez started off with a bang, going 3-for-4 on Opening Day, including a homer to give Lynchburg the lead, and a 2-run double to give them the win. �Then he went hitless for the next 5 games. �He muddled along over the next few weeks, hitting .219 for the month of April. �But, he hit 3 more home runs, all in dramatic situations -- one to tie the game, one to break a tie, and one for a walk-off win. �The first two weeks in May continued to be slow, as Alvarez went 7-for-42 over that time, with 2 more homers. �Then he had an offensive burst, hitting in 7 of his next 8 games and going 13-for-32. �He finished the month with 7 more hits, for a .262 average in May and 5 home runs. �There was another spurt of hits, 9-for-16 over 4 games, in mid-June, and Alvarez had a .254 average in 18 games in June, with 5 more home runs. �That gave the left-handed hitter a .247 average over 66 games for the Hillcats, with 14 doubles, a triple, 14 homers, and 55 RBI. �He walked 37 times and struck out 70 times, which was not unexpected. �In the field, Alvarez made 13 errors at third base, also not unexpected for a player in his first pro assignment. �Six of the errors came in the month of April, so he did settle down a bit.

Getting back to looking at some of the minor league players moving up in the Pirates' organization. �These are in no particular order, though we've generally been working our way from the lower levels to the upper levels. �Today we'll look at a couple of first-round draft pitchers.

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Brad Lincoln is the top pitching prospect in the Pirates' organization.

The nearly-25-year-old �was the Pirates' first round pick in the 2006 draft after an outstanding season at the University of Houston -- a 12-2 record and a 1.69 ERA in 17 starts. �After signing, Lincoln reported to the GCL Pirates for two starts, where he allowed only one unearned run in 7.2 innings. �Then he was bumped up to A level Hickory, where he made 4 more starts before being shut down with an oblique strain. �He'd already pitched a whopping 151.1 innings that year, so the Pirates were not disappointed to have him sit. �They were disappointed when a muscle strain in his right arm during spring training 2007 turned out to be a ligament problem �Lincoln had Tommy John surgery in April and missed the entire season.

Unlike many pitchers who have a rocky rehab course, Lincoln's rehab period went well. �He was able to return to the mound again at Hickory in May 2008, and made 11 starts for the Crawdads, earning a 5-5 record and a 4.65 ERA. �In 62 innings, he gave up a lot of hits (72) but only 6 walks, with 46 strikeouts. �He was promoted to A+ Lynchburg, where he made 8 more starts for another 41.2 innings. �He gave up proportionally fewer hits with the Hillcats (42) but more walks (11). �His strikeout rate was about the same: �29 K for a 6.3 K/9 Inning rate. �He won only one game while losing 5 for the Hillcats, and earned a 4.75 ERA.

The Pirates had a day off on Tuesday �-- no workouts, no games. �Minor league games begin on Wednesday. Until then.... a couple more relief pitchers to look at. Derek Hankins was the Pirates' 10th round pick in the 2004 draft. �The righty has moved slowly up through the Pirates' organization, but spent all of 2008 with AA Altoona. �He made 23 starts and one relief appearance for the Curve that season, piling up 119 innings while earning a 2-11 record and a 4.54 ERA. �He gave up a lot of hits (135), 60 earned runs, and 26 walks, and struck out 89 batters. �Hankins was sent to the Arizona Fall League after the 2008 season, where he made 12 relief appearances for the Scottsdale Scorpions. � He struggled in Arizona --in 13 innings there, Hankins gave up 12 earned runs and 17 hits, though with 10 strikeouts. �The Illinois native returned to Altoona for the 2009 season, but the season got off to a rocky start. �After making a brief relief appearance on Opening Day and giving up a 2-RBI triple, Hankins was placed on the Disabled List with what was listed as a "stomach ailment". �He did not return to the Altoona active roster until early June. �Upon his return, Hankins made 4 relief appearances, allowing 6 earned runs on 11 hits and 3 walks. �Then he returned to the starting rotation for the end of June and into July (plus one