North Shore Notes
The Big Three
By Joe Giardina

The Pirates' season can usually be divided in two separate halves. There is the first half, in which this year, much like so many before, has left them under the .500 mark. And then there is the second half, which (ignoring basic math) begins on August 1st - one day after the Major League Baseball trading deadline.

It is during the first half that the big league club will occasionally ship players up and down from the minors to replace the injured (see: Phil Dumatrait), the released (see: Matt Morris) or those who simply aren't performing (see: Tom Gorzelanny and Ronny Paulino). But for the most part, the 25 guys that came north at the end of spring get most of the at-bats and eat up most of the innings.

It is in second half that the big league roster can be susceptible to a complete overhaul. And the Pirates have three position players anxiously waiting for their opportunity to make it to The Show.

There is a chance that by print time the Pirates could have already moved Xavier Nady, Jason Bay, Jack Wilson or others, leaving gaping holes in significant parts of the lineup. Holes that can be filled by the Pirates' own homegrown talent.

The time has come for the youth movement that has taken over the clubhouse to soon take over the diamond as well.

The Long Road Taken

Of the Pirates big three prospects in triple A-Steve Pearce, Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen-only Pearce has had a "cup of coffee" in the bigs. Including his brief call up this season, Pearce has a .296 average in 26 major league games. But if the former eighth round pick in 2005 wants to make his next stop at PNC Park last longer, he has to meet the goals management set for him entering this year.

"Steve is a player that we challenged to be more than just a hitter and develop his defensive scheme, as well as his base running," said Kyle Stark, the Pirates' new Director of Player Development. "He has actually responded very well and now we've gotten him to the point where he can just relax and start to get more comfortable."

After hitting .333 with a combined 31 home runs last season while working his way up from single-A to triple-A in less than four months, Pearce struggled to start the 2008 campaign, hitting .238 for the month of April.

"The year he had last year was phenomenal," said Trent Jewitt, manager of the Indianapolis Indians, the Pirates' AAA affiliate. "But I think at some point he was kind of competing against himself to repeat those numbers."

In May, Pearce turned it around, hitting .280, leaving no doubt in his manager's mind that the 25-year-old has the makeup to hang with the big boys.

"The thing about him is he wants to be up there in those big situations," Jewitt said. "He doesn't shy away from that at all."

Homegrown

Neil Walker may be the most intriguing prospect in the entire Pirates' minor league system. Drafted out of Pine Richland High School in the first round of the 2004 draft, Walker was known primarily as a power hitting catcher.

What a difference a few years can make.

Last season Walker was switched to third base. Management worried the transition would take a while in the field, but they never worried about him at the plate. Yet one year later it is his defense that has surprised everyone in the organization, and his bat that has been slower to develop.

"His defense has been an experienced veteran type," Jewitt said. "He looks like he has been playing third base for a long time."

"It definitely doesn't look like he has only been playing third base for a year," Stark added. "His natural instincts and athleticism play well over there."

But at the plate it is another story. He enters the month of August with a sub-.250 batting average. As his history shows, slow starts are nothing new to the 22-year-old switch hitter.

"I think he got off to a slow start," Jewitt said of Walker's early season troubles. "There were some adjustments to be made and I feel like over the last month he has settled in and done a nice job. He is really starting to figure some things out."

Star Power

Rarely does a player live up to the level of hype that has been created for the Pirates' can't miss, five-tool prospect Andrew McCutchen. Prior to the season, the Fort Meade, Florida native was rated as the Pirates' No. 1 prospect, best athlete and best defensive outfielder by Baseball America, and just this past month he was selected to the Future's All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. He also was one of the final cuts on the USA Olympic roster.

But that doesn't mean he won't be taking a trip later this summer. If one (or both) of the Pirates' corner outfielders find themselves in a different city before the season plays out, McCutchen will not only be receiving his first big league call-up later this year, but he also may see significant playing time.

"His talent is something that is very unusual," Jewitt said. "He is so talented and his hands have so much strength and quickness to them that he is a threat at all times."

Obviously, whether or not the Pirates top prospects crack the big league lineup this year is not entirely up to them. But as of right now, these three are doing everything in their power to prepare themselves for the final months of the season as their day of wearing the black and gold may be just around the corner.