Half-season Minor League Positional Roundup: Second Base

Life got in the way yesterday and I couldn't find the time to post the mid-season roundup for the Pirates second basemen prospects. Don't worry though, it's back for today and there will be many more to come in the coming days, including the exciting shortstop breakdown. Today's group will pale in the comparison, so we might as well get the boring stuff started...

Best season: It's not exactly thrilling when a guy with a .724 OPS in low-A West Virginia wins the honor of top player at a position in an entire minor league system, but second basemen in the minors are usually there because they don't have the defensive skills to play shortstop or the power for a corner position. So they're generally lesser-heralded than prospects at other spots. That's exactly where Dan Gamache lies. The 2011 6th round pick out of Auburn has a solid line this year, hitting .265/.337/.387 before tonight's doubleheader, with 22 doubles, 3 triples and 2 home runs in 317 plate appearances. He's shown decent plate discipline with 28 walks and 61 strikeouts. If Gamache continues to put up stats like that, he'll stick around for a while but isn't likely to reach the majors unless his hit tool increases to the point that he can reach a .300 average. But he's been fairly consistent all year long, so let's see how he's finished in September.

Worst Season: Brian Friday once held the well-traveled title of "Pirates Shortstop Of the Future" about 620 years ago (check that, only 3, my bad) but once he made it to Indianapolis he just stopped hitting and reaching base at the same level as in the lower minors (note to Chase d'Arnaud: you're dangerously approaching this stature as well). This year, when d'Arnaud missed most of the first month of the season with a concussion, Anderson Hernandez wasn't playing much and Yamaico Navarro opened in Pittsburgh, Friday received some playing time as perhaps a last gasp to see if he could muster a career as a utility player. Alas, it was a no-go. Friday hit only .137 in 51 April at bats and although he's upped his line to .231/.328/.302 in bench duty, he's playing very sparingly and will likely be released if the team decides to promote Brock Holt to Indianapolis.

Biggest Surprise: In only 92 plate appearance for the GCL Pirates in rookie ball, 18-year-old Dilson Herrera has been the team's top overall offensive threat. Herrera was expected by Pirates management to turn into a good prospect, but probably not this soon. The 5-foot-10, 150-pound firecracker already has 4 home runs, 4 doubles and 3 triples on his way to a .275/.341/.550 mark. Although the season and Herrera's career in the United States is quite new, Herrera's first impression could put him on some watch lists if he's able to maintain close to this pace throughout the rest of 2012.

Biggest Disappointment: Jarek Cunningham entered 2012 as a prospect to watch as a 22-year-old with prodigious power arriving at AA Altoona. Cunningham has had injury issues in his past, missing a whole year due to a knee injury and the last 3 months of 2011 due to a concussion, but has mostly stayed healthy this year. Unfortunately the results have been, um, disappointing (hence the award!). A season after blasting 15 home runs in only 348 Bradenton plate appearances, Cunningham only has 3 in 247 times up. His overall batting line is a mere .228/.307/.353 with 16 doubles, 21 walks and 69 strikeouts. The walk total is a positive sign, as that number is already higher than what Cunningham accrued in 2011. But akin to fellow 22-year-olds Ramon Cabrera and Elevys Gonzalez in Altoona, Cunningham's season is a letdown. He was ranked as a preseason top-20 Pirates prospect by several services and he's young enough that with a good 2013 (or a very strong second half) he can rekindle his status as a sleeper.

Stock Rising: Although he started the year at low-A West Virginia and was demoted to State College, Jodaneli Carvajal has shown flashes as to why he was a highly regarded prospect when the Pirates signed him. His overall numbers on the season are an unimpressive .250/.313/.353 with 8 doubles, 4 triples and a home run. But he's young at age of 20 and will still be on the prospect path when he moves back up to West Virginia either late in this season or in 2013. He got off to a great start and also hit .319 with an .886 OPS in June for State College, so it seems like his biggest hurdle is consistency.

Stock Falling: Drew Maggi was signed to an overslot deal in the 15th round of the 2010 draft as a shortstop from Arizona State. He was actually promoted to Altoona in June this year and isn't actually having a bad season thanks to an overall on-base percentage of .358 between A and AA. But the emergence of Gift Ngoepe pushed Maggi to second base, and Maggi was promoted to Altoona but hasn't received regular at bats as a starter there. This makes it seem like Maggi is off the prospect track. His overall line stands at .248/.358/.308, so he's obviously lacking power but takes walks at a high rate. His numbers are better at Altoona so far (.273/.379/.309) but in only 66 plate appearances. He does show skill on the bases, as he's swiped 18 bags although only one of those has come since his promotion to AA. If Brock Holt finally receives a well-deserved promotion to AAA (yes, that's the second time he's been mentioned) it would be nice to see what Maggi can do with regular at a higher level since he can get on base.

Other players of note: We'll leave this blank for this group, although when the shortstops are reviewed some of those players could wind up over here by the end of the season with more at bats.