JIMMY BARTHMAIER

1/6/84; '03 13th (Houston); Roswell, GA (HS)
R/R; 6-4, 200

Level
W-L-Sv
G
GS
IP
H
 HR
BB
K
 BB/9 K/9 WHIP OAVG
ERA
2003 R (Hou)
1-1-0
8
3
21.2
19
 0
7
18
 2.91 7.48 1.20 .226
2.49
2004 R (Hou)
4-3-0
13
13
69.0
70
 3
22
65
 2.87 8.48 1.33 .262
3.78
2005 A+ (Hou)
1-0-0
1
0
6.0
4
1
1
6
1.50
9.00
0.83
 .167
1.50
2005 A (Hou)
11-6-0
25
25
134.2
108
3
55
142
3.68
9.49
1.21
 .220
2.27
2006 A+ (Hou)
11-8-0
27
27
146.2
137
6
67
134
4.11
8.22
1.39
 .252
3.62
2007 AA (Hou)
2-9-0
24
16
90.0
116
11
44
73
4.40
7.30
1.78
 .312
6.20
2008 NL
0-2-0
3
3
10.1
16
3
8
6
6.97
5.23
2.32
.364
10.45
2008 AA
3-1-0
16
16
79.0
69
5
27
71
3.08
8.09
1.22
.235
3.53
2008 AA
2-4-0
10
10
46.1
42
3
21
40
4.08
7.77
1.36
.240
4.86

The Pirates claimed Barthmaier on waivers in November 2007. Baseball America had rated him the Astros' 4th best prospect in each of the preceding two years, as he had an outstanding season in low A in 2005 and a good one in high A in 2006. He fell apart in 2007, though, as his stuff deserted him and his command didn't develop. He then followed his bad AA season with an even worse performance in the Arizona Fall League. That got him removed from the roster. Barthmaier has a very good arm, with a 91-93 mph fastball that he sometimes throws harder, a curve that was considered outstanding, and a decent change. He represented a worthwhile challenge for the Pirates, considering the dearth of pitching in their organization.

Barthmaier opened 2008 in AA and, after a slow start, began pitching well enough to earn a promotion. He pitched well in AAA, with good numbers across the board. He also had three fill-in starts, one in June and two at the end of the year, after he'd been off for several weeks. The first one went very badly, but the other two were borderline adequate under the circumstances. The Pirates plan to send him to the Arizona Fall League during the off-season. Given the publicity surrounding the pitchers acquired from the Yankees for Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte, Barthmaier seems to get lost in the shuffle, but he's a solid prospect, or better. He'll probably have only an outside shot at earning a rotation spot in spring training, but there's a good chance he'll see action in the majors at some point in 2009.

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