DELWYN YOUNG

6/30/82; '02 4th (Los Angeles Dodgers); Santa Barbara City College
B/R; 5-10, 209

Level
BA
OBP
SA
AB
2B
3B
HR
BB
K
SB
CS
2002 R (LAD)
.300
.380
.508
240
18
1
10
27
60
4
2
2003 A (LAD)
.323
.381
.542
443
38
7
15
36
87
5
2
2004 A+ (LAD)
.281
.364
.511
470
36
3
22
57
134
11
4
2005 AAA (LAD)
.325
.361
.475
160
12
0
4
8
35
0
0
2005 AA (LAD)
.296
.346
.499
371
25
1
16
27
86
1
3
2006 NL (LAD)
.000
.000
.000
5
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
2006 AAA (LAD)
.273
.326
.457
532
42
1
18
42
104
3
4
2007 NL (LAD)
.382
.417
.647
34
1
1
2
2
5
1
0
2007 AAA (LAD)
.337
.384
.571
490
54
5
17
38
105
4
3
2008 NL (LAD)
.246
.321
.341
126
9
0
1
14
34
0
0
2008 AAA (LAD)
.347
.429
.673
49
5
1
3
7
8
0
0
2009 NL
.266
.326
.381
354
16
2
7
29
90
2
0
2009 AAA (LAD)
.111
.200
.111
9
0
0
0
1
2
0
0

The Pirates acquired Young from the Dodgers a week into the 2009 season for two players to be named later, which for some reason turned out to be just minor league RHP Eric Krebs.  The Dodgers had designated Young for assignment, as they had no room for him on their 25-man roster and he was out of options.  He opened the season in AAA on a rehab assignment following off-season elbow surgery.

Young has hit everywhere he's gone, but had trouble sticking with the Dodgers and accumulated over a thousand at-bats in AAA.  He was blocked by a combination of an exceptional farm system that's produced numerous standout prospects, and a GM who's been reluctant to rely on his prospects and has repeatedly blocked them with (often wildly) overpaid, less talented veterans.  Young also doesn't readily fit into any one position.  He played secondbase until he reached AAA, then moved to the outfield corners.  He doesn't run well and his range isn't good, although he does have a strong arm.  He's a very aggressive hitter who doesn't walk a lot, but hits for high averages with outstanding gap power.  The fact that he has only decent homerun power, though, makes him an awkward fit for an outfield corner.  He had hit respectably for the Dodgers up to the time of the trade, especially considering that he had to adapt to the majors primarily as a pinch-hitter.

The Pirates didn't initially seem to have a set plan with Young, but he hit well coming off the bench and they increasingly used him in right to replace the struggling Brandon Moss.  They also had him work intensively at second base with infield coach/guru Perry Hill.  When they traded Freddy Sanchez at the end of July, Young took over for him at second.  At that point he was doing very well in his have-bat-will-travel role, hitting 310/375/420.  He continued to hit well until late August; on August 25 he was at 311/367/442.  After that he fell off a cliff, going just 16-for-103 to finish the season.  At one point he went twenty days without a hit.  It's possible he just wore down, as he continued doing extensive infield work every day through the end of the season.  It's also possible pitchers just learned to exploit his tendency often to swing wildly at pitches well out of the strike zone.  Defensively, Young's hard work helped him to the point where he was passable, but he remained well below average.  His range and athleticism aren't good, and he's slow on the DP pivot.  (He isn't any better in right, and playing left at PNC is out of the question.)  To be viable at second he has to hit well over .300, and even then he's a burden for the Pirates' extreme groundball, low-K pitching staff.  Another reason he's probably miscast as an everyday player is the fact that he has an extreme platoon split.  Like many switch-hitters, he's much stronger against RHPs.  For his career, his OPS+ is 105 against RHPs and 89 against LHPs.  The Pirates acquired Akinori Iwamura during the World Series, so the experiment with Young at second is undoubtedly over.  He's shown he can be very productive coming off the bench and would probably be an asset to them in that role.

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