Well, it's not exactly like a Jhonny Peralta signing, but the Bucs have begun to reshape their roster. The Pirates have picked up OF Jaff Decker and RHP Miles Mikolas from San Diego in exchange for minor league 1B/OF Alex Dickerson.
Decker, 23, was a sandwich pick (42nd overall) in the 2008 draft, and was the #82 Prospect per Baseball America by 2010. He put up a decent slash last season (.286/10/40, 415 PA) for AAA Tucson, although we're always leery of counting numbers from the Pacific Coast League.
He had picked up several awards in the lower levels, but hit a wall in AA during the 2012 season when the lefty was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis early in the season and then tore his plantar tendon
on May 31st. Still, he didn't fall entirely off the radar, as BA had him pegged as the Friar's #23 Prospect.
Decker does have a decent eye; he'll swing through a few pitches, but
had a .381 OBP last season and a .402 OBP in his five year minor league
career. He can plan all three OF positions and has a chance make the active roster, per Neil Huntington. He has two option years remaining, so he can still spend a season or two at Indy as last year was his first season at the AAA level.
The OF'er is an interesting selection. He provides a LH alternative to Travis Snider in RF as a fourth-outfielder type and frees up Andrew Lambo to move to first, so he allows the FO some wiggle room in the market. But he's no slam dunk. In a small sample size of 26 MLB plate appearances, he hit just .154. But he does make camp a little more competitive and helps to firm up the positional battle lines.
Mikolas put together a 4-2-26/3.25 ERA in 61 IP/54 appearances for AAA Tuscon. The righty has worked a few frames in the show, too, going 2-1/3.44 ERA, with 25 of his 27 outings coming in 2012. In 34 career innings in the majors he has a 3.44 ERA, a 6.4 K/9 and a 4.2 BB/9 ratio.
The 25 year old has a lot of things the Bucs like - he's 6'5", tosses bullets (he sits at 93-94, touching 98) with a ground ball rate of 50.9% per Fangraphs. He couples his heater with an average or better curve. As a plus, he's got one option left, so the Bucs have a chance to look and tinker.
His fastball has a lot of velocity but not much movement. And while his minor league walks per nine was quite good at 2.0, in the show it's jumped to 4.2. Scouts project him not as a future closer, but as a middle reliever or setup man. Unless, of course, the Pirate mechanics can turn that flat four seamer into a heay sinking two seamer...
Neither Decker nor Mikolas were on San Diego's hot list, as both had been DFA'ed on November 20th.
Dickerson, 23, was drafted by the Pirates in the third round of the 2011 draft and was named the Eastern League Rookie of the Year in 2013 after
hitting .288/17/68 RBIs for AA
Altoona and a post-season All-Star. He was the Bucs #13 Prospect according to BA.
The Pirates sent him to the Arizona Fall League, where he hit well (.290) but played only the corner outfield, not at first base. AIf the Pirates saw him as an OF prospect, well, there was quite a line he'd have to leapfrog to sniff PNC Park. It's possible that they were trying to spiff up his versatility to make him more attractive, too. In either case, the FO didn't see him as an everyday guy .
That caused a couple of secondary moves to clear space on the 40-man roster. Garrett Jones, widely expected to be non-tendered this season, was DFA'ed along with injured RHP Kyle McPherson, who is recovering from TJ surgery.
Jones made $4.5M in 2013 and would have earned $5M+ in his third year of
arbitration, making him virtually untradeable after hitting .233 with 15 homers and a .708 OPS in 144
games. The Pirates, we're sure, already have Jones' 2014 salary targeted, maybe for a new first baseman. At age 32 and capable as an outfielder, he should have no problems landing another MLB gig, though
he has painted himself into a platoon corner and the paycut that comes
with that tag.
Kyle McPherson would have opened the year on the 60-day D, though his release was a bit of a surprise, especially given some of the other guys on the 40-man. It doesn't necessarily mean that the Pirates will cut ties with him. He's not supposed to be ready to pitch until July, so the FO could be trying to squeak him past waivers and then sign him again, but to a minor league deal, for 2014.
Showing posts with label kyle mcpherson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kyle mcpherson. Show all posts
Monday, November 25, 2013
Monday, October 22, 2012
The Young Guns - Kyle McPherson
Kyle McPherson, 24, started his baseball career at St. Paul's Episcopal High School in his home town of Mobile, Alabama, moved on to Faulkner State CC, and then was off to the University of Mobile.
He was an athlete, which is a nice way of saying that he played the field and pitched some, appearing at third base more often than on the hill at UM. McPherson hit .302, but as a hurler was just 1-7 with a 6.07 ERA during his junior year of college as a 19 year old.
