Alex Presley Edition

Alex Presley played 2011 like a man on a mission, with a slash of .298/.339/.465 in 52 games, and chased Jose Tabata from left to right field. He was penciled in as a starter in 2012, but that didn't work out so well for him as he encountered a tough sophomore slump. The arrival of Starling Marte in left, Travis Snider as another LH outfielder and a remaining minor-league option has put his MLB journey in jeopardy this season. But he's had his moments...

• Presley led the Pirates in 2012 with a career-high seven triples and hit double digit homers (10) for the first time in the show. Unfortunately, his slash was just .237/.279/.405. Bill James projects him to be part-time in 2013, with a slash of .288/.343/.447 and 8 HR; ZIPS is less kind, although their numbers are based on being a full-time player, with a line of .260/.308/.419 with 13 HR.
• From the reports we've read, like John Sickels', Presley is considered primarily as a MLB fourth outfielder. His speed and defensive ability are offset by poor plate discipline - his K rate is fine, but he doesn't draw walks - and a below average arm.
• On April 20th, 2012, Presley became the first Pirate since Freddy Sanchez in 2008 to hit an inside-the-park homer, leading off the Bucco first with the bang off the center field fence that knocked CF Skip Schumaker for a loop after he and the ball bounced off the wall. It was the highlight of a 4-1 loss to the Cards and Lance Lynn at PNC Park.
• He collected his first walk-off hit on April 7th last season against the Phils in front of a sold-out house at PNC Park when Presley barely legged out a 10th inning, two-out dribbler into the shortstop hole to score Mike McKenry in a 2-1 win over the Phils and Joe Blanton.
• Last year was the first time that the outfielder broke camp with the team, and he was the Opening Day starter in left field and batted leadoff. He was sent back down twice before September.
• Presley was promoted to the major leagues and added to the 40-man roster on September 6th, 2010, and made his MLB debut two days later, singling for his first MLB hit off Atlanta Braves pitcher Cristhian Martínez.
• The outfielder was the Pirates Minor League Player of the Year & a MiLB.com organizational All-Star in 2010 and a post-season International League All-Star in 2011. Baseball America selected him among its Top Twenty 2011 IL Prospects.
• He was the first Indy player to hit for the cycle, performing the feat against Toledo on June 27th, 2010. Presley also claimed the first pro hit off Stephen Strasburg, a double on April 11th, 2010, while with the Curve.
• 2010 was his breakout year. After a pair of poor seasons in A ball, the blush was off his bloom, but he responded with a .320/.373/.494 slash with 12 HR, 85 RBI and 86 runs between Altoona and Indy.
• Some hacks - mea culpa - call Presley "The King," a nickname he's had a long time, being southern and a Presley. He's grown to accept it (the Pirates even claim he's a great clubhouse singer in his own right), but not really embrace it. His old twitter handle was AlexNotElvis.
• Presley was born on July 25th, 1985 in Monroe, Louisiana. He graduated from Neville High School, where he was twice named to the first team All-State team, and attended the University of Mississippi. From there, he was chosen in the 8th round (230th overall) of the 2006 Draft, receiving a $95,000 signing bonus after being scouted by Darren Mazeroski.

Report: Presley Back In The Building

Though not officially announced by the Pirates, Alex Presley is on the way to Cincy to rejoin the big team, as reported by Colin Dunlap. Starting slowly following his demotion, he picked it up and put together a line of .290/5/14 in 17 games with the Tribe. He had a .220/2/7 slash in 34 games with the Pirates.

We don't know what the corresponding roster move is. Gorkys Hernandez didn't get much love from Clint Hurdle, although he has been sharp as a late-inning replacement, and JT has been playing hot-and-cold through an achy hammy. So either could go, Gorkys back to Indy or Tabata to the DL.

P-G Reports Presley, d'Arnaud To Rejoin Team

Michael Sanserino of the Post Gazette reports that OF Alex Presley and IF Chase d'Arnaud will be taken off the DL and rejoin the team tomorrow. Neither was in the lineup for the Tribe tonight, and Presley, tweets Indianapolis announcer Scott McCauley, was high-fiving his way through the dugout.

Presley had a line of .333/1/9 in 20 games for the Pirates before being DL'ed on July 25th with a thumb injury. d'Arnaud hit .225 with eleven runs scored in 25 games. He went on the DL a couple of days after Presley with a broken pinky.

Both add some energy and a lot of speed to the lineup; Presley will likely become an everyday corner OF'er; he patrolled left during his last stint. d'Arnaud will be a utility infielder, primarily on the left side.

