Movin' up

The Bucs' two top prospects are moving to Altoona together. Neil Walker, formerly of high A Lynchburg and Andrew McCutchen, formerly of low A Hickory, are both going to the Curve, which strongly increases the chances of me taking an impromtu road trip to Altoona sometime at the end of this summer. Walker got off to a slow start at Lynchburg this year coming off of his wrist surgery but he's been killing the ball of late, so this promotion is a logical one. McCutchen impressed most of the brass with the big club in Bradenton, then started hot at Hickory before cooling off in May and June. He's been hot again recently and his .291/.356/.446 line is awfully impressive for a 19 year old in his first year of full-season ball. I'm surprised to see him skip Lynchburg and go all the way to Altoona but that doesn't mean it's necessarily a bad move. In fact it's nice to see the Pirates actually move their prospects along when they deserve it. The Pirates also promoted 26 year old non-prospect Vic Butler from Altoona to Indy.

Thanks to Gavin for the tip in the comments.