relief inning in July). �In 6 starts, he pitched 30 innings, half for 4 innings and half for 6 innings. �He earned a 4-2 record with a 3.90 ERA in that time, and struck out 22. �Hankins made 3 starts and 4 relief appearances in August/September, throwing 21.2 innings. �He gave up 33 hits, 16 earned runs, 9 walks. �He also struck out 32 batters, which was an improvement. �The 26-year-old finished his shortened season with a 3-4 record and a 4.42 ERA over 71.1 innings, and 66 strikeouts -- his highest strikeout rate (8.3 K/9 innings) of his career. �Hankins seemed to do better in a relief role, and he is likely to be back in the Altoona bullpen in 2010. Moises Robles is a Dominican native, who came to the Pirates from the Mets' organization in the December 2006 Rule 5 draft. �He had previously pitched only in the Dominican Summer League, but made his US debut with the Pirates in 2007 at State College, where he made 13 starts. �In 2008, Robles was moved to the bullpen, and made 19 relief appearances for A level Hickory, 18 for A+ Lynchburg, and 13 for AA Altoona, though his ERA and his hits allowed rose as he moved up in the organization. �The Pirates sent Robles to the Hawaiian Winter League in the fall of 2008. �He appeared in just 4 games for West Oahu, going 3.2 innings, and allowing 4 hits and 2 runs, without walking or striking out any batters. �Robles began the 2009 season on the Disabled List, but returned to Lynchburg once he was ready to go. �He pitched 10 innings for the Hillcats in May, and earned a 3.60 ERA. �Robles was promoted to Altoona at the end of May. �He stayed with the Curve for two weeks, only pitching 3.2 innings, with a 9.81 ERA. �Back in Lynchburg, Robles pitched 14.1 scoreless innings in July, but allowed 13 runs in 14 innings in August. �Overall, he had a 0-2 record and a 4.43 ERA for the Hillcats, in a total of 42.2 innings, with 21 runs on 48 hits, 7 walks, and 26 strikeouts. �Robles was back to Altoona again for 4.2 innings during the first week of September. �He finished up with a 1-0 record and a 6.48 ERA for the Curve, but again allowed more hits than innings (12 hits in 8.1 innings), with 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. �Robles will be 26 years old in April. �He will probably return to Altoona, but he'll need to work on giving up fewer hits, and more strikeouts would also be a help.

Minor league games begin on Wednesday. �The Indianapolis Indians' first game, against the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs (Phillies) will be played in Clearwater, Florida at 1 pm. �In fact, all of their games are scheduled for 1 pm. �Here is a schedule of the Indians' spring training games. There is not always a lot of info about these games -- it can be hit-or-miss. Looking at two pitching prospects today: Tony Watson is making a come-back this season after missing most of 2009 to elbow problems. �The southpaw was the Pirates' 9th round pick in the 2007 draft, and he finished out the 2007 season with 10 starts at State College (6-1 record, 2.52 ERA) and 3 starts at A level Hickory (1-1, 3.86 ERA). �He made an amazing 28 starts for A+ Lynchburg in 2008, for 151.2 innings. �His won-loss record was not great (8-12), but his ERA was not bad at 3.56. �He allowed 149 hits, 60 earned runs, and only 36 walks, while striking out 104 batters. �Watson was promoted to AA Altoona to begin 2009, where he was the Opening Day starter. �He struggled through 5 starts over April and the first week of May. �In the best of the five, he pitched 5 innings and allowed 3 runs on 6 hits; in the worst, he didn't make it out of the 1st inning and allowed 4 runs on 4 hits. �Those starts gave him 15.1 innings, 22 hits, and 14 earned runs, with 11 walks and 14 strikeouts, and a 8.22 ERA. �Watson went onto the Disabled List with elbow strain, and missed the rest of the Curve's season. �He worked hard to rehab, though, and in the fall, the Pirates sent the Iowa native to the Arizona Fall League so that he could get in some more work. �Watson pitched 12.2 innings of relief in 11 appearances for the Scottsdale Scorpions, where he did very well. �He did not get any decisions or saves, but he earned a 2.13 ERA, with 3 runs on 7 hits and 6 walks, plus 12 strikeouts. �Batters only managed a .152 average against him. �Most of his appearances