Sunday’s Spring Training Report: Hinske arrives at Bradenton

Outfielder/infielder Eric Hinske, the Pirates top free agent signing this off-season, made his first appearance today in Bradenton. Hinske showed some power today in batting drills and he seems to believe he can have a 25 homerun season in 09. Hinske, 31, hit 20 home runs last season and signed a one year $1.5 million deal last month. Hinske sees Pittsburgh as a opportunity to improve his stats and hit the free agent market next season when hopefully the economy will be better. Hinske’s primary goal in spring training is to be the teams starting left fielder on opening day. If the first two days of workouts are any indication, the Pirates are going to go through a tougher spring

Spring Training Report

Pirates catchers and pitchers have already arrived to Bradenton and a number of position players have arrived early including 2008 1st round draft Pedro Alvarez. Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus released his top 100 minor league prospects with Pedro Alvarez coming in as Goldstein’s #4 prospect. Orioles catcher Matt Wieters is rated as the top minor league prospect in the majors. Two other Pirates prospects received some recognition. Centerfielder Andrew McCutchen came in at #25 and outfielder Jose Tabata #91. Alvarez who showed up to minicamp 20 lbs over his normal playing weight (235) is in good shape as the official start of training camp begins on Tuesday. Alvarez has been running the base pads well and his bat speed