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ERIK FORGIONE, SHORTSTOP
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| Born: September 9, 1992 Height: 6’0″ Weight: 175 Bats: Right Throws: Right Drafted: 25th Round, 761st Overall, 2014 How Acquired: Draft College: University of Washington Agent: N/A |
WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES |
| Forgione was drafted by the Pirates in the 25th round and appears to be a glove-only player at shortstop, as he contributed little offensively in his three years at Washington. In fact, he didn’t play regularly until his junior year. He was one of the better defensive shortstops in college and could remain at the position, although that alone likely won’t get him far. He has strong range and footwork, and a plus arm. Forgione supposedly had strong speed out of high school, but the stolen base numbers in college suggest otherwise. Despite being a junior, he signed not long after the draft.
2014 Forgione split his time between short and second at Jamestown. He hit about as expected, i.e., very little, with no power at all and not many walks. 2015 Apart from filling in briefly a couple times with West Virginia in low A, Forgione spent the season again in the NYPL. He played mostly at short, becoming the starter there in August when the Pirates promoted Kevin Newman to low A. Forgione had some trouble with errors, committing nine in 32 games at the position. He again hit very little. He also was less than efficient as a base stealer, to put it mildly. 2016 Forgione spent the season at Morgantown, where he got a lot of playing time due to injuries and the late-season promotion of Stephen Alemais. He went on largely as before, playing well at short and not hitting a great deal. He did do dramatically better as a base stealer. Forgione transitioned quickly to organizational utility infielder. He’ll probably continue to play that role somewhere in the lower half of the system in 2017. |
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CONTRACT INFORMATION
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| 2017: Minor League Contract |
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PLAYER INFORMATION
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| Signing Bonus: N/A MiLB Debut: 2014 MLB Debut: MiLB FA Eligible: 2020 MLB FA Eligible: Rule 5 Eligible: 2017 Added to 40-Man: Options Remaining: 3 MLB Service Time: 0.000 |
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TRANSACTIONS
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| June 8, 2011: Drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the 33rd round, 1005th overall pick. June 7, 2014: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 25th round, 761st overall pick; signed on June 16. |
I remember Dave Roberts warming up in game 7 of the World Series, and his great game against the Padres when Winfield gave him the ‘choke’ sign was a game for the ages.