SB Nation - Donald Veal

Pittsburgh Pirates Top 20 Prospects for 2010

John Sickels — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 22:16:26 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

2 months ago: Pittsburgh Pirates' Andrew McCutchen drives in two-runs with a single off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher George Sherrill in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009.(AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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Pittsburgh Pirates Top 20 Prospects for 2010

All grades are EXTREMELY PRELIMINARY and subject to change. Don't get too worried about exact rankings at this point, especially once you get beyond the Top 10. Grade C+/C guys are pretty interchangeable depending on what you want to emphasize. Complete reports on these and over 1,000 other players will be in the 2010 Baseball Prospect Book, now available for pre-order, shipping on February 2^nd!

1) Pedro Alvarez, 3B, Grade A: Bat looks excellent. Even if he moves to first base, his bat will be good enough for him to be an All-Star. Upside: David Ortiz.

2) Jose Tabata, OF, Grade B: I don't know if I agree with the Pirates about his power, but I do believe them about his age and at 21 he is still VERY young with high upside.

3) Tony Sanchez, C, Grade B: He was a slight overdraft but I like him, excellent defense and it doesn't look like his power was all aluminum.

4) Zack Von Rosenberg, RHP, Grade B-: This is an aggressive grade for a high school pitcher with just one pro inning under his belt, but I really like his pitchability and have a strong intuitive feeling about him. He still has some projection left, too. Going to take a risk with this one and put him ahead of Alderson and Lincoln.

5) Tim Alderson, RHP, Grade B-: Borderline C+. Loss of velocity and break on the curve is troubling, but he's still a guy who held his own in Double-A at age 20. Stock has dropped but still an intriguing property as an inning-eater type. Ranks ahead of Lincoln because he's younger.

6) Brad Lincoln, RHP, Grade C+: Borderline B-. Command looks all the way back, but components are more those of an inning-eater type than a true ace.

7) Chase D'arnaud, INF, Grade C+: Speed, on-base ability, solid defense, might develop more pop. At worst a good utility guy and could get beyond that.

8) Starling Marte, OF, Grade C+: Uber-tools, particularly speed, but raw with the strike zone.

9) Rudy Owens, LHP, Grade C+: Outstanding K/BB ratio. Was hittable after moving up to Lynchburg, though he maintained a good strikeout rate. Great command of decent stuff but need to see in Double-A.

10) Ronald Uviedo, RHP, Grade C+: Live arm stands out but unsure of future role.

11) Victor Black, RHP, Grade C+: Another live arm, Dallas Baptist product has high ceiling but needs better control.

12) Daniel McCutchen, RHP, Grade C+: Old for a rookie at age 27, but has nothing left to prove in the minors and knows how to pitch. Another guy with a great K/BB ratio.

13) Brett Lorin, RHP, Grade C+: Sleeper prospect snapped up from the Mariners, could rank as high as 10^th.

14) Robbie Grossman, OF, Grade C+: High strikeout rate is off-putting, but he also draws walks, steals bases, and has untapped power potential.

15) Diego Moreno, RHP, Grade C+: Lively relief arm came out of nowhere, need to see at higher levels but could advance quickly as a pen asset.

16) Justin Wilson, LHP, Grade C+: Component ratios at Lynchburg weren't great, but he has a good arm and lefties with above average stuff get plenty of chances.

17) Colton Cain, LHP, Grade C+: Could rank as high as 12^th. Another high-ceiling arm bought away from college like Von Rosenberg, though not as polished.

18) Gorkys Hernandez, OF, Grade C: Baseball America has him at 10^th on their Pirates list due to his tools, but I'm starting to doubt the bat and his skills seem to be stagnating.

19) Trent Stevenson, RHP, Grade C: Another young projectable high school arm bought out of college ball.

20) Brooks Pounders, RHP, Grade C: Less projectable than Stevenson but another interesting prep arm. The rotation in the New York-Penn League and/or Low-A is going to be really intriguing in 2010.

OTHERS: (Grade Cs): Ramon Aguero, RHP; Nate Baker, LHP; Ramon Cabrera, C; Evan Chambers, OF; Jarek Cunningham, INF; Zack Dodson, LHP; Wesley Freeman, OF; Brian Friday, SS; Brock Holt, INF; Jeff Inman, RHP; Quincy Latimore, OF; Jeff Locke, LHP; Jordy Mercer, SS; Quinton Miller, RHP; Bryan Morris, RHP; Danny Moskos, LHP; John Raynor, OF; Hunter Strickland, RHP; Donald Veal, LHP; Neil Walker, 3B.