But area scout Darren Mazeroski (who also signed Alex Presley & Clay Holmes) saw a part-time pitcher that tossed between 90-92 with a couple of offspeed pitches and had good control, and thought he may be a sleeper that could be developed, a sort of poor man's version of John Van Benschoten with hopefully better results.
So the Pirates took him in the 14th round of the 2007 draft, and he signed within the week. He split his time between the GCL Pirates, where he was 4-2 with a 2.61 ERA, and the State College Spikes, where he was ineffective in three starts, going 0-1 with a 6.28 ERA. K-Mac worked 66 innings combined, and didn't get a lot of whiffs - just 41 - but only walked 18.
He pitched for the Spikes in 2008, and went 1-3 with a 4.37 ERA in 15 games, working both in the rotation and out of the pen. His command was excellent again (41K/5BB), but he gave up 10 homers in just 55-2/3 IP.
McPherson started 2009 at SC and showed better stuff, going 4-3/2.99 in 75-1/3 innings with 57 strikeouts against just 11 walks. He was promoted to the Low A West Virginia Power, and posted a 5-2/4.94 line in 51 frames. His K rate wasn't promising and he was 21 years old, but his command and resulting 1.108 WHIP between the two teams kept him on the radar a little longer.
He worked again for the Power in 2010, and suddenly found a way to get some swings and misses. He went 9-9/3.58 for WV, whiffing 124 batters in 117-2/3 innings while walking 31. That earned him a sip of coffee at High A Bradenton, where he threw four innings at the end of the season, fanning seven, working from the pen to keep his innings down. Maybe Kyle Stark's "Fastball Academy" training was finally kicking in. And the performance got him more than notice. In November, the Pirates added McPherson to their 40-man roster.
In 2011, he started the year at Bradenton. In a dozen starts, he went 4-1/2.89 with 60 K and six walks in 71-2/3 IP. That earned him a trip to Class AA Altoona, and he kept dealing, going 8-5/3.02 with 82 K and 20 BB in 89-1/3 innings.
Beside finding a way to miss bats, K-Mac finally put up fairly even numbers between fly and ground outs. He was a fly ball pitcher, and that hurt him with modestly high HR rates. The improvement netted McPherson the Pirates’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year award.
He didn't start 2012 at Indy, though, but rather on the minor league disabled list with shoulder stiffness, first noticed when his velocity took a nosedive during camp. McPherson recovered from his dead arm in mid-June, and reported to Altoona. K-Mac went 3-5/4.02 with the Curve, but his fastball was back and his control was as sharp as ever, so he was moved to Indy. In three games there, his ERA was 0.98 and he K'ed 17 in 18 frames.
McPherson was promoted to the big club on August 20th, after the Pirates had run through the pitching staff in their 19 inning win over the Cards the day before. He made his MLB debut the same day and pitched two scoreless innings against the Padres. After a handful of mainly effective outings from the pen, K-Mac made his first major league start on September 19th, replacing James McDonald in the Pirate rotation.
He finished 0-2/2.73, working 26-1/3 IP with 21 whiffs, seven walks and a WHIP of 1.177. His old bugaboo, the long ball, hurt him some as he gave up three round trippers. But all in all, it was a pretty impressive outing for Mobile's old third baseman.
The Bucs will take a long look at the righty for a rotation spot next season. He's pitching for Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Republic this winter, trying to make up for the innings he lost at the beginning of the season.
His fastball sits in the 92-94 range, and he can crank it up a couple more miles per hour on occasion. K-Mac doesn't back off throwing inside, and he can spot his heater just about anywhere the catcher sticks his mitt. His change looked like a plus pitch, and he also has an average curve.
K-Mac averaged a little over seven whiffs per nine and 2.4 walks, so along with his WHIP (which was 1.078 in the minors), his good peripherals carried over in the few frames he worked. And he did coax more grounders than flies in his opening round of MLB ball. Except for his dead arm episode, he's been a workhorse for innings, as befits a 6'4", 215 pounder.
But McPherson does have a ceiling. He's a three-pitch pony and could use a slider or cutter; now he works off mainly a four seamer. He's also a guy that looks like the longball will bite during his career, which fits in with his fastball profile - his control is excellent, but his stuff isn't quite that good to get away with mistake pitches. His ERA is a little misleading, too. He had an 87% strand rate and a 4.01 FIP.
Still, even if McPherson isn't ace material, his first few outings offer promise that he's an MLB arm, and probably slots as a four guy in a strong rotation. And that's something the Pirates could use next season.
He was an athlete, which is a nice way of saying that he played the field and pitched some, appearing at third base more often than on the hill at UM. McPherson hit .302, but as a hurler was just 1-7 with a 6.07 ERA during his junior year of college as a 19 year old.
