MILES DURHAM
3/21/83; '06 22nd; Northwestern State Univ.
R/R; 6-3, 195
| Level |
BA |
OBP |
SA |
AB |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
K |
SB |
CS |
| 2006 NCAA |
.291 |
.351 |
.492 |
244 |
12 |
5 |
9 |
18 |
64 |
18 |
7 |
| 2006
A- |
.201 |
.239 |
.302 |
189 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
7 |
49 |
4 |
4 |
| 2007 A- |
.255 |
.310 |
.369 |
141 |
11 |
1 |
1 |
12 |
38 |
1 |
0 |
| 2008
A+ |
.220 |
.275 |
.344 |
218 |
15 |
0 |
4 |
15 |
49 |
11 |
4 |
| 2008 A |
.348 |
.394 |
.585 |
287 |
24 |
1 |
14 |
17 |
63 |
7 |
1 |
| 2009 AA |
.275 |
.331 |
.425 |
240 |
17 |
2 |
5 |
20 |
57 |
8 |
2 |
| 2009 A+ |
.296 |
.348 |
.490 |
247 |
19 |
4 |
7 |
17 |
55 |
8 |
2 |
Durham wasn't an outstanding hitter in college, not even as
a senior. The Pirates drafted him as part of a pattern in the last couple
years under Dave Littlefield of loading up in the draft on college outfielders
with modest hitting credentials, a practice that made no sense and produced
nothing of value. Durham in his first year was part of an amazingly bad
collection of hitters at Williamsport. It took him two years to get out of
short season ball, but unlike most of the other Littlefield draftees, he started
to hit well. Of course, by then he was playing in low A at age 25.
He got a mid-season promotion to Lynchburg and struggled, and also failed to
make the AA roster to start 2009. Back at Lynchburg, he combined with
Pedro Alvarez, when Alvarez wasn't slumping, and Kris Watts to provide Lynchburg
with a very strong middle of the lineup. Durham was promoted to Altoona
along with Alvarez and started off well, hitting .330 in July. He slumped
the rest of the way, though, as pitchers started taking more and more advantage
of his tendency to chase offspeed stuff out of the strike zone.
Durham is
a passable defensive corner outfielder. He moved to first, however,
in 2008 when Justin Byler's broken arm kept him from taking the first base job
at Hickory. At Lynchburg in 2009, Durham played mainly right again because
Matt Hague was at first. When he moved up to Altoona, though, he moved
primarily to first because Jose Tabata was in right. Durham doesn't move
well around the bag or scoop throws well, but some of that is probably
inexperience. He runs better than you'd think
for his size, as his SB numbers show. He'll open 2010 at age
27 and will probably be back in AA, so his prospect window has closed. He'll be eligible for the Rule 5 draft, but he's extremely unlikely to be selected.
Return to Corner Outfielders