This farm system is improving, thanks to trades, more aggressive drafting, and additional scouting in Latin America.

Alvarez is the crown jewel, of course, and there isn't a lot really that needs to be said about him. Tabata is a more difficult case, since even if they're right about his age, he risks tweenerdom if his power doesn't come along. I like Tony Sanchez a lot and people need to lay off about the decision to draft him. They poured a ton of money into projectable guys in later rounds, and I think the strategy of mixing skill players with tool players will pay dividends.

The system is thin in position players beyond the top group. I like d'Arnaud but he may end up as just a good role player and not a starter. We'll know more once he faces Double-A pitching. Marte could be anything from a big star to a huge bust. Heavy investments have been made in young pitching recently. I like Von Rosenberg the best of the bunch, but Cain, Pounders, Stevenson, Dodson, and Miller all have significant upside potential. There are also live-armed guys who could help in the bullpen relatively soon, and there are inning-eaters such as Lincoln, Alderson, and Strickland to provide some leavening to the upside guys.

If what I saw in Arizona is any indication, Donald Veal could be a surprise success in 2010.

The Pirates could use some additional bats to go with all these arms, but overall this is an organization on the right track in terms of player development. The debut of Andrew McCutchen was just the first step.

Arizona Fall League: Friday's Roundup

raygu — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 16:30:28 -0000

Let's see how some of MLB's top prospects performed the day before the Rising Stars game after the jump:

Chase D'arnaud-2B, PIT-1-3, RS, RBI, SB (.261)

Jose Tabata, OF, PIT-1-4, RBI (.366)

Cole Gillespie, OF, ARI-1-4, RBI (.327)

Domonic Brown, OF, PHI-0-4, RBI, BB, 2 K (.256)

Willin Rosario, C, COL-2-4, 2 RS, HR, RBI (.303)

Thomas Neal, 1B, SFG-2-5, RS, 2B, SB, RBI (.313)

Donald Veal, SP, PIT-4 Inn, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 5 K (0.56 ERA)

Starlin Castro, SS, CHC-2-6, (.424)

Matt Dominguez, 3B, FLA-2-3, 2 2B, 2 RS, 4 RBI, BB (.174)

Bryan Peterson, OF, FLA-3-6, RBI (.388)

Hank Conger, C, LAA-2-4, 3 RS, 2B, RBI, BB (.226)

Mike Moustakas, 3B, KC-1-4, RS, HR, RBI (.268)

Dustin Ackley, OF, SEA-1-4, RS, 2B, RBI (.295)

Jordan Danks, OF, CHW-2-4, RS, 2B (.343)

Casper Wells, OF, DET-2-4, RS, 2B, 2 RBI (.358)

Carlos Triunfel, SS, SEA-0-4 (.111)

Yonder Alonso, 1B, CIN-0-3, BB, K (.259)

Chris Heisey, OF, CIN-1-4, hr, 2 rbi (.358)

Brandon Hicks, SS, ATL-0-4 (.293)

Brandon Snyder, 1B, BAL-0-3, BB, K (.355)

Danny Espinosa, SS-1-4, RS, 2B (.350)

Chris Marrero, 1B, WAS- 0-4, 2 K (.348)

Grant Desme, OF, OAK 0-4,3 K (.354)

Speed Check - AFL vs. MLB

Harry Pavlidis — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 02:45:10 -0000

Stephen Strasburg's fastball is raising some interesting questions. While Strasburg was on the mound on Monday, a Tweet and an email (so old fashioned) came in asking about the Surprise, AZ, PITCHf/x data. Was it hot?

Strasburg throwing 101 was a surprise to many, and seeing him sit near 98 for a few innings raised more questions. I took a look at the two PITCHf/x installations in the Arizona Fall Leauge (Surprise and Peoria) this morning at the Hardball Times.

The basic conclusion was, no, the system in Surprise isn't hot. Relative to Peoria, that is.

Assuming the two systems are pretty much on par, the opportunity came up to compare AFL pitchers to themselves as MLB pitchers. Using release speed (55 ft. from home plate) I was able to compare data from 14 pitchers.

Nothing fancy and statistical, but, as you browse the baker's dozen + 1 set of images below, I think you'll probably reach the same conclusion I did.

