JONEL PACHECO

10/3/82; NDFA '01 (Cleveland); Venezuela
R/R; 5-9, 170

Level
BA
OBP
SA
AB
2B
3B
HR
BB
K
SB
CS
2001 VSL (Cleve)
.255
.360
.367
98
5
0
2
16
14
2
 
2002 VSL (Cleve)
.375
.464
.544
160
16
1
3
23
23
17
 
2003 DNP
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2004 VSL (NYM)
.321
.382
.540
224
18
2
9
24
37
29
 
2005 A- (NYM)
.274
.344
.413
201
10
0
6
17
35
20
6
2006 A (NYM)
.264
.321
.392
462
25
2
10
37
75
21
15
2007 A+
.290
.333
.387
31
3
0
0
2
10
0
0
2007 A
.315
.372
.566
463
25
5
27
41
71
18
7
2008 AA
.288
.358
.416
416
17
0
12
42
82
11
4
2009 AAA
.400
.444
.600
15
3
0
0
2
6
0
0
2009 AA
.275
.323
.438
432
24
2
14
27
89
15
12

Considering his hitting in the VSL, it's surprising Pacheco didn't get a chance in the US sooner. It could be the Indians signed him hoping he'd grow bigger, or he was caught in agegate. In any event, at 24 and still in the low minors, he was beyond the prospect stage by the time the Pirates signed him. Williamsport had a shockingly bad collection of outfielders in 2006, a growing trend in the low minors for the Pirates under Dave Littlefield due to their inability to draft decent hitters and to find any Latin American prospects at all. The result was a need for free agents like Pacheco to fill out the class A rosters.

Outside of a temporary promotion to Lynchburg in June, he played regularly for Hickory in 2007 and batted 3rd or 4th most of the time. He had a huge season, leading the SAL in RBIs (99) and finishing 2nd in HRs and slugging and 5th in OPS. He had a monster August, posting a 1.242 OPS while leading the Crawdads to the second half division title by a wide margin. Pacheco played all the OF positions for Hagerstown in 2006, but strictly the corners for Hickory; he's a short, stocky guy and doesn't have the range for CF. Surprisingly, Pacheco moved up to Altoona in 2008, where he served as the regular LF. It's safe to say that the Littlefield administration would not have skipped Pacheco over a level, but he handled the jump well enough. Except for July, much of which he missed with an injury, he hit about the same every month. Overall, coming at age 25, it was enough to show that he's a solid upper minors player but not a prospect.

Pacheco became a free agent in the fall, but re-signed with the Pirates. He went back to Altoona and got off to a slow start, had pretty much the same season as the year before, sacrificing some walks for a little more power.  He obviously shouldn't be attempting to steal 27 times in a season, but for some reason minor league managers, or at least the ones in the Pirates' system, seem to consider running their teams out of innings to be a good developmental practice. Pacheco also filled in briefly at Indianapolis. He became a free agent again in the off-season. He's a useful player, but he may want to look for a better opportunity.

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