were one inning in length, though he had two 2-inning outings and one where he pitched only 0.2 innings. �Watson should be ready to go for the 2010 season, and he'll get to try again for the Curve. �No word as to whether the Pirates plan to put the nearly-25-year-old back in the starting rotation or have him in the bullpen. �Relieving in the AFL may just have been convenience, or an attempt to ease him back into some innings. Michael Dubee is a 24-year-old right-handed pitcher who was drafted by the Phillies in the 18th round of the 2006 draft -- the organization where his dad is the major league pitching coach. �He finished the 2006 season and began the 2007 season in the Phillies system, then was traded to the White Sox. �Dubee finished 2007 with the White Sox A level team and pitched the entire 2008 season with their A+ team in Winston-Salem. �For W-S, he made 13 starts and 17 relief appearances, for a 5-7 record and one save, and a 4.37 ERA over 103 innings. �The righty returned to W-S to begin the 2009 season, but after just 2 appearances (3 innings), he was traded to the Pirates and assigned to A+ Lynchburg. �Dubee made 23 relief appearance and over 34.1 innings, he mowed down the Carolina League batters. �He allowed 22 hits and 3 walks for 4 earned runs and a 1.05 ERA, with 2 wins and 6 saves. �He also struck out 52 batters (12.8 K/9 innings). �That earned him a promotion to Altoona in June, where he made 26 relief appearances for the Curve. �He did not allow any earned runs in his first 3 outings (5 innings) at the end of June. �In July, �Dubee made 12 relief appearances and gave up 4 earned runs on 21 hits and 5 walks in 15.2 innings (2.30 ERA). �Things got tougher for him in August, when he gave up 7 runs on 11 hits in 10.2 innings (9 outings), and his ERA popped up to 5.91 for the month. �But, he finished the season well, with three scoreless appearances over the last week of the season (5.2 innings), and only 3 hits (all in the middle of those games) with 6 strikeouts. �He finished his time in Altoona with a solid 2.91 ERA and a 3-0 record over 34 innings. �Dubee will likely return to Altoona to begin 2010, but if he continues to pitch as well as he did in 2009, he could move up to Indianapolis mid-season.

No, no roster cuts on Sunday morning either.... � so, we'll continue looking at some of the Pirates' minor leaguers. �Once again, these are in no particular order, though we've generally been moving our way from the lower levels to the upper levels in the minor league organization. �Also, I know that some players may have ventured beyond the word "prospect" and into the realm of "veteran" or "organizational player".... but in spring training, everyone can be a "prospect". Ramon Aguero is a Dominican native, who spent 2 seasons in the Dominican Summer League (under the name Samuel Vasquez) before making his US debut in 2008. �He made 10 starts and 5 relief appearances for State College that season, earning a 1-10 record and a 6.75 ERA. �He gave up a lot of hits -- 64 in 49.1 innings, with 37 earned runs, along with 22 walks and 35 strikeouts. �Despite the struggles, Aguero was moved up to West Virginia to open the 2009 season. �He worked mostly out of the bullpen, though he did make 3 starts. �Those starts went pretty well. �In the first (April 17th), Aguero pitched 4 innings without allowing a hit, a walk, or a run, while striking out 4 batters (one batter reached on a fielding error but was erased with a double play). �His next start came a month later, when he allowed a solo home run plus 3 other hits and one walk in 4.1 innings, with one strikeout. �On June 6th, Aguero pitched 3.2 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, with 7 strikeouts, giving him a 2.25 ERA in those three starts. �He had three tough relief appearances, in which he allowed 5 runs, 6 runs, and 4 earned runs over 5.2 innings. �The rest of his 17 relief outings went reasonably well. �He left West Virginia with a 4.71 ERA and a 1-2 record, having pitched 49.2 innings and allowed 58 hits and 26 earned runs. �He walked 16 and struck out 40 for the Power. �Aguero was promoted to Lynchburg at the calendar turned to July. �He made 11 relief appearances for the Hillcats, earning one win and 3 holds, and pitching up to 3 innings in each appearance. �There were two