Grading on the Curve

I've seen the Pittsburgh Pirates AA affiliate in Altoona a few times and I have a few thoughts on the Curve.


To start with,this team has way and I mean WAY too many repeat players for the level,so any time that you see that usually means a lack of prospects.
That rule again comes true as Altoona has just two of note.

Shortstop Alen Hanson was one of the two breakout stars of 2012 in the Pirates system (Gregory Polanco was the other) and took another step forward,albeit not as impressive a step, last year at High A Bradenton before finishing in Altoona.
Hanson struggled throughout the month of April and then I saw him in Harrisburg and Altoona,he was behind every pitch and struggled to make contact at all,let alone pull anything.
Hanson has the tools to be an above average defender,but made seven errors in the month,which projects to 35 over the season-a number that is not what you expect from a prospect defensively.
Alen Hanson still may turn out to salvage the season,but he seems to have hit the AA wall.

Stetson Allie hits Altoona after moving to first base and a strong season split between West Virginia and Bradenton.
Allie makes one think of Mark Reynolds with his abundant power and just as abundant amount of strikeouts.
Allie hit six homers in April (a third of his total hits) and hit a better than expected .257,but whiffed 20 times.
Allie will always have contact questions,but he did a decent enough job in April to think that maybe he will scale the AA wall.

Willy Garcia is a toolsy outfielder that also suffers from swing and miss disease.
This affliction has struck Garcia 28 times in 20 games.
Garcia does have power,but strikes me as a player that will be doomed at higher levels because he just won't make enough contact.

The Curve pitchers also have two interesting arms.

Nick Kingham is the better known of the two to Pirate fans.but Adrian Sampson has progressed up the system's chart as well.
Sampson posted an interesting April with an ERA below 2 and looked sharp when I saw him in a six inning stint against Harrisburg.
Sampson has a very nice curve,but I do wonder if he can be the type of finesse' pitcher that succeeds in the big leagues.
Sampson finished high A with an ERA over five last season,so color me as a seller on Sampson until I can see more than a month.

Kingham is performing decent,not great in Altoona by the numbers.
However,looking beyond those,the ERA of 3.46 is inflated by one bad start against the Erie Seawolves.
Kingham works best off the fastball,but needs to come up with an improvement in some sort of an off speed pitch.
Kingham is the best of a motley crew of pitchers that is filled with journeyman,AA lifers and faded one time prospects that doesn't fill the observer with confidence.