A repeat championship certainly looks like a possibility for this year's Curve team, which will include several and perhaps many players returning from 2010, plus another strong pitching staff.
The Pirates have done a much better job in recent years of building depth at the Triple-A and Double-A levels. So good, in fact, that a number of key performers from last year's Eastern League championship club may not be able to crack the Triple-A roster and therefore may have to return to Altoona.
"You look at this past year's team that played there, the fans of Altoona have seen the talent level, how it's grown," Pirates farm director Kyle Stark said. "I think decisions are getting harder. It's harder to find at-bats and innings for guys, [which is] certainly a reflection on the talent in the system."
Minor league spring training starts this week, and there will be a lot of competition for Triple-A jobs.
It's possible, Stark said, that the entire starting infield of first baseman Matt Hague, second baseman Jordy Mercer, shortstop Chase d'Arnaud and third baseman Josh Harrison could be back with the Curve. Those four played together all of last season, with Hague and Harrison enjoying the most success.
"There is a chance that you could see all or none [in Altoona], depending on what happens with the big league team and the Triple-A team," Stark said. "A lot of it may be outside of their control. Some of it may be within their control."
Fact Box
2011 Curve roster preview
A tentative look at what the Curve's opening-day roster may look like in April. Unlike recent years, there will be a number of players who already have achieved Double-A success who may return because there's no spot for them on the Triple-A roster. That could be the case with any or all of the four starting infielders from 2011 (Hague, Mercer, d'Arnaud, Harrison).
POSITION PLAYERS
Name.....Team.....Avg......G.....AB.....H.....HR.....RBI
C Tony Sanchez.....Bradenton......314.....59.....207.....65.....4.....35
C Eric Fryer.....Bradenton......300.....83.....287.....86.....8.....48
1B Matt Hague.....Altoona......295.....135.....509.....150.....15.....86
1B Calvin Anderson.....Bradenton......259.....125.....464.....120.....11.....73
2B Jordy Mercer.....Altoona......282.....126.....485.....137.....3.....65
3B Jeremy Farrell.....Bradenton......298.....75.....275.....82.....9.....43
3B Josh Harrison.....Altoona......300.....135.....520.....156.....4.....75
SS Chase d'Arnaud.....Altoona......247.....132.....530.....131.....6.....48
SS Brock Holt.....Bradenton......351.....47.....194.....68.....1.....27
OF Quincy Latimore.....Bradenton......266.....134.....518.....138.....19.....100
OF Starling Marte.....Bradenton......315.....60.....222.....70.....0.....33
OF Brad Chalk.....San Antonio......214.....65.....201.....43.....0.....15
PITCHERS
Pitcher.....Bradenton.....W-L.....ERA.....G.....GS.....IP.....K/BB
LHP Jeff Locke.....Altoona.....3-2.....3.59.....10.....10.....57.2.....56/12
RHP Bryan Morris.....Altoona.....6-4.....4.25.....19.....16.....89.0.....84/31
LHP Justin Wilson.....Altoona.....11-8.....3.09.....27.....26.....142.2.....134/71
RHP Brian Leach.....Bradenton.....9-9.....3.85.....27.....25.....138.0.....98/44
RHP Aaron Pribanic.....Bradenton.....7-6.....3.33.....27.....27.....154.0.....71/33
RHP Tim Alderson.....Altoona.....7-6.....5.62.....18.....18.....89.2.....59/27
RHP Ramon Aguero.....Altoona.....2-5.....8.68.....17.....0.....18.2.....17/14
RHP Diego Moreno.....Bradenton.....4-1.....1.17.....28.....0.....38.1.....57/5
Mercer and d'Arnaud weren't as consistent as the Pirates would have liked last season and could use more Double-A seasoning. Hague (.295, 86 RBIs) and Harrison (.300, 75 RBIs) were good enough in many respects to warrant promotions, but spots may not be available for them at Triple-A.