outings in which he allowed 2 earned runs and two in which he allowed one earned run. �That leaves 7 appearances (14.2 innings) in which Aguero did not allow a run. �In his last 4 appearances, for 9 innings, he did not give up a run and allowed only 4 hits, 3 walks, and struck out 9. �That earned Aguero a promotion to AA Altoona in mid-August. �He pitched in a closer role for the Curve, and was outstanding in his first 5 appearances -- scoreless for 8 innings. �He gave up one run on August 30th, suffering the loss, then had another scoreless inning on Sept 3rd, and finished the season with his second loss on Sept 6th, when he allowed 3 runs on 4 hits in 2 innings. �That gave him a 2.84 ERA in 12.2 innings, with 6 walks and 13 strikeouts. �Aguero was "demoted" to Lynchburg at the end of the regular season, but it was only so that he could help the Hillcats in their playoff run. �He appeared in 4 post-season games, earning 2 holds and a save, and allowing just one earned run on 5 hits in 8.1 innings. �Aguero got into some winter league games in his native Dominican Republic also. �He appeared in 15 games for Los Aguilas Cibaenas, for a total of 15 innings. �He gave up 10 hits and 5 runs, and 7 walks, while striking out 16 batters. �The Pirates added the 25-year-old to the 40-man roster after the season, to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. �That meant Aguero has been in the big league camp for spring training. �He has appeared in 3 games. �He pitched a shut-out inning in each of the first two, then gave up 2 earned runs on 2 hits in 0.1 inning on March 11th. �Expect to see Aguero return to Altoona for the beginning of 2010, though if he continues to pitch as well in relief as he did last August, he could be in Indianapolis by the second half of the season. �(Addendum: Aguero was optioned to Altoona in the first round of cuts today.) Corey Hamman was acquired by the Pirates in the Rule 5 draft at the end of the 2007 season. �He had been drafted by the Tigers in the 12th round of the 2002 draft, and had progressed up through their organization, spending most of 2006 and 2007 at the AAA level with Toledo. �Hamman split the 2008 season between AA Altoona, where he earned a 5-6 record and a 3.18 ERA, and AAA Indianapolis, where he went 4-3 with a 5.03 ERA. �Hamman returned to the Indians to begin the 2009 season. �He struggled in his first two appearances, allowing a run on 2 hits without an out recorded in the first, and 8 runs on 6 hits in 1.1 innings in the second. �He went onto the Disabled List on April 12th and remained there for 10 days. �The New Jersey native made 3 more relief appearances over the rest of April, and ended the month with a 35.10 ERA, with 14 hits, 13 runs, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts in 3.1 innings. �Things got better in May, when Hamman appeared in 10 games, with only one that was really tough -- on May 10th, when he allowed earned runs on 2 hits. �After one more appearance in early June, Hamman had a 1-0 record and a 10.26 ERA after 16.2 innings of work, 27 hits, 19 earned runs, with 6 walks and 18 strikeouts. �He was reassigned to Altoona on June 5th, and made 29 relief appearances for the Curve over the next two months. �Hamman had a little better time in Altoona, posting a 3.68 ERA in 29.1 innings, with 28 hits, 12 earned runs, 8 walks, and 21 strikeouts. �After a tough first outing, he settled in and generally performed well in 29 total appearances, most an inning or less in length. �Hamman returned to Indianapolis in mid-August to finish the season. �He made 10 more appearances for the Indians, going 13.2 innings and allowing 8 earned runs on 11 hits, with 9 walks and 14 strikeouts. �That dropped his overall ERA with Indianapolis to 8.01. �Hamman tried to make up for a disappointing US season with some�winter ball for Los Navegantes del Magallanes. �He was a different pitcher in Venezuela, where he posted a 1.42 ERA in 11 outings and did not allow a hit in 6.1 innings of work. �He allowed only one earned run on 3 walks, and he struck out 2 batters. �Spring training is going to be key for Hamman in 2010. �He needs to convince the Pirates that the Corey who pitched in Venezuela is the Real Corey, and then continue that trend when the season starts -- either in Altoona or Indianapolis.