Presley will probably replace LHP Aaron Thompson, who was called up for a spot start, while d'Arnaud will likely swap spots with Pedro Ciriaco. The team is expected to announce the moves tomorrow in St. Louis after the players arrive per Bucco SOP.

• Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com takes a look at Jameson Taillon, Stetson Allie, Gerritt Cole and Josh Bell.
• Ryan Ludwick joined Derrek Lee on the DL. He has back spasms while Lee has a broken hand. They may not have contributed much to the stretch run, but at least they're not blocking any young 'uns.

Pedro Back, Presley Gone

The Bucs recalled Pedro from Indy today, and cleared space on the 25-man roster by DL'ing Alex Presley.

Pedro hit .365/3/13 in 18 games for Indy this season. He left the big team with a quad problem on May 20th, injured it again at Bradenton, and finally came off the DL July 9th, when he was optioned to the minors. The Pirates felt he was pulling the ball way too much, an occupational hazard of PNC Park, and wanted him to work on using the whole field.

Apparently, they believe that he's ready to go with the pitch, and if he plays like the September 2010 Pedro, he could be the big bat they need. Before the injury he wasn't, hitting just .208/2/10 in 138 PAs. In his rookie season of 2010, El Toro hit .264/16/64.

It'll be interesting to see if they platoon Alvarez in Pittsburgh this season. His splits were .417 v RHP but just .235 v LHP at Indy.

Presley was coming into his own at the leadoff spot, hitting .333 with a .402 OBP and fielding the ball well. He jammed his hand on Friday against the Cards. The Pirates feared it was going to be a week to ten days before he would be back from what's officially being called a left hand contusion, but it's probably a pinched nerve. The DL date will be retroactive to Saturday, July 23rd, meaning he'll be out until August 7th.

Presley hit .262 during his 2010 September call-up, and was the organization's "Player of the Year" for 2010.

Adios Pedro, Hello Alex & Assorted Stuff

The beat gang reports that Pedro Ciriaco has been returned to Indy. Since May 21st, the poor guy got into six games, had six at-bats, six innings in the field, and generally seemed to be invisible to Clint Hurdle.

Anyway, it smooths the path for Alex Presley to join the club at Toronto, presumably to DH (he was officially promoted in the late afternoon). During his September call-up last season, he hit .261/0/0 in 25 plate appearances and generally took a back seat to John Bowker. This year he kept up his minor league raking, batting .336/8/36 at Indy, and will likely DH against the Blue Jays.

We'd frankly be surprised to see him get a lot of time in the OF. Our guess would be that Xavier Paul will take Tabata's place. He's hitting .267 with nine stolen bases and a nice glove, though he does K too much and walk too little. But there is really no reason to replace him as a table-setter short of an implosion or Presley flashing a sudden burst of muscle. And the Pirates like Paul; after all, they claimed him in late April when they could have promoted Presley.

On the other hand, the FO thought Neil Walker was gonna be a utility guy, too, so Presley has a punchers' chance if he can impress the people in Pittsburgh as much as he has the folk in Indianapolis. And he did force his way onto the big team through performance, so that's not an entirely far-fetched possibility.

How long Presley stays on the roster will depend on the health of Jose Tabata. JT's quad was examined today, and the Bucs haven't announced what's up with his situation yet. It's widely thought that he'll go on the DL.

That would be a handy move, if unfortunate for Tabata, because with Ciriaco's demotion, Brandon Wood becomes the sole back up infielder on the roster. If JT goes on the DL, that gives the Pirates an opening to recall Josh Harrison (.283/0/4), who was sent down for Chase d'Arnaud. If not, the next likeliest scenario has Harrison returning July 3rd to replace Brad Lincoln or whoever is called up to pitch on the 2nd, a doubleheader date with Washington.

Other happenings:

• Jose Tabata's status is still uncertain; they'll probably wait until after the Toronto series to reach a decision on whether or not to DL him retroactively, according to Jen Langosch of MLB.com.
• Pedro Alvarez played some third for the GCL Pirates and will continue his rehab with Bradenton.
• RHP Mike Crotta has been recalled from his rehab assignment, reinstated from Pittsburgh's DL and then optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
• The beat gang reports that RHP Kevin Hart visited Dr. Andrews and was told to stop pitching activities for four weeks and focus on rebuilding his arm strength.
• The Pirates have picked up minor league C Miguel Perez from the Nationals for a PTBNL or cash. The 27 year old was a Bucco farmhand in 2008-09. Lotta catchers in Indy right about now - Kris Watts, Dusty Brown (if he clears waivers), Wyatt Toregas, Perez, Jason Jaramillo on the DL...