The years shown in the parentheses indicate the MLB seasons the pitcher appeared in. The scale is to the game (actually at bat) and varies by pitcher. September 2009 call-ups will have a vastly different x-axis scale compared to a pitcher who worked back in 2007. But it's the y-axis (MPH) that matters.

Bryan Augenstein (2009)

Randor Bierd (2008)

Josh Butler (2009)

Michael Dunn (2009)

Matt Harrison (2008-2009)

Wilton Lopez (2009)

Ian Kennedy (2007, 2009)

Joe Martinez (2009)

Andrew Miller (2007-2009)

Mike Parisi (2008)

Dustin Richardson (2009)

Travis Schlichting (2009)

Mitch Talbot (2008)

Donald Veal (2009)

AFLf/x ain't hot if you ask me.

Ross Ohlendorf Participating in Department of Agriculture Internship

Charlie — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:26:50 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

6 months ago: Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Ross Ohlendorf works against the Colorado Rockies in the first inning of a baseball game on Friday, June 19, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

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If you haven't heard what Ross Ohlendorf is up to this offseason, well, wow:

One week after the season ended, Ohlendorf began an eight-week internship with the Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C. It's a highly unusual endeavor for a professional baseball player, but to those who know Ohlendorf well, his plans to conduct research in conjunction with the National Animal Identification System comes as no surprise...

How Ohlendorf ended up in D.C. is an interesting story in itself. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture [and former fringe presidential candidate] Tom Vilsack grew up in Pittsburgh as a Pirates fan. He was invited to PNC Park this summer to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, which, fittingly, was caught by Ohlendorf, who asked to receive the pitch once he learned that it was Vilsack who was taking the mound.

Ohlendorf talked to Vilsack briefly that day and later contacted him again to ask if he could be put to work this fall...

Ohlendorf will work 20 hours each week, giving him plenty of time to work on his conditioning.

-P- Stephen Strasburg was rocked in his second pro start in Arizona. Among Pirates prospects playing there, Jose Tabata, Donald Veal, Daniel Moskos and Anthony Watson have all played well, while Chase D'Arnaud and Brian Friday have struggled so far. None of them have played more than a handful of games.

Thursday's Frosty Mug

KLSnow — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:12:48 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

This could be the end of the line for Mike Burns as a Brewer. Now that he's off the 40-man roster, Burns will be eligible for minor league free agency this offseason.

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Some things to read while getting a text from Batman.

The Brewers have started the offseason roster shuffle, outrighting Mike Burns to AAA to clear a space on the 40-man roster (FanShot). Yesterday I suggested that the move might have been made to clear a roster spot for a minor leaguer (like Adam Heether), but as Adam McCalvy notes, the Brewers will also need to make room for Rickie Weeks, Mark DiFelice and David Riske, who are currently on the 60-day DL.

It hasn't been announced publicly, but in a mailing to season ticket holders the Brewers mentioned February 20 as the day pitchers and catchers will report to Maryvale for spring training in 2010. If you're looking for a to-the-second update on the countdown, look no further than the sidebar to your right, where TheJay has installed a countdown clock. I'm not sure where I'd be without TheJay on this one: I broke the site twice yesterday trying to install one of my own.

In the meantime, Doug Melvin has 128 days to assemble a winning team and/or bemoan the perils of small market economics. Fire Doug Melvin has a flow chart to predict his decision-making process.

That chart does not, however, include an answer to this question: i94 Sports looks at the Brewers' current situation with Prince Fielder, and wonders if they should be looking to trade him.

The Championship Series round of the 2009 playoffs opens tonight but, before the first ball is thrown, we have weather issues to discuss. Tomorrow and Saturday's scheduled games in New York are both questionable due to predictions of rain, and the schedule could get messy if either or both games have to be postponed.

Speaking of things that could get messy, the Dodgers are less than 24 hours away from their first game in the NLCS, but the biggest news surrounding the team might be the separation and pending divorce of owners Frank and Jamie McCourt. This could be even messier than the situation in San Diego, as Jamie McCourt was just named CEO of the Dodgers in April.

On to brighter topics: Even with the playoffs back in action this weekend, a lot of eyes will be turned towards Arizona, where Stephen Strasburg is expected to make his professional debut Friday night. Meanwhile, the Javelinas dropped their second straight game to Surprise yesterday. You can check out today's Fall League Update for more on that game.

Certainly, Ryan Braun has had one of the better early careers in Brewer history, and one can make a case for his inclusion among the best in major league history. But was he the best player drafted in 2005? The Beltway Boys make the case for Ryan Zimmerman.