But area scout Darren Mazeroski (who also signed Alex Presley & Clay Holmes) saw a part-time pitcher that tossed between 90-92 with a couple of offspeed pitches and had good control, and thought he may be a sleeper that could be developed, a sort of poor man's version of John Van Benschoten with hopefully better results.
So the Pirates took him in the 14th round of the 2007 draft, and he signed within the week. He split his time between the GCL Pirates, where he was 4-2 with a 2.61 ERA, and the State College Spikes, where he was ineffective in three starts, going 0-1 with a 6.28 ERA. K-Mac worked 66 innings combined, and didn't get a lot of whiffs - just 41 - but only walked 18.
He pitched for the Spikes in 2008, and went 1-3 with a 4.37 ERA in 15 games, working both in the rotation and out of the pen. His command was excellent again (41K/5BB), but he gave up 10 homers in just 55-2/3 IP.
McPherson started 2009 at SC and showed better stuff, going 4-3/2.99 in 75-1/3 innings with 57 strikeouts against just 11 walks. He was promoted to the Low A West Virginia Power, and posted a 5-2/4.94 line in 51 frames. His K rate wasn't promising and he was 21 years old, but his command and resulting 1.108 WHIP between the two teams kept him on the radar a little longer.
He worked again for the Power in 2010, and suddenly found a way to get some swings and misses. He went 9-9/3.58 for WV, whiffing 124 batters in 117-2/3 innings while walking 31. That earned him a sip of coffee at High A Bradenton, where he threw four innings at the end of the season, fanning seven, working from the pen to keep his innings down. Maybe Kyle Stark's "Fastball Academy" training was finally kicking in. And the performance got him more than notice. In November, the Pirates added McPherson to their 40-man roster.
In 2011, he started the year at Bradenton. In a dozen starts, he went 4-1/2.89 with 60 K and six walks in 71-2/3 IP. That earned him a trip to Class AA Altoona, and he kept dealing, going 8-5/3.02 with 82 K and 20 BB in 89-1/3 innings.
Beside finding a way to miss bats, K-Mac finally put up fairly even numbers between fly and ground outs. He was a fly ball pitcher, and that hurt him with modestly high HR rates. The improvement netted McPherson the Pirates’ Minor League Pitcher of the Year award.
He didn't start 2012 at Indy, though, but rather on the minor league disabled list with shoulder stiffness, first noticed when his velocity took a nosedive during camp. McPherson recovered from his dead arm in mid-June, and reported to Altoona. K-Mac went 3-5/4.02 with the Curve, but his fastball was back and his control was as sharp as ever, so he was moved to Indy. In three games there, his ERA was 0.98 and he K'ed 17 in 18 frames.
McPherson was promoted to the big club on August 20th, after the Pirates had run through the pitching staff in their 19 inning win over the Cards the day before. He made his MLB debut the same day and pitched two scoreless innings against the Padres. After a handful of mainly effective outings from the pen, K-Mac made his first major league start on September 19th, replacing James McDonald in the Pirate rotation.
He finished 0-2/2.73, working 26-1/3 IP with 21 whiffs, seven walks and a WHIP of 1.177. His old bugaboo, the long ball, hurt him some as he gave up three round trippers. But all in all, it was a pretty impressive outing for Mobile's old third baseman.
The Bucs will take a long look at the righty for a rotation spot next season. He's pitching for Tigres del Licey in the Dominican Republic this winter, trying to make up for the innings he lost at the beginning of the season.
His fastball sits in the 92-94 range, and he can crank it up a couple more miles per hour on occasion. K-Mac doesn't back off throwing inside, and he can spot his heater just about anywhere the catcher sticks his mitt. His change looked like a plus pitch, and he also has an average curve.
K-Mac averaged a little over seven whiffs per nine and 2.4 walks, so along with his WHIP (which was 1.078 in the minors), his good peripherals carried over in the few frames he worked. And he did coax more grounders than flies in his opening round of MLB ball. Except for his dead arm episode, he's been a workhorse for innings, as befits a 6'4", 215 pounder.
But McPherson does have a ceiling. He's a three-pitch pony and could use a slider or cutter; now he works off mainly a four seamer. He's also a guy that looks like the longball will bite during his career, which fits in with his fastball profile - his control is excellent, but his stuff isn't quite that good to get away with mistake pitches. His ERA is a little misleading, too. He had an 87% strand rate and a 4.01 FIP.
Still, even if McPherson isn't ace material, his first few outings offer promise that he's an MLB arm, and probably slots as a four guy in a strong rotation. And that's something the Pirates could use next season.
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