Owens, Presley Minor League Players of the Year

In no surprise, the Pirates announced that Alex Presley and Rudy Owens were their Minor league Player and Pitcher of the Year, per Dejan Kovacevic of the Post Gazette.

Presley, 25, had a meteoric rise through the system, starting as a reserve outfielder at Altoona and finishing in Pittsburgh during September. He hit a combined .320/12/85 in the minors this season after failing to crack the .260 mark in 2008-09 in High Class A at Lynchburg.

It's the second straight year that Owens, 22, was honored by Pittsburgh. The lefty was 12-6 for the Curve in 2010 with a 2.46 ERA and 132 K's in 150 innings after posting an 11-2 slate with a 2.10 ERA for West Virginia and Lynchburg in 2009.

The 6'3", 215-pounder was rated the ninth-best prospect in the Pirates organization by Baseball America entering the season, thanks greatly to his pinpoint command.

Both should start 2011 at Indy.

Alex Presley

Alex Presley has been 2010's feel-good story in the Pirate organization.

The 25 year old lefty stands 5'9" and weighs in at 180 pounds, and was considered a sort of tweener by the scouts; he didn’t show quite the arm or range to play center but didn't have the pop to play the corner spots. Looks and sounds like the second coming of Nate McLouth, hey?

He was born July 25, 1985 in Monroe, Louisiana, and played for the Neville Tigers in high school, where he was named a 3rd Team HS All-America. Presley went on to the University of Mississippi, where the outfielder made the Baseball America second-team Freshman All-America list and never hit under .300. The Pirates took him in the eighth round of the 2006 draft (230th overall), reeling him in with a $95,000 bonus after he hit .321 as a junior.

Presley signed a couple weeks after the draft and struggled initially at short season Williamsport while alternating between left and center. He ended up hitting .260, but his plate discipline was weak, drawing 17 walks while striking out 55 times in 244 plate appearances. Presley had a terrible time handling LHPs, posting a .357 OPS.

In 2007 he started for Low A Hickory, opening as the left fielder and moving to center later in the season. After another a poor start, Presley ended up with a line of .293/11/63. He hit all of his HRs against RHPs and struck out a lot - 108 times - but showed some muscle and a little more patience at the dish, drawing 45 walks.

He started 2008 as the regular CF for High A Lynchburg, but had another terrible start and then was hurt, and didn't return until May. He was hurt again in August, ending his season. His line there was .258/6/35 in only 325 at-bats.

He returned to Lynchburg in 2009, penciled in as a backup OF'er, but ended up playing regularly, mostly in center, thanks more to a lack of outfielders in the system than anything he did to impress. His line of .257/4/37 mirrored 2008's, including his inability to hit LHPs, and with 150 more at-bats.

Presley seemed like an organizational player at best by this time, but he impressed the Pirates in training camp and made the Altoona roster as a reserve. Then the baseball gods gave his head a rub, and he had a breakout season in 2010 that was every bit as amazing as the one Rudy Owens had last year.

For the Curve, he hit .350/6/47 in 67 games, bettering any full year he had at Lynchburg. On June 24th, he was sent to Indy a couple of weeks after the Pirates called up Jose Tabata, and kept on there, with a line of .294/6/38. His combined AAA/AA line for 2010 was .320/12/85.

Then on September 7th, he was added to the Pirates' 40-man roster and brought to the show. And he got his first hit Wednesday night.

The current book on Presley is that he's got the potential to be a big league hitter with adequate range and arm to play a corner outfield position, and can steal an occasional base, too. He's most likely slotted to be a fourth outfielder who plays hard and maximizes his abilities, a grinder rather than a toolsy player.

In other words, he's on the road to becoming another Nate McLouth. Presley was a teammate of Florida's Chris Coghlan’s for all three years at Ol' Miss, too...maybe his career track will rub off on him.

Hey, one good year is no sure ticket to anything except one more year. But one thing that he has going for him is his college background. The SEC has been a monster of late, producing players like Coglan, Brad Hawpe, Seth Smith, Ryan Theriot, Jeff Keppinger, and Julio Borbon.

Besides that tradition, we think until guys like Gorkys Hernandez, John Lambos, or Starling Marte make a move, Alex Presley is the most accomplished outfielder in the farm system. 2011 should tell.