As the 2009 Rule 5 Draft approaches, Bucs Dugout has a look back at how the Pirates handled 2008 Rule 5 pick Donnie Veal, who was the subject of some "aggressive" placements on the DL and some extended minor league rehab assignments that don't seem to fit within the spirit of the rules regarding the draft.

Meanwhile, Matt LaPorta will be behind schedule in spring training in February after having surgery yesterday on his left hip and big toe. His rehab is expected to take 4-6 months.

On this day in 1982, Willie McGee homered twice as the Cardinals beat the Brewers 6-2 in Game 3 of the World Series.

I couldn't find a Brewer birthday today, so you'll have to settle for Jim Palmer, losing pitcher in the final game of the 1982 season that sent the Brewers to the postseason, who turns 64 today.

That's all I have for you today, unless you wanted to read about Ben Sheets' number getting retired.

Drink up.

Pirates.com: Donnie Veal's Disabled List Placements Were Bogus

Charlie — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 04:34:03 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

3 months ago: Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Donnie Veal throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the fifth inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. The Pirates won 3-1, with Veal pitching two scoreless innings to get his first major league win. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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A pretty hilarious note from the mothership. Emphasis mine:

[Donald] Veal made only six appearances before the All-Star break and was twice put on the disabled list so the Pirates could take advantage of sending him to the Minors for rehab work.

Silly me, I thought the disabled list was for players who were hurt. Neal Huntington himself actually admitted in early June that his decision to place Veal on the DL for a "groin strain" was "an aggressive placement." Dejan Kovacevic of the Post-Gazette has called Veal's DL assignments "dubious." And now we have Jen Langosch claiming that Veal's DL stints were straight-up fraudulent. Well, she doesn't say that exactly, but she does say that injury isn't the reason he went on the DL.

I wrote about the Rule 5 draft at length in early 2008 and it's kind of a pet peeve of mine, so I'd encourage you to check that article out. Some background here, though: basically, Rule 5 picks like Veal are required to stay on their new teams' major league rosters the entire year. The only exception occurs when a player goes on the DL, after which he is allowed to "rehab" for several weeks in the minors.

I'm not blaming Huntington or the Pirates for any of this. They are simply trying to do their best with the tools available to them, and since other teams also use fake DL trips to protect Rule 5 picks, the Pirates should do it too. But the fact that there is any need for these phantom DL stints to take place proves that the system is broken. At least as I understand it, the Rule 5 draft is intended to prevent teams from hoarding major-league-ready talent in the minors. The Rule 5 draft should redistribute that talent to teams who don't have as much talent in the majors; that's why teams are required to keep Rule 5 picks on their roster the entire year.

In practice, though, teams often don't use Rule 5 picks on players who are genuinely ready, which means they essentially have to hide the player for the entire season. The fake rehabs are one way of doing that, but teams are also required to keep the player on their active roster for 90 days. If they don't, they have to keep him on their active roster the next year until 90 total days have been reached.

The idea of hiding a player on the bench, in the bullpen or in the minors is antithetical to the spirit of the Rule 5 draft, which is supposed to put the best possible players on the field by preventing talent-rich teams from stockpiling too many talented, mature players. Veal himself might be happy as a Rule 5 draftee--I'm sure he got paid a lot more this year than he did in the minors--but for the game of baseball, his experience has been a perverse failure in two ways.

1) It has forced the Pirates to allow Veal, who plainly was not ready to pitch in the big leagues this year, to pitch in the big leagues. He racked up a 7.16 ERA, walked more than a batter an inning, and just generally looked clueless outside of one awesome relief appearance against the Dodgers in late September.

2) It has prevented Veal from developing as a pitcher. This year, between the majors and the minors, Veal pitched 54 2/3 innings. (He'll pick up a few more frames in the Arizona Fall League.) In 2008, he pitched nearly three times that many. Veal plainly has talent, and he just as plainly has serious flaws. It's probably true that he got better quality coaching from Joe Kerrigan in the majors than he would have gotten in the Cubs' minor league system, but how much better can he reasonably be expected to get if he doesn't pitch?

So maybe Veal benefits here from getting paid, but only in a short-term, Pyrrhic-victory sort of way. If this season interrupted his development to the degree that it will end up preventing him from having a real major league career, then he loses. The Pirates benefit if Veal eventually learns to pitch better. But how does baseball benefit? This season was probably a net negative for Veal's development, and in the meantime the league had to put up with a guy pitching who blatantly shouldn't have been there. Veal pitching 16 innings wasn't a huge deal, but baseball still shouldn't want that to happen.

