Some notes from Altoona

Over the weekend Gavin (regular commenter and one of the fine guest recappers from my vacation week) got to attend some baseball in Altoona with some primo seats and a chance to see the best (only?) position player prospects in the Pirate system, Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen. He was kind enough to send along a summary of his time at Blair County Ballpark.

I had the distinct pleasure of attending Blair County Ballpark yesterday to see the final six innings of a delayed game from the previous night, followed by a second seven inning game featuring our AA affiliate Altoona curve facing the Harrisburg Senators. I got the full VIP treatment and sat right behind home plate by the radar guns and Pirate GM David Littlefield and Special Assistant to the GM Pete Vukovich (editor's note: So Vuke has become George Costanza?). I did resist the urge to ask the Vuke to revisit his role as Clu Haywood in "Major League" and I had a small conversation with DL but also remained classy enough not to make any snide comments when Taber Lee was batting and when Matt Peterson was missing the strike zone by large distances. Due to the recent promotions of both Andrew McCutcheon and Neil Walker, Altoona is now a "hotbed" of future prospects by Pirate standards, which is about all you really need to know. The Curve split the two games, winning 8 to 5 in the first game and dropping the second contest 7 to 4.

The most impressive performance belonged to former Bucco Ray Sadler, a 25 year old outfielder who showed off his raw power by hitting 3 homeruns and belting out five hits. Sadler has had a disappointing year in Altoona but you wouldn't have known it by the way he was turning on the ball and none of the three HRs were even remotely cheap. His approach actually looks very similar to Ron Gant's as he is a skinny guy, but he has a hard and violent turn through the ball. He looks to me to be the type of player that could possibly "get it" at some point and really put up some huge numbers in the minors and get to the bigs.

Andrew McCutcheon is a wonderful talent, you can literally see in about four seconds that this kid is destined to be a good one. His bat speed is extraordinary for a skinny 19 year old and he can really run the bases and track down flyballs. He hit a rocket homerun to left field that left the yard in about two seconds and never got any higher than about ten feet off the ground. He still struggles somewhat with pitch recognition and was flailing after a couple curve balls in the dirt for strikeouts in the second game, but I saw very little not to like about him. He easily has the highest upside of anyone on the field yesterday.

Neil Walker was sick with strep throat according to his father, but he did make a pinch hit appearance and lined out sharply. He has a beautiful swing and the ball jumps hard off of his bat, but it is hard to tell much of anything from one AB. Ryan Doumit was on rehab assignment and started the second game behind the plate, but he looked very tentative at the plate and was hitless in four trips, although he did reach base on an error on a hard ground ball in his one left handed at bat. He has some work to do before he gets back to the bigs.

Nyjer Morgan is an intriguing prospect because of his unbelievable speed, although he is a little old for a prospect at 26. He was a former junior hockey player in Canada in the WHL who runs the bases like a frightened deer. He stole two bags and was caught stealing one other time when he overslid second base, which I was told is not the first time he has done this recently as he hits the bag with such ridiculous force on his slide. He has improved dramatically at the plate since I saw him a couple years ago in Williamsport and has a fairly simple approach, hitting line drives to all fields and letting the ball get deep in order to hit the left side of the field to use his speed to reach base. He is very exciting to watch, but might be a left-handed version of Rajai Davis.

Brian Bixler is a very solid shortstop, with decent range and good hands. He has excellent bat control and hits the ball hard consistently, usually line drives and ground balls. He seems to have a pretty good concept of the strike zone and looks to be a future .300 hitter with limited power, although he is only 23 years old. He also possesses some pretty good speed, which is clearly in abundance in Altoona (and just as clearly limited in Pittsburgh). He is really doing a nice job considering it is his first time through AA.

The Curve pitchers were less than impressive, with the exception of 22 year old lefty Dave Davidson. He has an extremely unorthodox delivery which is murder on righties because he winds around with the ball behind his side so that they can't pick up his pitches until very late. He struck out both righties he faced on seven total pitches. He does not throw hard, but he does have a sweeping sidearm curve ala Scott Sauerbeck that should enable him to get lefties out if he can improve on its command. I think that he can be a suitable set-up guy someday in Pittsburgh.

Romulo Sanchez is another intriguing guy, with a very live arm and great stuff. He is very raw and very wild, but there is no doubting his stuff is of major league quality. Wardell Starling started the second game and got hit pretty hard early on. He does not throw particularly hard, but seems to use only about one half his body when he throws and does not drive with his back foot at all. He has a pretty nasty curve, but he hung it quite a bit early on and only had success with it in the later innings. His command is questionable as well, and although he is only 23, I was not overly impressed with his stuff. I also got to see Matt Peterson, his stuff is no better than average and his command is awful. He has bust written all over him.

My conclusion is that the closet is certainly not bare in the Pirate organization, but the outlook is not exceptionally rosy either. The big power bat that eludes is likely not among this group of prospects, and only McCutcheon seems to be of that "can't miss" quality, although I didn't get to really evaluate Walker. It is a beautiful facility in Altoona and run as well as any ballpark I've ever been to, including PNC. I recommend making the pilgrimage for any Bucco fan who simply loves the game of baseball.

Thanks, Gavin!