Pittsburgh Pirates: Alex Presley Impresses in His First Series in 2011

Technically, the Pittsburgh Pirates' Alex Presley was a September call up last year, as a bench player. But he has been impressive in this Toronto Blue Jays series, which basically represents his "true" debut.

In the first game, Jose Bautista drove in three runs against the Pirates, like I had feared. But the newcomer, Presley, balanced that by batting 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. That's a major reason why.Pittsburgh edged out Toronto, 7-6.

Toronto won the second game, 2-1. But even here, Presley made his mark, drawing a base on balls, and taking 23 of the 160 pitches thrown by Toronto hurlers.

In the third game, Presley started with a leadoff triple and scored a run on an infield out. Later on, he drove in the second run for the Pirates with a sacrifice fly, en route to a 6-2 victory.

With this kind of a start, Presley should be given every opportunity to play a corner position, even after Tabata returns. That might allow the Pirates to trade away expensive veteran players occupying these slots.

Presley was drafted in the eighth round in 2006. But he has played like a first-rounder in his first few games. His average so far this year is a moderate .273. And he appears to be strong in both on base percentage and slugging ability. In this regard, he has started his career as the Pirates' answer to Bautista (who was an even later round draft pick).

At 5'9'' and 190 pounds (Bautista weighs only 195, although he is taller), Presley is not the most obvious major league candidate. Still, the ability to get good "surprises" from later-round choices may ultimately define the Pirates' success or failure as a team.