Stetson Allie Finishes First Season as a Hitter

Huge news broke near the beginning of the season this year that told us that the Pirates were changing pitching prospect Stetson Allie to a third base prospect. Allie was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2010 draft and the Pirates lured him to their system with an over the top $2.25 MM signing bonus. They had high hopes for the 18 year old kid that could reach triple-digits on the radar gun.

However, Allie quickly showed that he had very little hope of ever turning into a legitimate pitcher. He couldn't find the strike zone and didn't show enough signs that he would figure it out, so the Pirates made a bit of a desperate move. They made him a hitting prospect. He was one of the better power hitting prospects in that draft, believe it or not, so management thought that maybe he could get some return on their investment with the bat.

You shouldn't have expected much from Allie in his first year as a hitter, but in fairness he didn't give us much either. In 42 games and 150 at-bats, Allie hit .213/.314/.340 with six doubles, two triples, and three home runs. He drove in 19 runs and stole two bases while walking 21 times and striking out 50 times. That K/BB ratio isn't good, but again, there was no real reason for him to show maturity at the plate in his first year being solely a hitter. He's a guy that profiles as a power hitter that isn't going to do much in terms of average or contact, so the strikeouts certainly should have been expected.

We definitely cannot take one bad year here and label this a bad decision on management's part. It would have been pretty astounding for Allie to have even a decent year at the plate, just because of how quickly his career path changed. At the beginning of the year he was focused solely on pitching, and now it's the opposite.

The good news is that Allie is just 21 years old and has a few more years to prove himself in the minors before we can label it a complete bust. Obviously, it's a longshot. You just don't see these types of stories ending well very often, but it should be an interesting story to follow for the next few years.