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 |
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. The power was especially surprising for a small guy. Before anybody gets excited about Pacheco, though, it's worth remembering that Jon Benick put up an even better season at Hickory at the same age in 2004, then posted an OPS of .492 the following year at Lynchburg. Pacheco played all the OF positions for Hagerstown in 2006, but strictly the corners for Hickory because he doesn't have the range for CF. I thought Pacheco would be a free agent after the season, but he's back for 2008. Surprisingly, he'll start in the OF at Altoona in 2008. The new regime clearly regards him more highly than their predecessors, who viewed Pacheco strictly as an organizational player. The Benick analogy may not hold.
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