Top prospects join Curve

The Altoona Curve’s roster just turned high-profile, with the addition of two of the top prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization
Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen were added to the Curve on Tuesday, as the team gears up for a final push to secure a playoff spot

In addition, Vic Buttler was called up to the Indianapolis Indians (AAA)

Walker and McCutchen represent the top picks from each of the Pirates’ last two draft classes, and were rated the top two prospects in Pittsburgh’s farm system by Baseball America for the 2006 season

Walker was selected by the Pirates out of Pine-Richland high school with the eleventh overall pick in the 2004 draft, making him the first high school player from the Pittsburgh area selected in the first round of the major league draft since Oakland picked Tim Conroy in 1978
A native of Gibsonia, PA, Walker was assigned to Lynchburg (A) on May 18 from extended spring training after recovering from wrist surgery during the winter
The 20-year-old catcher played 72 games for the Hillcats, batting .284 with 3 home runs, 35 RBI and a team-leading 22 doubles, before being promoted to Altoona
Walker was chosen to represent the United States during the Futures Game at PNC Park during this summer’s Major League All-Star Celebration
The two-time Pittsburgh Post Gazette 'Male Athlete of the Year' won 'Player of the Week' honors in the Carolina League for the week ending July 30

McCutchen, the eleventh overall selection in the 2005 draft, was lauded by Baseball America as being the best hitter for average, best outfield defender and having the best strike zone discipline in the Pirates’ minor league system following the 2005 season
The speedy right-hander enjoyed a brilliant rookie campaign in 2005, and was rewarded with an invitation to the Pirates’ major league spring training camp before this season
Through 114 games with the Hickory Crawdads (A), McCutchen is batting .291 with 14 home runs and 62 RBI
A graduate of Fort Meade High School in Florida, McCutchen was named the 2005 Gatorade 'Player of the Year' in the Sunshine State, hitting a gaudy .709 with 16 homers and 42 RBI in his senior season

Note - Walker played for Curve manager Tim Leiper in 2005 at Lynchburg and his brother, Matt Walker, played under Leiper for Ottawa (AAA) in 2004

Home Cookin'

The Curve return from its current road trip to open a six-game homestand beginning this Friday, August 18
The homestand features two post-game fireworks shows as well as an appearance by Dawn Wells (“Mary Ann” of Gilligan's Island) as part of the Curve’s Retro Celebrity Series on Tuesday, August 22
The Curve will play fifteen of its final nineteen games of the regular season at Blair County Ballpark and is a league-best 38-18 at home this season

The Result
Defenders - 2 runs to 1

The Curve - Year-to-Date
68 won and 52 lost

Brett's Position and the Batting Order
Did Not Play
----------Recovering from injury
----------Refer to game on Saturday 12th August - click here
Playing
Batting - #

At the end of the Game
0 hits from 0 at-bats

Brett's at-bats
First at-bat
Righthanded pitcher

Second at-bat
Righthanded pitcher

Third at-bat
Righthanded pitcher

Heard during the Game

Email from Brett

Just wanted to tell you what's going on
Still have a little swelling in my foot and as of now I don't think I will be back til at least the weekend at the earliest
I think I will be having x-rays on Thursday
They said there is a small possibility that I have broken a small non-weight bearing bone
But they really don't know as I am just staying the same and not getting better or worse
Will write again on the off day and let you know what I am doing

Game Reports

The Altoona Curve lost a pitchers’ duel to the Connecticut Defenders Tuesday night, 2-1 at Dodd Stadium

Neil Walker didn’t take long to impress in his Double-A debut, accounting for his team’s only run of the game with a solo home run in the eighth inning
Walker was one of two top prospects in the Pirates’ organization that were added to the Curve roster on Tuesday

Walker’s blast was his only hit of the game and one of just five earned by the Curve against the Defenders

Andrew McCutchen, who was called up to Altoona from Hickory (A) before the game, also had a hit, finishing 1-for-4

Walker and McCutchen are the top two rated prospects in the Pirates' organization according to Baseball America

Walker started behind the plate in Tuesday's game while McCutchen started in centerfield in place of Vic Buttler who was promoted to Indianapolis (AAA) before the game