It's always cool when some obscure guy gets picked in the Rule 5 draft and immediately proves he belongs--Dan Uggla and Joakim Soria come to mind. But those cases are few and far between, and Veal's DL trips just prove the Pirates know what was obvious to the rest of us: that Veal wasn't ready for the majors. Which is dumb, and which isn't the sort of situation the Rule 5 draft is supposed to create. Veal's case was, as far as I can tell, the worst of the 2009 Rule 5 shenanigans. But then again, the only player in it who did much more than just get by was shortstop Everth Cabrera, who hit .255/.342/.361 and ran like the wind for the Padres. And this is the second straight year the Pirates have had a Rule 5'er rotting in their bullpen--last year it was Evan Meek, who was actually allowed into some high-leverage situations before a trade with Tampa effectively removed him from the Rule 5 process.

Some possible solutions:

1) Make the 40-man rosters a bit smaller, say 38 players or so. This would widen the pool of genuinely ready players available in the draft. Unfortunately, I don't think the union would ever go for this.

2) Currently, a team must pay $50,000 to the old team to select its player, and if the player doesn't cut it, he can eventually be offered back to the old team for $25,000. Raise that $50,000 to an amount that wouldn't be completely trivial for a major league team--perhaps about $400,000. Then give $50,000 to the team from which the player is being selected and put the other $350,000 in the revenue sharing pool. (This last bit prevents poor teams from selling off players for cash.) This raises the penalty for getting a Rule 5 pick wrong, meaning flubbing a Rule 5 pick would no longer be the no-lose proposition for a team.

3) This is Azibuck's idea. Allow the new team to pick the player in December, then keep him in the minors until mid-June. After that, he has to stay on the 25-man the rest of the season, or be offered back.

4) Just do away with rehab assignments for Rule 5 players.

Pirates' Season Ends With 6-0 Loss

Charlie — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 20:26:30 -0000

More photos » by David Kohl - AP

2 months ago: Cincinnati Reds Scott Rolen, left, slides safely into third past Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Andy LaRouche, right, for a RBI-triple in the fifth inning during a baseball game, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2009, in Cincinnati. The Reds won 6-0. (AP Photo/David Kohl)

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In the Pirates' final game of the year, the Bucs managed to put a staggering fifteen men on base--ten hits, including a triple, plus four walks and a hit batsman--without plating a single one of them. This wasn't a good game by any stretch, but it could have been considerably better. In the fifth inning, Steve Pearce led off with a triple and Andrew McCutchen followed that up with a walk--and then Andy LaRoche came to the plate and swung at about a million pitches outside the strike zone, fouling off most of them before finally striking out swinging. Garrett Jones and Lastings Milledge followed that up with strikeouts of their own.

The Bucs' pitching today was one of those bullpen special days, with Jeff Karstens getting the spot start and pitching only two and a third. Today's bullpen only day didn't work out nearly as well as it did the last time, as Karstens allowed two runs and Donald Veal made a complete mess in the bottom of the fifth.

Brandon Moss got a start and went 1-for-2 with two walks. Good for him, but fortunately for all of us, it sounds like this was a last hurrah of sorts, since he won't be starting much next year. Moss finishes the season with 133 games played and a .236/.303/.364 line. That would be barely acceptable for a Gold Glove shortstop, but for a corner outfielder, well... at least Moss rates as a good defensive player, which means he's a worthwhile bench guy. Beyond that, I think we've seen what we need to see.

One nice thing--well, pretty much the only nice thing--about knowing you're a terrible ballclub is the ability to use playing time as a way of acquiring information. It wasn't automatic that Moss would fail this year. PECOTA (subscription required) said before the season that there would be about a 25% chance of him being as bad or worse than he actually was, and compared him to good players like Curtis Granderson, Paul O'Neill, Jason Kubel, Graig Nettles and Carlos Pena, along with some other guys who weren't nearly as good. The Pirates sensibly used the first couple months of the season to see if they had a Granderson or O'Neill on their hands. It turns out they almost certainly don't, but hey--it's not like the Bucs would have won 90 games with a different right fielder.

