Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Winter League Update

During the offseason between the 2012 season and the 2013 season, several members of the Pirates organization have participated in Winter Leagues. Notable players who have received a substantial amount of playing time are listed below. Included below each player's name is their exploits during the offseason.







Vic Black



IP
ERA
ER
H
HR
BB
K
Vic Black
10.2
11.81
14
17
0
11
11

Matt Curry



AB
AVG
OBP
SLG
BB
K
XBH
HR
Matt Curry
79
0.253
0.366
0.342
13
23
5
1

Starling Marte



AB
AVG
OBP
SLG
BB
K
XBH
HR
Starling Marte
112
0.304
0.381
0.464
13
23
10
2

Gift Ngeope



AB
AVG
OBP
SLG
BB
K
XBH
HR
Gift Ngoepe
46
0.261
0.370
0.413
7
15
4
1

Gustavo Nunez 


AB
AVG
OBP
SLG
BB
K
XBH
HR
Gustavo Nunez
13
0.308
0.438
0.308
3
2
0
0

Gregory Polanco 



AB
AVG
OBP
SLG
BB
K
XBH
HR
Gregory Polanco
35
0.171
0.171
0.229
0
11
2
0

Adalberto Santos



AB
AVG
OBP
SLG
BB
K
XBH
HR
Adalberto Santos
77
0.299
0.413
0.455
14
14
9
1

Rinku Singh


IP
ERA
ER
H
HR
BB
K
Rinku Singh
9.1
4.82
5
12
0
4
7

The story of the offseason is Starling Marte.  Maligned for his plate discipline - he strikes out too much and doesn't walk enough - Marte has seen drastic improvement in a small sample size this offseason.  He's striking out under 20% of the time while walking at over 10%.  If Marte can translate that type of plate discipline to the major leagues, his offensive game would take a huge boon.  He's got the bat speed and foot speed to post high average numbers with lower strikeout numbers and he's got pop.  Striking out less and walking more would make Marte a complete offensive player.  Add that to his defense and he has a chance to be a superstar.  Note, it is small sample size - 112 at-bats - so it's not necessarily actual improvement, but it's a step in the right direction.

Another player of note is Adalberto Santos, who has received 77 at-bats for the Scottsdale Scorpions in the Arizona Fall League.  He's continued to flash his strong OBP skills, posting a .299 average and .413 OBP with 14 walks and 14 strikeouts.  Santos has also showed reasonable power, with 9 of his 23 hits being of the extra base variety.  Santos continues to beat the odds and could end up in a major league role in a few years.

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