Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Tuesday Morning Wash

-- Jose Tabata (.304) and Neil Walker (.301) could become the first set of Pirates rookies to each hit .300 or better in a season since the nineteenth century when Jimmy Williams (.355) and Ginger Beaumont (.352) in 1899.

Since he made his Major League debut on June 9th, Tabata has a .347 OBP and 114 hits, tied for second in the NL with Matt Holliday and five behind Carlos Gonzalez during that span. Walker has 120 hits and a .352 OBP.

-- The Pirates have guaranteed that they will be the worst road team in franchise history since the 162-game schedule was introduced. The 1985 team had the fewest wins, 22. Even if the Pirates were to win out, and they've only won four away games since the All-Star break, they would only muster 21 wins.

-- Steve Henson of Yahoo!Sports picked his MLB All-Rookie team; only 2B Neil Walker made it from Pittsburgh.

But it wasn't a matter of oversight: OF Jose Tabata was a reserve, placing behind Jason Heyworth, Austin Jackson, and Mike Stanton, while 3B Pedro Alvarez finished out of the running as an "honorable mention" behind Chris Johnson and Danny Valencia. For the second straight year, it's been an exception rookie crop.

-- Baseball America picked its Top Twenty NY-Penn League Prospects. The short-season State College Spikes had three players named: RHP Zack Von Rosenberg at #6, LHP Colton Cain at #10, and LHP Zach Dodson at #17.

The trio were the 4-6-8 picks in the 2009 draft, and were all high school pitchers.

-- Altoona's Chase d'Arnaud has been added to the Team USA roster, joining C Eric Kratz. d'Arnaud, a third round pick in 2008, hit .247 for the championship Curve.

-- Jim Callis of Baseball America was asked about old #1 Pirate draft picks Jeff King, Bryan Bullington, and Kris Benson and whether they were inked because of ability or "signability."

Callis says that King and Bullington were top choices and selected ahead of higher-ranked high school players because the Pirates wanted college guys that could advance through the system quickly, and that Benson was the consensus top choice.

-- Philly clinched the NL East crown last night; Cincinnati could clinch today. Their magic number is one.

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