Wardell Starling (4-3) pitched just the second complete game of the season for the Curve, throwing eight innings and allowing just two runs, one earned, on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts

Starling’s strong effort went wasted however, as the Curve offense would place only five runners in scoring position all night and plate only one run

Defenders’ starter Jesse Floyd (3-12), the league-leader in losses, earned his third victory of the year with six shutout innings
The right-hander struck out six batters and allowed just four hits to win just his second decision since the first week of May

Connecticut scored an unearned run in their very first at-bat when Randy Walter came home from third on Brian Buscher’s double-play ground out
Walter led off the inning with a single and used a Javier Guzman throwing error to advance to third later in the frame

Nate Schierholtz blasted his tenth home run of the year in the third inning to put the Defenders up 2-0 and score what proved to be the game-winning run

Just one day after eight of the nine starters had a base hit in a victory over the Defenders, all nine Curve batters had at least one strikeout, fanning a total of eleven times

Billy Sadler pitched a perfect ninth inning, striking out the final two batters of the game to pick up his twentieth save of the season for Connecticut

The Curve and Defenders will continue their series Wednesday night at Dodd Stadium at 7.05pm
Jason Roach (6-4, 3.20) will start for Altoona against Connecticut’s Chris Begg (11-10, 3.68)

Nate Schierholtz's third-inning home run proved to be the difference as Connecticut beat Altoona, 2-1, on Tuesday at Dodd Memorial Stadium

The Defenders (58-65) were up 1-0 when Schierholtz launched his tenth homer over the wall in right field
The 22-year-old right fielder went 2-for-4 and extended his hitting streak to twelve games
Over that span he is hitting .442 (23-for-52)

Randy Walter led off the first with an infield single and came home when Brian Buscher hit into a double play

Jesse Floyd (3-12) turned in six scoreless innings and allowed four hits while striking out six and walking two

Billy Sadler notched his twentieth save with a perfect ninth

Neil Walker, who went 1-for-4, homered in his Double-A debut with the Curve (68-52)

Andrew McCutchen, Pittsburgh's first choice in last year's draft, also debuted for Altoona and went 1-for-4

Wardell Starling (4-3) turned in a complete game but was the hard-luck loser as he gave up two runs - one earned - on six hits and a hit batsman while striking out three

The Connecticut Defenders got a solid start from Jesse Floyd and a couple of early runs as they rebounded from Monday’s doubleheader loss with a 2-1 victory over the Altoona Curve

The Defenders got on the board right off the bat when Randy Walter led off the bottom of the first inning with an infield single
On a Nate Schierholtz ground ball to second, Javier Guzman tried to cut Water down at second, but the throw went into shallow left field
Walter took off for third base and dove in safely
He would score the game’s first run on a double play ball hit with no outs by Brian Buscher

The Defenders got their second run in the third inning on Nate Schierholtz’s tenth home run of the year
With the home run he extended his hit streak to twelve games
It was one of two hits on the game for Schierholtz

The Defenders would not score again, but Jesse Floyd was on point, pitching six shutout innings on his way to his third win

Jeff Petersen gave up a solo shot to Altoona catcher, top prospect Neil Walker, in the eighth inning, but that was all that Altoona would score

Billy Sadler came on in the ninth and nailed down his twentieth save for the Defenders 2-1 win

The Defenders will try and force a series split to end the homestand before their last day without a regular season game
Right hander Chris Begg (11-10) goes to the mound for the Defenders against right-handed former big leaguer Jason Roach (6-4)

The first pitch is scheduled for 7.05pm

A watershed day in franchise history saw the Curve receive two players who are considered the future of the Pirates
The Bucs’ No 1 and No 2 prospects, catcher Neil Walker and outfielder Andrew McCutchen, were promoted to Double-A on Tuesday
They were the Pirates’ first-round draft picks the past two years, and neither is even old enough to buy alcohol

McCutchen, at 19 years old, becomes the youngest player in Curve history
He’s also skipping high-A ball, making the jump to Altoona straight from low-A Hickory

Walker is a 20-year-old Pittsburgh-area native and Pine-Richland High School product
A rare switch-hitting catcher, he’s joining the Curve from high-A Lynchburg

“It’s going to give us a big boost of energy” Curve manager Tim Leiper said of the additions
“I think these guys really fit in here well, and the timing is perfect”

