WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

2009
DSL:  259/331/379, 116 AB, 1 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR, 12 BB, 22 K, 17-17 SB 

Played only briefly in the DSL, evidently due to an injury.  He hardly played at all in the field, but stole 17 bases without getting caught.

2010
DSL:  304/382/384, 237 AB, 8 2B, 4 3B, 1 HR, 26 BB, 41 K, 23-34 SB 

Although the Pirates have generally been aggressive in bringing their top Latin American talents to the GCL, they left Carvajal in the DSL for a second season and he had a strong year, with Baseball America rating him one of the top prospects in that league.  He was the primary shortstop and did a good job of getting on base.

2011
R:  268/329/340, 194 AB, 8 2B, 3 3B, 16 BB, 25 K, 15-16 SB 

Spent the season in the GCL and got off to a very slow start, with just a .434 OPS in seven games in June.  He improved to .698 in July and then batted 307/371/341 in August.  He was caught only once in 16 attempted steals.  Carvajal played nearly twice as much at second as at short, as Alen Hanson played more at the latter.  Carvajal was erratic at short, with nine errors in 17 games, but he showed very good range at either spot.

2012
A-:  235/276/305, 187 AB, 7 2B, 3 3B, 11 BB, 37 K, 8-11 SB
A:  243/308/336, 107 AB, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 7 BB, 22 K, 2-5 SB

Carvajal opened the season playing second and a little at third for West Virginia.  He hit passably well there, but after a month the Pirates sent him back to extended spring training.  I think the reason may have been that Dan Gamache, who was slated to be the regular at second, wasn’t fully healthy at the start of the season.  Carvajal resurfaced as the secondbaseman for State College when the Spikes’ season opened.  He didn’t hit much there.

Carvajal is living up to his billing, as he’s shown good speed and a good glove with a questionable bat.  The bat so far isn’t developing and he hasn’t been able to put his speed to use on the bases.  He won’t turn 21 until the beginning of the 2012, but he’s starting to look more like an organizational player.  He started 2013 in extended spring training, so he’s still not moving forward.