Yurendell

de Caster

DeCaster has received two at-bats during his two stints with the Pirates, striking out both times.

DeCaster didn’t get an at-bat during his three days with the Pirates.

DeCaster was up for three days last month, but he didn’t get an at-bat. With Jose Bautista available to act as a backup at the same positions that DeCaster plays, an expanded role isn’t likely. He’ll only hang around until Joe Randa comes off the DL.

This will be a short stay, but De Caster is a future utilityman for the Pirates. He was hitting .252/.313/.408 in 147 at-bats for Indianapolis.

DeCaster is hitting .252 for Triple-A Indianapolis. He has decent power, but his stay in the majors will likely be too short for him to have any fantasy value.

Perez was a bust the last two years, but he hardly got a chance to play in 2006 as Oakland’s 25th man and he was injured for much of last season. He could yet prove to be a capable hitter in the majors. However, whether his defense will still hold up following injuries and concerns about his conditioning remains to be seen. Bergolla is still young at 24 and offers plenty of defense at second base. He never developed as hoped, but he doesn’t need to take a huge leap forward in order to be an adequate option as a backup. Jimenez, 25, hit .328/.399/.591 at Double-A Portland last season, but he flopped in Triple-A. The former Orioles prospect probably won’t ever be anything more than a minor league slugger.

DeCaster gained fame during the WBC, twice leading the Netherlands over the Dominican Republic. The 29-year-old had been pacing the independent Northern League in hits (54), doubles (14), home runs (13), RBI (43) and slugging percentage (.682). He was also batting a none-too-shabby .344.

De Caster, who was added to the Pirates’ 40-man roster last month, is tied with Tom Evans for the VWL lead with 17 homers. He’s also tied for first with 11 steals and is second in runs scored and RBI. His .322 average puts him just outside the top 10.

Maybe this is our payback for bashing most of his offseason moves; Pirates GM Dave Littlefield is going to announce all of these signings one at a time. De Caster’s chances of securing a job as a reserve may have vanished with the signing of Jose Hernandez last week. He’ll probably be a part of the infield at Triple-A Indianapolis.

Perhaps De Caster’s .355 average and league-leading 12 homers in Venezuela had somethign to do with his addition to the Pirates’ 40-man roster. The utilityman is 26 years old and he doesn’t figure to make the club next season, but maybe he’ll be of some use later on.