Meet Your Bucs: Xavier Paul

By Zane Heiple

On Tuesday, the Pirates added outfielder Xavier Paul to the roster after claiming him off of waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Paul joined the club prior to Thursday’s afternoon game against the San Francisco Giants.  In order for Xavier to have a roster spot, Pittsburgh designated outfielder John Bowker for assignment.

Paul is a former fourth round draft pick in 2003 of the Dodgers.  In 2004, he was selected by Baseball America as having the best outfield arm in the Dodgers’ system and hit .262 for the Columbus Catfish that season.  In ’05 and ’06 he played for the Vero Beach Dodgers and Baseball America named him the best defensive outfielder in all of Single-A.

He then spent the ’07 season with Double-A Jacksonville and ’08 with the Las Vegas 51’s hitting .316 in 115 games.  Xavier may be most known for being called up to the Dodgers as Manny Ramirez’s replacement when he was suspended for steroid use.  Shortly after this, he was sidelined with a staph infection and then an ankle injury caused him to miss the rest of the season.

2010 saw him once again in Dodger blue, but only for 44 games, in which he hit .231.  He returned to AAA when another ankle injury would prevent him from being a September call up with Los Angeles.

As a member of the Pirates, Paul will be their fifth outfielder and used mostly off the bench as a pinch hitter and a defensive substitution.

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!

Meet Your Bucs: Part Four-Outfielders

By Zane Heiple

McCutchen and Tabata Will Anchor The Bucs' Outfield In 2011

Part Four of this five part series will focus on the outfielders.

Jose Tabata:  2011 will be his first full season with the Pittsburgh Pirates after being called up to the Major Leagues in June of 2010.  A former international signee by the New York Yankees, Tabata came to the Pirates in a trade that included current Pirates’ teammates Ross Ohlendorf, Jeff Karstens, and current AAA pitcher Daniel McCutcheon in exchange for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte.  Once rated as the Yankees’ number two prospect in 2008, Jose will be a key figure to the Pirates’ success this year.  He will be featured in the leadoff spot in left field for most of the season.  After batting .299 in 2010, it will be important for him to continued hitting around the .300 mark to help with run production.  Hopefully his Spring Training numbers will be left in Florida as he batted .234 with one homerun and five RBI’s with an OBP of .306.  Clint Hurdle would also like to utilize Tabata’s speed on the base paths so that he can be in scoring position for Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen.

Andrew McCutchen:  The face of the franchise will begin his third season at the Major League level in 2011.  Cutch was the 11^th overall pick of the 2005 draft by the Pirates and will be patrolling centerfield and batting third for the Buccos.  He made his debut with the Pirates on June 3, 2009 after Nate McClouth was dealt to the Atlanta Braves.  This spring, McCutchen has hit .362 with three homeruns and 11 RBI’s.  MLB Network named Andrew the best centerfielder in baseball prior to the 2011 season.  With such high praise a lot is expected of McCutchen, which is something he is not shying away from as he shows leadership on and off the field.  A career .286 hitter, Cutch will be a key part of the lineup as he hopes to bring in the first two guys in the lineup and get himself into scoring position with his speed, so that Lyle Overbay and Pedro Alvarez can collect RBI’s. 

Garrett Jones:  Drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 14^th round of the 1999 draft, Garrett has become a fan favorite during his short stint with the Pirates.  Garrett signed with the Buccos prior to the 2009 season after being in the Minnesota Twins’ Minor League system for four seasons.  After being called up, he hit ten homeruns in his first month and was named N.L. Rookie of the Month for July.  On Opening Day 2010 in front of the home crowd, GI Jones hit two homeruns in his first two at-bats.  This spring GFJ has hit .214 with zero homeruns and seven RBI’s.  It was production like this throughout the 2010 season that caused the Pirates to sign Lyle Overbay in the offseason.  Because of this, Jones will be platooning the right field position with Matt Diaz in 2011, but don’t be surprised to see Garrett back at first for a few starts this season as well.

