Prospect Report: Three scouts weigh in on the Pirates top prospects in Double-A Altoona

The Pirates' Class AAA Indianapolis farm club has three big-time prospects in Pedro Alvarez, Jose Tabata and Brad Lincoln. Class AA Altoona, on the other hand, is thin on potential major-leaguers.

Three scouts who have watched Altoona in recent weeks could not unanimously agree on one player who they felt could eventually make a major impact in Pittsburgh. The closest they came was with shortstop Chase d'Arnaud, though he is hitting just .211 in 28 games.

Two of the three scouts feel d'Arnaud could be a starting shortstop in the major-league while the third says that could happen but ultimately projects him as a utility infielder.

"This kid doesn't immediately knock your socks off when you see him but I'm really starting to like him," said one scout who was pro-d'Arnaud. "He doesn't have one great tool but he's a pretty good athlete with pretty good speed and pretty good range. I don't know if he will necessarily be an All-Star in the major leagues but he will definitely be able to play shortstop every day at that level and be solid."

Said the dissenter: "He would be exposed by major-league pitching if he got 500 at-bats in a season. I think he'd be a good player off the bench, though. You could play him all over the infield and he'd hit a little bit and steal you a few bases."

All three scouts project Josh Harrison and Jordy Mercer as utility infielders in the majors, Harrison being most useful as a guy who can get on base and Mercer providing pop off the bench.

The three scouts are also unified in their belief that center fielder Gorkys Hernandez isn't good enough to start in the major leagues. "He can fly but he just doesn't hit enough and, frankly, I don't see that changing. He's repeating Double-A this year and the bat is regressing."

The pitcher the scouts have been most impressed with is left-handed Danny Moskos who had been a major bust since being the Pirates' first-round draft pick in 2007. Moved into the closer's role this season, Moskos is thriving.

"He's not going to close in the majors but I’m starting to think he could be a pretty decent set-up guy," one scout said. "His fastball and slider both have more life now, like they did when he was in college at Clemson. I think he's going to have at least some kind of a big-league career after all."

The scouts feel left-hander Rudy Owens will be a No. 3 or No. 4 starter in the major leagues.