WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

2009
A-:  0-0-0, 1.69 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 16 IP, 1.1 BB/9, 5.1 K/9

Pitched at State College, but innings were limited.  He allowed just 11 hits and two walks in 16 innings, but also fanned only nine.

2010
A:  6-5-0, 2.99 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 87.1 IP, 2.1 BB/9, 6.5 K/9
A+:  2-3-0, 3.02 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 44.2 IP, 3.4 BB/9, 6.2 K/9

Baker pitched the first two-thirds of the season at West Virginia.  Justin Wilson, a LHP who was also a 5th round pick the previous year, opened at Lynchburg despite not pitching at all for State College, but he struggled through the first half of the season.  That may have influenced the Pirates’ thinking with Baker, or it could be they decided he wasn’t as advanced as Wilson.  He did well without dominating in the SAL, allowing few baserunners but not missing a lot of bats.  He moved up to Bradenton in mid-July and again had a good ERA, but he allowed more walks and hits than in low A and struck out slightly fewer.  He was a mild flyball pitcher.

2011
A+:  10-8-0, 3.34 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 148.1 IP, 3.1 BB/9, 6.4 K/9

Baker spent the entire season at Bradenton, which shows the Pirates weren’t satisfied with his development.  His college teammate, Phil Irwin, was drafted by the Pirates much later in the same draft and was promoted to Altoona at mid-season.  Baker again had a solid ERA, but his WHIP increased while his walk and K numbers stayed about the same.  The ERA was misleading, though, as 31% of the runs against Baker were unearned.  He did improve steadily throughout the season.  His ERA and opponents’ average in April and May were 3.99 and .319, respectively.  The rest of the year, those numbers were 2.73 and .216.  His best month by far was August, when he posted a 1.96 ERA while walking nine and fanning 32 in 36.2 IP.

Baker will move up to Altoona for 2012.  He’s moved slowly for his experience level and will be 24 by the start of the season.  AA will be an important test for him because he hasn’t shown the ability to dominate hitters so far.  He was hit hard throughout spring training in 2012, so it’ll be interesting to see how he fares in AA.