Just two years ago, Zach Duke, Ryan Doumit, Chris Duffy, Brad Eldred and Nate McLouth played for the Class AA Altoona Curve.

Think that might make an impression on, say, outfielder Vic Buttler, pitcher Josh Shortslef and catcher Neil Walker?

"It's cool," Walker said. "It's real neat to see that where those guys were just a couple years ago was the same place you're at."

Walker, the Pirates' top draft pick in 2004, probably won't begin this season with Altoona, but he'll be with the Curve so quickly he might not even remember his cameo at Class A Lynchburg, where he's projected to start the season.

Buttler and Shortslef are projected to start the season with Altoona, which probably won't boast the bevy of prospects to which the Curve has become accustomed.

Nevertheless, the players at Altoona this season can feel comfortable in knowing they might not be that far from PNC Park. Yes, it's only two hours away by car, but it has also been less than two seasons away for 38 players over the past seven seasons.

Those 38 have made their debut with the Pirates within two seasons of playing their first games at Blair County Ballpark.

"There are a lot of players with the Pirates who were in the minor leagues just a couple years ago," Walker said. "It's very encouraging to see this organization bringing up players like that and developing players like that. It's definitely a good incentive to work hard and see where it takes you."

"For a younger guy, it makes you feel better that the future's not that far away," Eldred said. "As long as you do what you're supposed to be doing and you can play and you do well, you're going to move up."

It wasn't that long ago, though, that a player at Altoona could almost count on reaching the Pirates simply by having perfect attendance at Curve games.

"There was a need early on with the Pirates that you had to bring guys to the big leagues because you had to have people to fill positions," said Brian Graham, the Pirates' player development director.

It had little to do with the player's ability or major-league readiness.

And it showed.

"If you push a player to a level above his ability, he goes into survival mode and he doesn't get better," Graham said. "All he does is try to play to survive regardless of how talented he is."

That began changing in 2002 when Graham assumed his current position.

"I remember being in Lynchburg [in 2002] and Brian made a statement that 'No one's going to move up no matter how good you're doing,' " left-hander Sean Burnett recalled. "I remember I had a great year in Lynchburg, and I stayed there all year."

The year before, Burnett was 11-8 with a 2.62 earned run average for Class A Hickory.

He began his Lynchburg stint 7-0 with a 1.19 ERA in his first seven starts. Before Graham's arrival, Burnett might have been quickly promoted to Altoona. Instead, he remained with Lynchburg the entire season and finished 13-4 (1.80).

That made him ready for a full season with Altoona in 2003. He was 14-6 (3.21) in 27 starts.

By June 2004, after 10 starts for Class AAA Nashville, Burnett was deemed ready to pitch in the big leagues.

Had he been quickly moved through the minor-league system in 2002, he might not have been as polished.

"We've been extremely honest and straight with players in terms of development and why they're staying at certain levels," Graham said. "Players need to perform. They just don't get promoted based on potential. It's performance-based, same as in the big leagues."

That the major-league team seems to have turned the corner toward becoming at least some kind of force has helped to stabilize the system.

"That's the biggest thing we did here -- we slowed down the development process," Graham said. "It's really helped the players become good performers.

"We're at the point now that we have good players in the big leagues, so the younger players are able to develop at the correct rate, meaning they need to learn to be situational hitters or have a two-strike approach or throw a changeup behind on the count."

Slowing the development process meant a lot in the performances of Duke, Doumit, Duffy, Eldred and McLouth when they arrived in Pittsburgh last season. None appeared overmatched.

"These players have developed in the minor leagues, and they've gone to the big leagues and had success," Graham said.

"The process in the minor leagues at this point is working. Certainly, with the next group of players coming along we feel very confident that we're going to continue to have good players."

Another positive of the slowdown is that the players progress in a group, rather than in a herky-jerky fashion that splits them.

It's not a coincidence that when all those rookies reached the major leagues last season they got along well and already had a bond.

"It only helps you to grow together," Burnett said. "By doing that, you grow as a team -- something like the Minnesota Twins did. Everybody comes up together. They take the levels together. They go through their growing pains together. It makes you more of a team.

"Guys are best friends. They hang out on and off the field. It makes for better team chemistry.

"Everybody goes out there and wants to play for each other. I definitely feel in the next few years you're going to have more camaraderie up here and guys who want to work together and play hard for each other because that's what they've done in the minor leagues for the past three or four years."

Eldred noticed it immediately when he joined the Pirates from Class AAA Indianapolis July 22. Doumit, Duke and Duffy had preceded him.

"It was definitely nice to walk into a clubhouse and see a lot of the faces you came up with," Eldred said. "It helped with just being comfortable and not feeling too overwhelmed."

Which is precisely the point.

"For me, development means having good players [grouped] with good players," Graham said.

"So if it's good prospects with good prospects or if it's quality veteran players surrounding your young prospects, that's part of development because you learn from your teammates.

"You learn from watching other guys, whether it's their approach to hitting or pitch sequences or how they get a lead off of a pitcher. There's just so much you can learn from watching other good players, and that's been a very important part of our development process."