Charlie Morton, Ryan Doumit, Jeff Karstens Help Bucs Sweep Doubleheader

Charlie — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:06:50 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

2 months ago: Pittsburgh Pirates' Lastings Milledge, left, keeps Chicago Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot from completing a double play during the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2009 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Pirates' Steve Pearce was safe at first on a fielder's choice. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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All of a sudden it seems like the Pirates have decided that losing 100 games wouldn't be so good after all. The Bucs defeated the Cubs twice today on the strength of strong starting pitching from Charlie Morton in the afternoon and Jeff Karstens in the evening. Pat has a good account of Morton's start, which involved a complete-game shutout, four hits and eight strikeouts, and essentially it seems like Morton took a little more than usual off his fastball and thus got more of them over the plate. Morton finished the year very well, knocking almost an entire run off his ERA in his last three starts.

In Karstens' starts I'm always watching from between my fingers, hoping that all the long fly balls he gives up stay in the park. That's a pretty scary proposition in Wrigley, but tonight, at least, it worked. Donald Veal came on in relief of Karstens and walked two batters in a third of an inning. Fun fact: Did you know Veal has a 2.15 WHIP? 2.15!

Ryan Doumit, meanwhile, went nuts, with a single and two doubles, and a towering homer to right in his final at bat. His name wasn't quite Andy LaRoche territory, but it wasn't far off either.

* * *

I just had an article about the Pirates' streak of seventeen straight losing seasons published at Failure Magazine. Yes, it's an e-zine about failure.

Dodgers Defeated By... Donald Veal? Jeff Karstens? Brandon Moss?

Charlie — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 02:06:52 -0000

More photos » by Gene J. Puskar - AP

3 months ago: Japan's Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama talks with Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Hiroki Kuroda (18) before throwing out a ceremonial first pitch before a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Los Angeles Dodgers in Pittsburgh Friday, Sept. 25, 2009. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

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That the Pirates would win at all today seemed very unlikely even before considering the circumstances. But not only did they beat the first-place Dodgers, a team that usually destroys them, they did it with a ragtag bunch of pitchers. Jeff Karstens started and pitched well, but had to be pulled after a few innings, since he's just coming back from the DL and hasn't started in a while. That left a bunch of questionable guys to pitch more than half the game. Against all odds, though, things turned out fine.

The Pirates had a 3-1 lead by then thanks to a two-RBI bloop single by Brandon Moss, and they put in Donald Veal. That drew a series of groans from me--no matter how short-handed the bullpen might be, Veal is the absolute last guy you'd want in any winnable game. But after a bunch of wild fastballs and a quick visit from Joe Kerrigan, Veal started using more of his curveball, which today was borderline-unhittable and just plain great. He ended up striking out three batters, walking none, and allowing no earned runs in two innings. Steven Jackson, Jesse Chavez and Matt Capps took it from there, and the Bucs eked out a 3-1 victory. The Bucs benefited from some poor defensive play by the Dodgers, and from Matt Kemp getting himself picked off with Veal about to make a big mess in the fourth, but overall, some of the Pirates' worst players ended up looking great in this one.

A couple of links:

Alvarez, Owens Minor Players of Year
These were incredibly predictable picks, but now they're official: the Bucs named Pedro Alvarez and Rudy Owens their minor league hitter and pitcher of the year, respectively.

Could the Pirates Lose 110 Games in 2010? - Bucs Dugout
I did a big post right before the game on whether the Pirates could lose 110 next year, so be sure to check that out.

Bucs Promote Diaz, Bixler, Karstens, Hacker, Veal

Charlie — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:07:22 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

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The Pirates will promote catcher Robinzon Diaz, infielder Brian Bixler, and pitchers Jeff Karstens, Eric Hacker and Donald Veal in time for the game tomorrow.

With rosters expanded and Indianapolis' season now over, the promotions of Diaz, Karstens and Veal were no-brainers. Diaz played fairly well in an extended stint with the Pirates earlier this season and only got sent down in a roster crunch. Karstens pitched very well in Indy and was just there to rehab a back injury anyway. And Veal hopefully won't pitch much with the Pirates, but he's a Rule 5 pick.

Bixler's just a disaster and I wouldn't be upset if he never played for the Pirates again, but here he is. Hacker isn't very good, but at least he can start and therefore has the requisite smidgen of upside that all mediocre starting pitching prospects have until they're tried in the bullpen. I'd bet on major league hitters tearing him apart, but with several batting practice pitchers in the bullpen already (Chris Bootcheck, Steven Jackson, Virgil Vasquez, Denny Bautista, Phil Dumatrait), I suppose it can't hurt to give Hacker a handful of innings.