Who in Indy Can Help?

After watching the Pirates waste plenty of opportunities on Monday, I wondered aloud on Twitter, who in AAA would help the current group of Pirates. The responses were pretty underwhelming. Pretty depressing, actually.

So I've decided with the rainout to take a look at options in AAA Indianapolis.

OF Alex Presley
2011: .340/.393/.490 4 HR, 14 BB, 26 K

Alex Presley seems to be the first thought on everyone's mind when the question is proposed. He's a lefty bat that could play in right field. One caller to 93.7 The Fan today suggested moving Garrett Jones to 1B and planting Presley in right. This would put Lyle Overbay on the bench and the suggestion was also to end the platoon situation with Matt Diaz.

vs LHP: 50 AB .380/.426/.460 1 HR, 4 BB, 12 K
vs RHP: 97 AB .320/.376/.505 3 HR, 10 BB, 14 K

Looking at Presley's splits, almost half of his strikeouts have come vs lefties and in half as many at bats. The average is outstanding, but you have to wonder how long that will stand up with such a small sample size. Also only 2 of 19 hits went for extra bases. He's not exactly mashing lefties. Looking at the Matt Diaz/Garrett Jones splits vs lefties they've had 6 hits in 45 at bats COMBINED. In 2010 though, Diaz hit .273 is 121 AB vs lefties. It could be a result of a small sample size, but Diaz has looked punchless at the plate this year, sporting a .233/.263./.301 line, althought his numbers are slightly better vs righties.

If the Pirates were to simply bring up Presley for Diaz, would it make them a better team? Probably. However, it wouldn't make sense for Presley to simply take over the RF role right out of AAA. Garrett Jones is faring well vs RHP with a .270/.393/.506 line. Jones is also a defensive liability at first. That would leave Presley facing LHP and as a left handed batter, it wouldn't be ideal. Plus we already touched on his K concerns, which would surely increase vs better pitching.

Presley is better served getting at bats at the AAA level. Should a Pirates OF go on the DL, he could be a candidate for a recall. John Bowker could also be a candidate if a spot is open spot on the 40 man. Presley is probably a better option than Diaz at the moment, but not enough better to make this a no brainer. Presley only has 25 MLB plate appearances and still showed poor plate discipline (8 Ks/1 BB) in the few ABs he's received. Barring injury, Presley is better served in Indy until a true need arises.


SS Pedro Ciriaco
2011: .185/.189/.258 2 HR, 1 BB, 21 K

Ronny Cedeno is not the shortstop of the future. Who is the answer? I really can't see one. There really is no option currently staring back in the system. Pedro Ciriaco is the closest thing you'll find and if you look at his 2011 numbers and didn't throw up in your mouth, kudos to you. Is Pedro Ciriaco a better option than Ronny Cedeno? Nope! Is Pedro Ciriaco a better option than Brandon Wood? I really don't think so.

What does Pedro Ciriaco provide? Speed and defense. Ciriaco has 9 SB on the year in 15 attempts. That's really not great, but they're better numbers than the 2 shortstops the Pirates currently employ. His defensive numbers are tough to locate since minor league fielding stats are not easy to find or prudent to go by, however he was tabbed as a slick fielder, so let's just go with it.

Ronny Cedeno (brain farts and all) actually sports an 18.7 UZR/150 this year, which really isn't half bad. Troy Tulowitzki has a 3.2 UZR/150 while Alcides Escobar has a 13.2 UZR/150, so I guess take that with a grain of salt. With the lack of statistics and the fact Cedeno has played adequate in the field this year, advantage Ronny Cedeno.

Sadly, Cedeno trumps Ciriaco in almost every category. We really don't even need to go into a bunch of numbers to prove this. It's the state of the middle infield depth throughout the system. There are a ton of question marks and zero answers. Ciriaco is clearly not an upgrade to *gulp* Ronny Cedeno. He's really not even an upgrade to Brandon Wood, who also has the advantage of playing 3B and 1B. Pedro Ciriaco is best served as an emergency option.

Josh Harrison/Chase D'Arnaud
2011: .333/.375/.494
2011: .260/.342/.412

I bring up these two in the event that something should happen to a certain hometown hero and/or a struggling slugger. Let's face it, there are tons of OF options and the Catchers available aren't worth discussing with Doumit and Snyder both doing pretty well. That leaves 2B/3B and considering these two both start at those positions, let's talk about 'em.

Harrison was involved in the (terrible) Gorzo/Grabow deal and really is the only piece that may actually be worth something some day. I'm not exactly holding my breath for Kevin Hart to ever make it and Jose Ascanio isn't making any friends after blowing Monday's game. Harrison has shown a knack for hitting for average as well as an ability to put the ball in play. Last year his K% was 10%. It's a tick higher at 13.6%, but could decrease given he's only had 89 PAs.

D'arnaud isn't exactly making believers out of everyone after his dismal .247/.331/.377 year in 2010. This after a hot debut of .295/.402/.481 the year before. D'arnaud isn't helping himself with a BB:K rate of almost 1:2. Luckily, he has seen time at SS throughout his time in the system which would help boost any chances of making the big leagues.

Harrison's best bet at making the team right now would be as a bench player. He's spent some time on the DL with an injury this season, so he is best off spending the year in AAA. It really wouldn't be far fetched to see him in a MLB uniform someday given his ability to get on base and not strikeout. D'arnaud on the other hand needs to spend the year at AAA and possibly beyond. Neither one is an option to make it to the MLB this year, but Harrison's name really should be thrown out there more than it is.

If you really had to pick one player to say "Does he make the Pirates better", the only player you could say might is Alex Presley. But the Pirates already have a left handed RF in Garrett Jones and it's not clear that Presley should get playing time over him. For the time being, it appears he's best served getting ABs at AAA and waiting for an opportunity. There really is no rush to call him up, but if things don't improve for Diaz by June/July maybe a tough deciscion needs to be made.