A Closer Look: Pirates Third Baseman Andy Laroche

I previously wrote about Pirates third baseman Andy Laroche here  where I discussed the possibility of him moving to second base in 2010, but that was before the Pirates traded for second baseman Akinori Iwamura from the Rays. In that article, I compared his stats to Marlins outfielder Chris Coghlan.

Laroche has alot of pressure on him in 2010. He is out to prove he should be the Pirates third baseman of the future, pushing prospect Pedro Alvarez to 1B, which is where alot of experts expect him to end up. Laroche also has the pressure of being involved in the deal that sent Manny Ramirez to the Dodgers and Jason Bay to the Red Sox in 2008. Finally, Laroche was once a #1 prospect himself, who has never lived up to his potential as a middle of the order hitter in the major leagues.

Laroche's minor league statistics include a 30 HR season in 2005, and a career .295 BA, .382 OBP and a .517 SLG. Laroche went 12-64-.258-.330-.401 in 2009 in 524 ABs. Laroche has always been a streaky hitter, but if he can string together a few months like his September 2009, he could easily outperform his draft position in 2010.

In September, Laroche went 5-18-.313-.35-.552 in 96 ABs. Its quite possible Laroche is a late bloomer and 2010 could be the year he breaks out. Even better would be if he breaks out AND moves to 2B, a position he may see time at in spring training this year.