ALEX PRESLEY

7/25/85; '06 8th; Univ. of Mississippi
L/L; 5-11, 180

Level	BA	OBP	SA	AB	2B	3B	HR	BB	K	SB	CS
2004 NCAA	.311	.340	.520	196	11	6	6	9	47	9	3
2005 NCAA	.299	.340	.423	139	9	1	2	6	30	1	3
2006 NCAA	.343	.427	.552	239	18	7	6	34	41	20	4
2006 A-	.260	.313	.404	223	7	8	3	17	55	3	3
2007 A	.293	.348	.436	495	22	8	11	45	108	18	10
2008 A+	.258	.325	.380	287	15	1	6	29	50	13	6
2009 A+	.257	.305	.379	417	17	11	4	30	87	9	5

The Pirates drafted Presley in the 8th round after he picked up his game in his junior year in college. The principal improvement was that he started drawing some walks for the first time. According to Baseball America, Presley lacks the range for CF and has a weak arm, although he has above average speed. He doesn't have the power for a corner. Presley signed a couple weeks after the draft and struggled initially at Williamsport. He picked it up in August, as his OPS that month was .809, compared to .595 in July. His plate discipline, however, remained weak, and was poor overall. He had a terrible time with LHPs, posting a .357 OPS in just over 50 plate appearances. He split his time in the field between LF and CF.

In 2007 he played regularly for Hickory, opening as the left fielder and moving to center after James Boone was promoted. He got off to a poor start, mainly the result of a .572 OPS in May. He got hot in June and July, posting OPS figures of .961 and .898, respectively, before cooling off in August. He hit all of his HRs against RHPs, but otherwise didn't have much of a platoon split. His plate discipline is borderline and he strikes out a lot for a hitter with modest power. Presley looks like a tweener, without the speed for CF or the power for a corner. He started 2008 as the regular CF for Lynchburg, but hit only .147 in his first ten games and then got hurt. He returned in May and hit respectably for three months, posting monthly OPS figures of .740, .787 and .750, but he got hurt again in early August and missed the rest of the season. He struggled against LHPs, with a .574 OPS compared to .748 against RHPs. He opened 2009 back at Lynchburg and appeared set to serve as an outfield backup, but when Marcus Davis and Maiko Loyola both struggled and got released, he ended up playing more or less regularly, mainly in center. He had almost the exact same season as in 2008, including the continued inability to hit LHPs. If he's back in 2010 it'll probably be in a backup role, but with Starling Marte, Robbie Grossman and Quincy Latimore likely to be in Bradenton, playing time hopefully will be much harder to find.

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