It's also possible the Curve will have at least two and possibly three of their best starting pitchers back.
Lefty Jeff Locke is a lock to return after making only 10 Double-A starts. Righty Bryan Morris also may return after spending half a season with the Curve and being moved to the bullpen late to keep him from piling up innings.
The big surprise could be the return of lefty Justin Wilson, who went 11-8 with a 3.09 ERA in 26 starts before earning playoff MVP honors with two scoreless outings.
What does it say that a pitcher like Wilson may have to repeat this level?
"It says that we've got some talented pitchers at Triple-A that we're excited about," Stark said.
"Justin Wilson does a lot of very good things," Stark noted. "The ability to consistently command the fastball, that's where we continue to challenge him. And I think when he answers that question, he's ready for that next challenge."
Several good prospects will get their first challenge at Double-A after helping high-A Bradenton reach the Florida State League playoffs last year.
Tony Sanchez, the Bucs' 2009 first-round draft pick, will be the Curve's catcher and most notable prospect. He will have a good backup, too, in Eric Fryer, who batted .300 for Bradenton.
Shortstop Brock Holt hit a sizzling .351 in 47 games for Bradenton and, depending on what happens with d'Arnaud and Mercer, he could be on the opening-day roster.
Two promising prospects will roam the outfield at Blair County Ballpark. Speedy Sterling Marte will be in center field, while Quincy Latimore, who had 19 homers and 100 RBIs for Bradenton, will be in left.
Pitching carried the Curve to the EL title a year ago, and the staff should be the team's strength this season.
Along with the Locke-Morris-Wilson possibilities, righty Aaron Pribanic is the best starter coming up from Bradenton. Pribanic went 7-6 with a 3.33 ERA in 27 starts for the Marauders.
Former Harrisburg lefty Aaron Thompson also may be on the Curve staff if he doesn't make the Triple-A team. Thompson has a lot of experience but went 4-13 with a 5.80 ERA in 26 starts for the Senators last season.
Hard-throwing relievers Ramon Aguero and Diego Moreno will be in the back end of the bullpen. Moreno had tremendous numbers for Bradenton in 2010 but encountered a disciplinary problem with the Curve and was demoted back to the Single-A team.
It's unclear if right-hander Tim Alderson will start with the Curve or Bradenton. The former first-round draft pick endured a horrific 2010 season, struggling for Altoona before getting demoted and posting a 6.98 ERA for the Marauders.
Stark said he expects Alderson to be in Altoona "at some point" but couldn't specify if it would be to start the season.
"At this point, based on Tim's career path, it's hard to sit down here and map some things out just because it hasn't necessarily been typical," Stark said.
The Pirates, Stark added, have not given up on Alderson.
"He's in the system, so we certainly have high hopes, high expectations," Stark said. "If we had given up on him, then we would give up on him and release him, and that's not the case. We still feel like Tim has a chance to do a lot of things on a baseball field, and we're gonna continue to try to help him reach his goals."
It's too early to expect last year's top draft picks - pitchers Jameson Taillon and Stetson Allie - to appear in a Curve uniform.
"No chance of seeing either guy this year," Stark said. "Actually, I shouldn't say that. I don't have control of the world, so I'm not going to say that there's no chance. But it would be 99.999999 percent chance that neither one of them would make it to Altoona."
The Pirates still have a long, long way to go at the major league level, but we saw the beginnings of the upper levels of the minor league system starting to improve with the talent on last year's Curve squad.
The upward trend will continue this season, giving Stark some difficult decisions about which players to put in Triple-A or Double-A.
"Obviously, until we start having guys with the same type of challenging decisions at the big league level, we still have work to do," Stark said. "But there's no question in my mind - and I think most everybody else's mind - that there's a significant difference [in the system] between now and the recent past."
Cory Giger is the host of "Sports Central" from 4 to 6 p.m. daily on ESPN Radio 1430 WVAM. He can be reached at 949-7031 or cgsports12@aol.com.