This marks just the second time the Curve have had the Pirates’ top two prospects, as rated by Baseball America, at the same point
In 2003, pitchers John Van Benschoten (No 1) and Sean Burnett (No 2) were teammates in Altoona

The big additions come with a price, though, as the Curve have lost center fielder and potential team MVP Vic Buttler to Triple-A Indianapolis
Buttler hit .292 with five homers, 51 RBIs, 21 steals and a franchise-record 14 triples
The call-up is probably long overdue for Buttler, who batted over .300 most of the season

“That’s awesome, too” Leiper said of Buttler’s promotion
“What a great year he had
I hope this guy gets to the big leagues”

Pirates outfielder Nate McLouth went on the disabled list with a sprained ankle Monday, creating a trickle-down effect that hit the Curve
Triple-A outfielder Rajai Davis was promoted to Pittsburgh on Monday, opening up a spot for Buttler
The Pirates usually don’t promote prospects just to fill holes, though, so the Walker and McCutchen moves probably were independent of those other transactions

“With three weeks left in Altoona’s season, it will be a great experience for them” Pirates farm director Brian Graham told MLB.com
“As an organization, we felt both Walker and McCutchen were mentally tough enough to handle this
Both have performed extremely well as of late”

Walker had hoped to reach Double-A by midseason, but he missed more than a month at the outset while recovering from offseason wrist surgery
He played 72 games for Lynchburg, hitting .285 with three homers and 35 RBIs

Veteran minor leaguer Dave Parrish has given the Curve a strong presence at catcher (.288, 27 RBIs) since joining the club three months ago
But when a prospect like Walker comes aboard, he’s guaranteed a lot of playing time

“Neil’s going to catch a lot, but he also can DH a lot as well” Leiper said
“By no means is Parrish going to fall by the wayside here”

Backup catcher Milver Reyes was placed on the roster of the Gulf Coast League Pirates to open up a spot for Walker

The Pirates have taken their time with key prospects under general manager Dave Littlefield, but that’s clearly not the case with McCutchen
The Florida native impressed the Bucs’ coaching staff in spring training, then turned in a strong season at Hickory, hitting .291 with an impressive 14 homers and 62 RBIs

“The splash of enthusiasm, you’ll see it on the field” Leiper said of the two newcomers

McCutchen started in center field Tuesday night at Connecticut, and Leiper said he may see some time in left field as well, with Nyjer Morgan playing center

Johnny V leaving?
It’s unclear if Van Benschoten’s next start will be with the Curve or Indianapolis
Leiper wasn’t sure Tuesday, and Littlefield told MLB.com the organization has yet to determine Van Benschoten’s fate
Van Benschoten, coming back from surgeries on both shoulders, gave up two runs in five innings to get the win Monday night

Neil Walker gave the Curve a boost in his first Double-A game, but the rest of the offense fizzled Tuesday against Connecticut

Walker belted a solo homer in the eighth inning to account for Altoona’s lone run in a 2-1 loss to the Defenders at Dodd Stadium

The Curve wasted a strong outing by Wardell Starling, who allowed only one earned run in eight innings

Walker, just called up from Single-A Lynchburg, struck out his first time up and followed with two popouts on the infield
He then smacked a home run to right field in the eighth off Connecticut reliever Jeff Petersen

Andrew McCutchen, just up from low-A Hickory, went 1-for-4 with a fourth-inning single to right in his Double-A debut
He lined out to left, struck out and lined to first in his other at-bats

Starling (4-3) matched Landon Jacobsen for the longest outing by a Curve starter this season with his eight-inning effort
The right-hander gave up three hits, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter

Connecticut scored an unearned run off Starling in the first inning
Randy Walter opened the frame with a single and took third when Curve second baseman Javier Guzman threw wildly to second on a forceout attempt
Starling got Brian Buscher to ground into a double play, with Walter crossing the plate for a 1-0 Defenders lead

Connecticut made it 2-0 in the third when Nate Schierholtz ripped a solo homer to right

Defenders starter Jesse Floyd (3-12) entered the game with a 2-12 record but handcuffed the Curve over six shutout innings

Billy Sadler earned his twentieth save