Unusual that the Pirates have not begun sending people down to minor league camp from the big league camp. �Those moves will come all too soon for some players, unfortunately. �Minor league ST games begin on Wednesday (March 17th). �Meanwhile, we continue to look at some of the minor leaguers who are in camp: Jared Hughes was the Pirates' 4th round pick in the 2006 draft. �He's a tall lanky right hander -- 6' 7" and 220 pounds. �Hughes had been used exclusively as a starter as he worked his way up through the organization, reaching AA Altoona at the end of the 2008 season. �In 6 starts, he earned a 2-2 record and a 4.94 ERA over 31 innings, with 35 hits, 17 earned runs, 16 walks, and 18 strikeouts. �The California native returned to Altoona to begin the 2009 season. �In 7 starts over April and part of May, he threw 28.1 innings and posted a 1.91 ERA and a 1-4 record. �He allowed 26 hits, 6 earned runs, 10 walks and 19 strikeouts. �Hughes pitched 6 hitless and scoreless innings in his first start on April 1oth and 5 scoreless innings on May 11th. �But shoulder problems shut him down for the rest of May, as well as June and July. �He made 3 rehab starts with the GCL Pirates, going a total of 6 innings and allowing one run on 3 hits and a walk with 5 strikeouts. �Hughes returned to the Curve in August, but did not make any more starts. �Instead, he made 10 relief appearances over the remainder of the season, for a total of 18 innings. �He did earn 3 saves, plus 2 losses, for an ERA of 7.00. �He allowed 6 walks and 17 strikeouts as a reliever. �Now that he's had the winter to rest that shoulder, the 24-year-old should be ready to get back into the starting rotation in Altoona for 2010. Canadian Dustin Molleken was the Pirates' 15th round pick in the 2003 draft. �He spent his first few professional seasons battling injuries of one kind or another, including Tommy John surgery in 2004. �But the right-hander is persistent, and in 2008, he finally had a healthy season, which he split between A level Hickory (16 starts) and A+ Lynchburg (16 relief appearances). �He threw 80 innings as a starter, �more innings than in his previous two seasons combined, which may have been why he was moved to the bullpen in Lynchburg. �His walk rate increased from 2.3 BB/9 Innings in Hickory to 4.4 BB/9I in Lynchburg, but his strikeout rate also increased: �6.2 K/9 I in Hickory and 8.3 K/9 I in Lynchburg. �Molleken returned to Lynchburg to begin 2009. �He made 17 relief appearances and one start for the Hillcats, earning one save and one loss, and a 3.48 ERA. �The loss came with the one start, which must have made everyone involved realize that it was just not a good idea: �He got the first batter he faced out, then proceeded to give up a triple, have a batter reach on a fielding error, then give up four singles and a double. �He was charged with 4 earned runs over 0.1 innings. �The relief appearances went generally much better, and Molleken posted a 2.63 ERA over 41 innings, with 8 walks and 42 strikeouts. �On June 22nd, Molleken was promoted to Altoona, where he made 18 relief appearances over the rest of the season. �He had four rough outings, allowing 4 earned runs in two games and 3 earned runs in two other games, but that leaves 14 outings that were at least not bad and often pretty good. �He pitched a total of 37 innings for the Curve and allowed 37 hits, 19 earned runs, 16 walks, and 26 strikeouts, for a 1-1 record and a 4.62 ERA. �Overall, it was a reasonably solid season, and as importantly, the second in a row in which Molleken was healthy. �Another healthy year could give him the chance to take a big step forward. �He should return to the Altoona bullpen for the beginning of 2010.

