Raul Fortunato

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

2009
DSL:  161/255/218, 87 AB, 2 2B, 1 HR, 7 BB, 14 K, 4-6 SB

Fortunato got into 29 games after signing in June.  He played mostly left and struggled at the plate.  He had seven outfield assists in just 27 games.

2010
DSL:  209/287/277, 220 AB, 6 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 19 BB, 48 K, 22-26 SB

Fortunato was the regular in center, but hit very little.  He did very well on the bases and had 13 assists in 67 outfield games.

2011
DSL:  324/409/491, 244 AB, 10 2B, 5 3B, 7 HR, 30 BB, 49 K, 34-45 SB

In his third year, Fortunato was one of the top hitters in the DSL.  The only negative was a somewhat high K rate.

2012
A-:  429/467/643, 14 AB, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 BB, 1 K, 1-1 SB

The Pirates often will skip Latin American players who are a little older than ideal when they first reach the US over the GCL.  They did that with Fortunato and he got off to a good start at State College, but got hurt after four games and missed the rest of the season.

2013
A:  248/300/352, 440 AB, 21 2B, 5 3B, 5 HR, 21 BB, 95 K, 12-20 SB

Fortunato was slated to be West Virginia’s left fielder, but when Barrett Barnes missed most of the season, he ended up as the most-frequently used center fielder.  He posted a .754 OPS in April and .673 in May, then hovered around .600 the rest of the year.  He wasn’t willing to draw many walks and posted only a .583 OPS against LHPs.

2014
A+:  222/273/289, 311 AB, 9 2B, 4 HR, 20 BB, 67 K, 13-16 SB

Fortunato played semi-regularly all year for Bradenton, starting at all three outfield positions.  He was mostly overmatched at the plate.  He again struggled with LHPs, posting only a .418 OPS against them.

Fortunato figures to return to Bradenton, but the Pirates should have a lot of outfielders in class A in 2015, so he may have trouble finding playing time.