People are waiting for somebody who can finally take the reigns at shortstop or second base, which currently hold the two oldest starters in the Pirates' lineup. Chase D'Arnaud is that guy. The only problem is that he is in High-A ball and is not exactly ready to take over either position for a while.D'Arnaud was chosen in the 4th round of the 2008 draft and was immediately assigned to Low-A State College last season. He put up solid numbers while there and was a NY-Penn League All-Star. His line in his first year of pro ball: .286/.333/.423. It was a good first season, but not good enough to land D'Arnaud a spot on any Top 10 lists.
This season, D'Arnaud impressed enough in the South Atlantic League batting .291/.394/.427 that he received a promotion to High-A Lynchburg. D'Arnaud got of to a rough start after his promotion as he hit just .125 in his first 6 games. However, as soon as July hit, D'Arnaud has been on fire. He's now hitting .306/.400/.510.
The number that strikes me about D'Arnaud is his OBP. Combined between his two teams this season, he is sporting a .395 OBP. With the spike in his SLG, thanks to 20 doubles, 5 triples, and 3 homers, his OPS has been solid all year, especially for a middle infielder. He showed a little pop in his last season of college ball (11 HR), so it is also conceivable that D'Arnaud could develop enough power to eventually hit 10-15 HR in the majors. If he is able to do this, while adding to his impressive plate discipline, he will be a solid major league shortstop.
One thing that has worried me a bit about D'Arnaud is that in just 13 games for Lynchburg, he has commited 5 errors. A lot of that may be due to the fact he's been shuffled around a lot. Since his promotion, he has started at 3B, SS, and 2B. He's known to be an average fielder at SS and an above average fielder at 3B, but the moving around may have something to do with the abundance, considering he isn't able to get into any sort of routine right now. As far as his position goes, I would put him at SS or 2B and keep him there. Let him master a position instead of moving him around so he's average at 3 different ones.
If all things go well, I could see D'Arnaud develop into a Ryan Theriot-caliber player, which I'm pretty sure everyone would be happy with.
Pay attention to this guy, he could very well move through the system rather quickly due to the lack of middle infield talent in the upper minors. If he continues to produce, he may get his chance sooner than some expected.
Expected time for D'Arnaud to be in the 'Burgh: 2011
Current Top 10:
1) July 18th
2) July 17th
3) July 16th
4) July 15th
5) July 14th
6) July 13th
7) July 12th
8) July 11th
9) Chase D'Arnaud
10) Daniel McCutchen