The Pirates got to play 3 innings before being washed out this afternoon. �Pitcher Brian Bass scored the only run of the day, when he singled, moved to second base on another single by CF Andrew McCutchen, and crossed the plate on SS Ronny Cedeno's RBI double. �C Ryan Doumit was the only other Pirate to have a hit. �Starter Ross Ohlendorf went 1.1 innings, allowing two hits and a walk. �He gave up a single to former teammate Nate McLouth, but he and Doumit caught McLouth trying to steal third base. �Ohlendorf was scheduled to go 2 innings, but that was cut short when he was struck in the right leg by a line drive -- he was ok, though. Today, we'll look at two more minor leaguers in the Pirates' organization, both of whom came over in trades.... Jeff Corsaletti is an outfielder who hails from Florida. �He was drafted out of college (University of Florida) by the Red Sox in the 6th round of the 2005 draft, and worked his way up through the Red Sox' organization over the next 4 seasons. �In 2008, Corsaletti reached AAA Pawtucket, where he hit .232 in 44 games, with 2 homers and 13 RBI. �He returned to Pawtucket to begin the 2009 season, but struggled even more at the plate, where he hits from the left side: �.128 with one RBI in 13 games. �In May, the Pirates acquired Corsaletti from Boston, and he was assigned to AA Altoona, where Jose Tabata's injury meant the Curve needed some outfield help. �Corsaletti was able to help in the outfield, where he played mostly left field. �He made 3 errors in 66 games in left, and 2 errors in 4 games in right; he had no errors in 11 games in center field. �Unfortunately, Corsaletti could not help the Curve much at the plate. �In May, he hit .213 with 3 doubles 2 RBI. �In June, he had a touch more power, hitting 2 doubles, 2 triples, and a homer, with 6 RBI, but his average was .209. �That dropped to .188 for July, with 7 RBI. �Corsaletti had a very good August, as his average shot up to .299, with 8 RBI, including a 3-hit game on August 27th. �He also had two 2-hit games in the last week of the season. �Overall, that gave Corsaletti a .230 average for his time in Altoona, with 14 doubles, 3 triples, 2 homers, and 23 RBI. �Corsaletti did not strike out much -- just 33 times in 89 games -- and he showed some patience with 50 walks. �The big walk total is fairly typical for his career. �The Curve look like they are still going to need help in the outfield as the 2010 season begins. �There are a handful of outfielders (Robbie Grossman, Starling Marte, Quincy Latimore, Erik Huber) who will probably begin the season in A+ Bradenton, but won't be at all ready for AA this early. �Corsaletti will be an available body. �He will have to figure it out at the plate if he wants to still have a job when any of those A+ level outfielders really shine and are ready to advance. �He's just turned 27-years old, and is past the "prospect" stage if he's not hitting. Josh Harrison came to the Pirates from the Cubs in the trade that involved Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio coming to the Pirates and Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow heading to Chicago. �Harrison is a 22-year-old Cincinnati native, who has played second base, third base, and some outfield. �He was the Cubs' 6th round pick in the 2008 draft. �Harrison began his pro career with 33 games at Low A level Boise, where he hit .351 with 11 doubles, 2 triples, a homer, and 25 RBI. �He was promoted to A level Peoria for 31 games, and hit .262 there, with 4 RBI. �When Harrison returned to Peoria to begin the 2009 season, he hit .337, with 17 doubles and 16 stolen bases in 79 games. �He advanced to A+ Dayton and was hitting .286 with 9 RBI when he was traded at the end of July. �The Pirates assigned Harrison to Lynchburg, where he appeared in 34 games over the rest of the season. �He began his Pirate career with a 5-game hitting streak, going 8-for-20 in those 5 games, including a 3-hit game on August 3rd. �He engineered a 7-game hitting streak the next week, going 13-for-31 with two 3-hit games. �Overall, Harrison hit .270 with the Hillcats, but showed little power -- 8 doubles, a triple, a homer, and 13 RBI. �He walked just one time in those 6 weeks, while striking out 19 times, which was a higher strikeout rate and a lower walk rate than before the trade. �Harrison had stolen 26 bases while with the Cubs in 2009, but had only 4 steals in the last 6 weeks with the Hillcats. �While he had played outfield often earlier in the season, he was stationed in left field for only one game with Lynchburg. �He spent the rest of his playing time in the infield, sharing duties at second and third bases with Jordy Mercer and Chase d'Arnaud. �Harrison may need more time at the A+ level in 2010, or he may again be job sharing second and third base with Mercer and d'Arnaud. �He'll need to develop some patience at the plate and work on taking some more walks.

