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A Gift From Africa (SI.com)

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

2009
R:  238/341/281, 160 AB, 4 2B, 1 HR, 21 BB, 52 K, 13-22 SB

The Pirates brought Ngoepe to the GCL for his first year, where he served as the regular secondbaseman and usually as the leadoff hitter.  He played a dozen games at short.  He had only six errors total, a low number for middle infielder in rookie ball.  Ngoepe was hitting around .300 in mid-July but slumped after that.  He showed a willingness to take walks, but he fanned in nearly a third of his ABs and didn’t hit for any power.

2010
R:  250/400/250, 4 AB, 1 BB, 2 K
A-:  205/315/319, 229 AB, 13 2B, 5 3B, 1 HR, 36 BB, 68 K, 11-18 SB

Ngoepe moved up to State College and started off at second, later moving to short.  He showed outstanding potential defensively, with excellent range and athleticism, as well as enough arm for short.  He has the speed to steal a lot of bases, although his technique needs work.  Things didn’t go as well at bat.  Ngoepe seemed to be making progress, hitting for decent average and drawing lots of walks, until about mid-July.  At that point, opponents started throwing him offspeed stuff almost exclusively and he couldn’t handle it at all.  From the beginning of August on, he hit .118 with 34 Ks in 85 ABs.

2011
R:  167/286/167, 6 AB, 1 K
A:  306/359/459, 85 AB, 5 2B, 1 3B, 2 HR, 7 BB, 14 K, 3-6 SB

Ngoepe opened at West Virginia, sharing the middle infield spots with Drew Maggi.  Early in the season he showed signs of a complete turnaround with the bat.  He cut his K rate to one every six ABs and even hit for good power.  Unfortunately, he suffered a hamate injury and missed the rest of the season except for an aborted rehab stint in the GCL in mid-July.

2012
A+:  232/330/338, 456 AB, 11 2B, 5 3B, 9 HR, 63 BB, 131 K, 22-36 SB

Ngoepe moved up to Bradenton, which may have been a difficult move given how little time he had in low A.  He didn’t retain the improvement he showed in 2011, aside from a surprising number of HRs.  He struck out far too often as he continued to struggle with offspeed stuff.  He did show a willingness to take a walk.  He seemed to be making progress when he hit .313 in July, but he slumped to .141 in August and September.  He hit just .214 from the left side, compared to .242 from the right side, but two-thirds of his HRs came left-handed.  The Pirates kept him at short nearly all the time and he continued to show excellent range and a good arm.  His defense was good enough to get him ranked by Baseball America as the 20th best prospect in the league.

Ngoepe has a great deal of defensive ability, but obviously needs to make more progress with the bat.  The Pirates will send him to Altoona in 2013, where he’ll be the regular shortstop.  It’ll be a significant challenge for him offensively.  Contrary to statements by both the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the Pirates’ official site, Ngoepe won’t be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until 2013.  He signed at age 18 after the 2008 minor league season ended, which means he’s eligible after five pro seasons, or 2013.