Spring Training: Longer look for talented trio

Pirates impressed by McCutchen, Walker, Bixler

March 6, 2007 12:00 am

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By Dejan Kovacevic / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- It does not take much to envision Andrew McCutchen, Neil Walker and Brian Bixler becoming fixtures at their positions at PNC Park in 2008.

And it was easier still yesterday at tiny Knology Park, as all three made the trip for yet another Grapefruit League game, the Pirates' 8-8 tie with the Toronto Blue Jays.

It is common to see young prospects make cameos in the first exhibition or two, usually in the later innings, or maybe those morning B-games. But when three players not experienced enough to meet Major League Baseball's requirements for being added to the 40-man roster rank among the team's leaders in games played a week into the spring schedule ...

"That's a pat on the back for them, frankly," general manager Dave Littlefield said.

"It's no accident," director of player development Brian Graham said. "These are priority guys, and we want them getting exposure to that level of the game. There's a maturity that comes from being around that environment that you can't replicate anywhere else."

Which is not to suggest any has a chance to accompany the Pirates for the season-opening trip to Houston.

"We just want them to taste as much as they can," Graham continued. "And they're doing very, very well."

McCutchen, the team's top prospect at age 20, is 3 for 9 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, an RBI and a steal in three games. He has not walked, but he has shown customary patience, including a nine-pitch at-bat against the New York Yankees' Mike Mussina last weekend and a hit batsman yesterday after he fouled off three 2-2 pitches.

Maybe most impressive, he has smoothly shifted from center field to left to allow the Pirates to see more of veteran Luis Matos in center.

As manager Jim Tracy put it, "It's not like we have to wonder whether Andrew McCutchen can play center."

Walker, 21, opened camp by learning he was converting from catcher to third base and, as a result, spent most of that early going out of the cages and on the field. Even so, he is 3 for 6 with an RBI and a walk in four games. Yesterday, he doubled to right in his lone at-bat in the ninth and scored.

But neither of those two qualifies as a surprise, each a first-round pick, each long lauded as a top-tier talent.

Bixler?

Although he has the pedigree that comes with being a second-round pick (2004), he is older than McCutchen and Walker at 24 and has not come close to their notoriety in the baseball community. Perhaps, that will change before long.

A right-handed hitting shortstop, Bixler opened last season by batting .303 with Class A Lynchburg and, by the midpoint, earned a promotion to Class AA Altoona, where the average stayed steady at .301. He had a combined 29 doubles, 3 triples, 8 home runs and 52 RBIs. He showed a solid glove, too, markedly better than his 26 errors might indicate and enough to convince management he can play shortstop in the majors.

By season's end, Graham was calling Bixler the most improved player in the system, and his assessment has not diminished this spring.

"Just look at the poise he's showing in every situation," Graham said. "Look at the way he fields his position, the way he's hitting to right field, the way he handles himself ... he just continues to grow."

This spring, Bixler, who is ticketed for Class AAA Indianapolis, is 4 for 6 with a home run in three games.

"It's a great experience for me and for all three of us, I think," Bixler said. "It's one thing to just get an inning or two. But to have this chance, it means a lot."

Same goes for the other two, apparently.

"We're getting more of a chance to impress, and it's nice," McCutchen said. "I feel a little more comfortable with just going out there and playing my game. And I believe I've shown them what I can do, which is even nicer."

"It's one thing to get a couple at-bats and say you were there," Walker said. "It's another to get to perform in front of Tracy and his staff. That's a big thing for all three of us. It's hard to tell what they're thinking by doing this, but for them to stick us out there ... it's obviously a positive."

McCutchen and Walker are ticketed for Altoona.

All three, ultimately, are ticketed for Pittsburgh, as is easily detectable in team officials' tone when discussing them.

"We have a very strong feeling about what they've done to this point," Littlefield said. "And we feel the same about what we think they're going to be in the future."