With just 4 weeks until the minor league season opens.... looking at two pitchers acquired in trades last season. Nate Adcock is a 22-year old right-hander who came to the Pirates from the Mariners, in the trade that sent Jack Wilson and Ian Snell to Seattle. �He was the Mariners' 5th round pick in the 2006 draft, and had moved up as far as A+ High Desert (a pitcher's nightmare) to begin the 2009 season. �The Kentucky native made 19 starts and 2 relief appearances at High Desert, piling up 102 innings and a 5-7 record with a 5.29 ERA. �He allowed 103 hits and 60 earned runs, including 10 homers, while striking out 71 batters and walking 54. �After the trade, Adcock was assigned to A+ Lynchburg. �He maintained essentially the same ERA for the Hillcats -- 5.25-- and earned a 3-2 record in 7 games, including 4 starts. �Adcock had already thrown 102 innings by the end of July, which was about a third again as many as he'd thrown in 2008, and a lot of innings for anyone anyway. �It meant that the Pirates limited his innings in Lynchburg. �In 24 innings for the Hillcats, Adcock allowed 29 hits and 14 earned runs, with 5 homers, 7 walks, and 15 strikeouts. �In 3 of his starts, Adcock did well, allowing 3 earned runs over 15 innings (1.80 ERA). �He had one tough start on August 30th, when he allowed 6 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in just one inning. �In 8 relief innings, Adcock allowed 5 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks. �The Kentucky native has a fastball around 88-92 mph) plus a curve and a changeup. �His walk rate dropped when he came over to the Pirates' organization, though he didn't have a big sample size. �Depending on how he looks in Spring Training, Adcock could return to the A+ level with the Bradenton Marauders, or he could move up to AA Altoona. Jeff Locke is also 22 years old, but he is a left-hander. �Locke joined the Pirates from the Braves, as part of the trade that involved Nate McLouth, along with Charlie Morton and Gorkys Hernandez. �Locke was the Braves' 2nd round pick in the 2006 draft and he had been moving steadily up in the Braves' organization, and like Adcock, was pitching at the A+ level (Myrtle Beach) at the beginning of the 2009 season. �He had made 10 starts for Myrtle Beach, with a 1-4 record and a 5.52 ERA. �In 45.2 innings there, he had allowed 47 hits and 28 earned runs, with 26 walks and 43 strikeouts. �After the move to A+ Lynchburg, Locke made 5 starts in June, and continued to give up a lot of hits-- 34 hits, 18 runs (12 earned) in 24 innings, for a 1-2 record and a 4.50 ERA. �He made another 5 starts in July, with 20 hits and 13 earned runs in 18.1 innings, for a6.38 ERA. �That was boosted by one particular start, though, as he allowed 3 runs on 3 hits without even getting out of the first inning on July 25th. �His very next start, on July 29th, was much better -- one run on one hit with 7 strikeouts in 6 innings. �That outing turned things around for Locke. �He gave up just one run in each of his next two starts (combined 10.1 innings). �Then came another tough start, with 5 earned runs on 12 hits in 5.2 innings. �Two more solid starts followed -- one run in each, with 11 innings. �Locke had another tough start on September 1st, when he gave up 3 runs on 7 hits in 5.2 innings, but then he finished up the season with 6.2 scoreless innings, 4 hits, and 6 starts in his last start. �That gave Locke a 2.76 ERA and a 3-0 record for August/September. �Overall with the Hillcats, he posted a 4-4 record with a 4.08 ERA. �In 81.2 innings, he allowed 37 earned runs, 98 hits, 18 walks, and 56 strikeouts. �The New Hampshire native should be able to begin the 2010 season in Altoona. �He'll need to work on his command, and reduce the number of hits he's allowing.