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Interview with Matt Hague
Matt Hague HR in Carolina League Championship Series

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

2008
A-:  333/400/444, 27 AB, 3 2B, 3 BB, 5 K
A:  321/384/479, 215 AB, 14 2B, 6 HR, 20 BB, 28 K, 1-1 SB

Started off at State College, but didn’t stay there long.  The Pirates loaded up in the 2008 draft on thirdbasemen and shortstops, and one of the latter, Chase d’Arnaud, played more third than short in college.  Once d’Arnaud and Jordy Mercer signed, State College was overloaded on the left side of the infield.  The Pirates relieved the congestion by promoting Hague, who was off to a good start, and Mercer to Hickory.  Coincidentally, Hickory’s thirdbaseman, Bobby Spain, who was also off to a good start, went out for the season with a broken wrist at about the same time.  Hague got off to a very fast start at Hickory.  He didn’t sustain it, but his hitting remained solid the rest of the year.  It was mainly his power that dropped off, as he hit all but one of his six HRs in the first couple weeks.  His OPS was 240 points higher against RHPs than LHPs.  He struggled at third, with an unsightly .891 fielding percentage.

2009
A+:  293/356/412, 454 AB, 30 2B, 8 HR, 40 BB, 67 K, 3-5 SB

With Pedro Alvarez at Lynchburg, Hague opened the season playing first and stayed there all year except for one game at third.  He had a disappointing season at the plate, as he hit for average and continued to show good plate discipline, but had only eight HRs.  His .412 slugging percentage isn’t adequate for a 23-year-old firstbaseman playing in class A.  Hague again hit RHPs better than LHPs, with all of his HRs coming against the former.

2010
AA:  295/375/442, 509 AB, 30 2B, 15 HR, 61 BB, 62 K 3-9 SB

Hague moved up to Altoona and made modest progress in the power department.  His walk and K numbers were excellent.  He didn’t hit for much power early, with only three HRs total in April and May, but hit a dozen in last three months.  He again had a reverse platoon split.  He played only one game at third, the rest at first.

2011
AAA:  309/372/457, 534, 37 2B, 3 3B, 12 HR, 47 BB, 68 K, 4-7 SB

Hague continued to improve at Indianapolis.  The improvement can be traced entirely to a huge month of June, when he hit 402/449/645.  His reverse platoon split started to even out, as he had an OPS of .810 against LHPs and .836 against RHPs, with more power against the former.  He also had 15 errors at first, which is a concern.  He played 17 games at third and had only two errors, as the Pirates probably were readying him to compete for a role like the one Steve Pearce played when he was healthy in 2011.  He did not get a September callup.  The ostensible reason was a lack of available playing time, yet as it turned out the team ended up using anemic hitters like Matt Pagnozzi and Xavier Paul as pinch hitters.  Just the same, they added Hague to the 40-man roster after the season.

2012
AAA:  283/332/351, 367 AB, 13 2B, 4 HR, 26 BB, 50 K, 3-4 SB
MLB:  229/270/257, 70 AB, 2 2B, 3 BB, 14 K, 1-1 SB

Hague went into spring training as a longshot to make the team, but he had a huge spring, including seven HRs.  He ended up seemingly competing with Yamaico Navarro and Josh Harrison for the last two roster spots, but all three made it when the Pirates decided to take advantage of a number of early-season off days and go with just four starting pitchers and seven relievers.  Hague was the one sent down when the Pirates needed a fifth starter.  He came back up in late May for a month, playing semi-regularly at first as Casey McGehee was playing in place of the injured Pedro Alvarez at third.  Hague did little in the majors and also took a step backward in the minors.  He struggled initially once he was sent down, hitting .222 in April.  He eventually came around and hit .294 for the rest of the minor league season, but his power nearly disappeared.  He continued to make consistent contact, but his walk rate also dropped off.  For the first time, he had a conventional platoon split, posting a .744 OPS against LHPs and .656 against RHPs in the minors.  He did not get a September callup.

Hague doesn’t have much of a ceiling.  He’s already 27, is limited to first, and doesn’t have the power for the position.  He also doesn’t make sense as a platoon partner for Garrett Jones because he’s not a lefty masher, and Gaby Sanchez has taken over that role, anyway.  Not surprisingly, the Pirates removed Hague from the 40-man roster to make room for Clint Robinson and Vin Mazzaro.  He cleared waivers and was assigned to Indianapolis.  He was slated to open 2013 as the regular firstbaseman there, but if he doesn’t hit better than 2012, the Pirates could promote Matt Curry to take over the job.