WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

2008
VSL:  237/340/289, 135 AB, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 18 BB, 24 K, 6-8 SB 

Played second and didn’t do much at the plate except for drawing a lot of walks.

2009
VSL:  410/500/492, 61 AB, 3 2B, 1 3B, 7 BB, 10 K, 4-10 SB 

Didn’t play much in his second VSL season; I’m not sure whether it was due to injury.  When he played it was mainly at second.

2010
VSL:  311/438/361, 180 AB, 9 2B, 40 BB, 24 K, 28-33 SB 

Hit for average and drew a ton of walks while splitting his time among the four infield positions.  As in previous years, he showed little power.  He stole a lot of bases for the first time, with a very good success rate.

2011
R:  262/438/338, 65 AB, 5 2B, 15 BB, 11 K, 9-11 SB 

Served as a utility player in the GCL, not playing a great deal at first.  After Yonathan Barrios got hurt and Ashley Ponce was promoted, he played semi-regularly, splitting his time between second and third.  He continued to walk a lot and hit for very little power, and did well stealing bases again.

Aponte’s main asset on offense is a willingness to draw walks, but that isn’t likely to work at higher levels due to his lack of power, as pitchers won’t hesitate to throw him strikes.  He evidently ranks behind Ponce on the utility infielder depth chart.  He opened 2012 in extended spring training and could appear anywhere in the lower parts of the system as a utility infielder at some point.