Minor League Recap: April

Indianapolis Indians (AAA): Of course, it's all about Andrew McCutchen. He has gotten off to a pretty solid start this year, hitting .282, with 11 extra-base-hits, 17 runs scored and 4 steals. He will be in Pittsburgh this year. It's just a matter of when. I'm guessing not until there's not enough games left in the season to make him eligible to be a Super-2 player in arbitration in 3 years. It sounds petty, but whatever.

Other potential Pirates of the future include Brian Bixler (currently filling in for Jack Wilson) hitting .327 with 8 RBIs for the Indians. Shelby Ford is hitting .208 with a homer and 4 RBIs, and no walks. (What happened to the Pirate fans that were calling for Freddy Sanchez to get traded so Ford could take over?) Steve Pearce is hitting .246 with 3 homers and 14 RBIs, but I bet he's looking at a major league career as a 4th or 5th outfielder/first baseman at this point. And Neil Walker is only hitting .205, though he does have 3 homers and 12 RBIs.

Pitching wise, Tom Gorzelanny is doing pretty well, aside from the walks (11 in 22 innings) which has not helped his 4.91 ERA. I'm still hoping he can get things straightened out some day. Daniel McCutchen has done pretty well (3.74 ERA), though he's also a bit high on the walks (10 in 21 2/3). I'm not sure if the team has high hopes for Virgil Vasquez, but at least he can throw strikes (4 walks in 22 2/3).

Altoona Curve (AA): The most notable player for the Curve, Jose Tabata, is out 4 to 6 weeks with a hamstring injury. With his mysterious wife stealing babies and now this (plus Tabata's .250 BA with no home runs prior to the injury), it's been a rough year for him.

Second baseman Jim Negrych is off to a hot start, hitting .373, with twice as many walks as strike outs. A couple of notable pitchers are in Altoona are '06 1st round pick Brad Lincoln and '07 first rounder Danny Moskos. Lincoln has a 4.26 ERA in 19 innings, but his 16:6 strike out to walk ratio is impressive. Moskos has a 5.94 ERA in 16 2/3 innings, with 8 walks and 8 strike outs.

Lynchburg Hillcats (High A): Pedro Alvarez has been a little inconsistent so far. He's had a number of clutch hits, but also some serious droughts. His average is currently .219, but he has drawn 15 walks already. He's also struck out 22 times and committed 7 errors at third. His 4 homers and 20 RBIs are nice though.

Jordy Mercer (SS) has done pretty well so far. He's hitting .246 with 2 homers and 13 RBIs, but he also has 7 doubles and 2 steals. He's probably not much more advanced than Chase D'Arnaud (at Low A) but they may always be playing a level apart so both can play short.

West Virginia Power (Low A): Speaking of Chase, he's hitting quite well so far, with an average of .355, with 2 homers, 12 RBIs and 4 steals. Young Robbie Grossman is getting some hits, but the 25 strike outs in 69 at bats doesn't look too hot. Another '08 draftee, Calvin Anderson is hitting quite well. His average is .318 and he's hit 3 homers to go along with 13 RBIs.