Matt Diaz:  He is new to the Pirates’ roster in 2011 as a free agent signee during the offseason.  His main role will be platooning right field with Garrett Jones.  He was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Rays in 1999 in the 17^th round of the draft.  The Rays released him after the 2004 season after not being able to keep his stats at the plate to a high level.  The Kansas City Royals signed him for the 2005 season where he hit .281.  His next seasons were with the Atlanta Braves.  In 2007 he had his best season at the plate, hitting .338 in 124 games.  For his career he has hit .302 with 41 homeruns and 186 RBI’s.  Diaz batted .248 this spring with one homerun and six RBI’s.  Matt Diaz will mostly be used against left-handed pitching this season or in the occasion that Jones is playing first base.

John Bowker:  2011 will be his first full season in Pittsburgh after coming over in a trade from the San Francisco Giants with Joe Martinez for Javier Lopez in July of 2010.  Bowker will be playing the corner outfield positions and first base, but plans seem for him to mostly be used as a pinch hitter.  Originally drafted by the Giants in the third round in 2004, he made his Major League debut on April 12, 2008.  For his career, he has hit .237 with 17 homeruns and 71 RBI’s.  This spring he has hit .308 with three homeruns and seven RBI’s.

Up next in the final part of our series, we will showcase the infield position players.

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!

Bowker Blasts Third Homerun Of The Spring As Pirates Beat Red Sox

By Zane Heiple

Photo Credit: Derick E. Hingle

The Pirates faced off against the Red Sox this afternoon in Bradenton, Florida.  Buston came into the game with a 12-11 Spring Training record, while Pittsburgh is 8-14.  Kevin Correia took the hill to start the game for the Buccos.  Correia entered the day with an 0-2 record and an ERA of 7.42.  The Sox countered with Josh Beckett, who is also 0-2, and has a 6.52 Spring Training ERA.  The two teams had met earlier in the spring, with the Buccos winning the previous meeting 9-4.

Both pitchers were able to get out of the first inning with key double plays.  Correia was able to get two outs when a sharp grounder was hit to Neil Walker and two were turned.  Beckett avoided a big inning when left fielder Daniel Nava caught an Andrew McCutchen flyball at the wall and then doubled off Walker at first base.

The Pirates’ defense used a double play to end the second inning when Nava grounded out to Walker for the 4-6-3 double play.  The bottom of the inning saw Lyle Overbay, Pedro Alvarez, and Matt Diaz go down in order.  Beckett finished the day after 4 2/3 innings having given up five runs, only one of them earned, on seven hits, while striking out two and walking one.  Correia went five innings, allowing three runs, two of them earned, on seven hits, four strikeouts and one walk.

Overbay crushed a two-run double into the left-centerfield gap in the fourth inning, scoring Walker from second and McCutchen from first to give the Bucs a 2-0 lead.  Overbay, Alvarez, and Dusty Brown scored on Correia bases-clearing single later in the inning.  This would be the pitcher’s second hit of the day and the Pirates ended the fourth inning with a 5-0 lead.

As expected, Boston answered with three runs in the fifth inning.  Josh Reddick hit a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Darnell McDonald.  Nava then scored on a Marco Scutero single to left field.  The final Red Sox run of the inning came on a Jarrod Saltalamacchia sacrifice fly to Jose Tabata, allowing Nate Spears to score.

Joel Hanrahan pitched the sixth inning and did a very good job in relief.  In one inning of work, one hit and two strikeouts for Hanrahan.  Justin Thomas came in to pitch the seventh inning and the Sox cut the lead to one.  A Thomas wild pitch scored Spears from third to make it a 5-4 game.

The Bucco bats stretched the lead to 7-4 in their half of the seventh.  Both runs in the inning came on a John Bowker homerun that would also score Jason Jaramillo.  This was Bowker’s third homerun of the spring.  Boston added a run in the ninth off Pirates’ pitcher Fernando Nieve, who would throw two innings today while giving up one run on two hits, striking out two and walking one batter.

With a 7-5 win today, the Pirates ended a four game losing streak.  Overall it was a good day for the Pirates as they were able to collect runs when they had runners in scoring position.  Other than the one rough inning, Correia pitched well.  The Buccos return to action tomorrow when they head to Kissimmee, Florida to face their National League Central Division rivals, the Houston Astros.  This will be the first of two meetings between the two teams this spring.  First pitch is scheduled to be at 1:05pm.

And…

As Always…

Let’s Go Bucs!