JACOB CUFFMAN

3/3/85; '03 14th; Butler (PA) HS
R/R; 6-4, 190

Level
W-L-Sv
G
GS
IP
H
 HR
BB
K
 BB/9 K/9 WHIP OAVG
ERA
2003 R
2-1-0
8
3
21.2
29
 1
16
27
 6.65 11.22 2.08 .326
4.98
2004 R
0-1-0
6
5
16.2
16
 3
20
15
 10.80 8.10 2.16 .254
4.86
2005 A-
1-1-2
21
0
35.0
19
 2
25
32
 6.43
8.23
1.26
.162
3.86
2006 A
0-3-0
29
0
44.0
52
 5
26
35
 5.32
7.16
1.77
.283
6.75
2006 A-
0-1-0
6
0
12.1
11
 1
4
14
 2.92
10.22
1.22
.234
2.92
2007 A+
0-0-0
1
0
1.0
0
 0
0
0
 0.00
9.00
0.00
.000
0.00
2007 A
0-0-0
9
0
7.1
13
 2
14
7
 17.19
8.59
3.68
.371
24.55
2007 A-
1-1-1
5
2
9.2
12
 0
5
9
 4.66
8.39
1.76
.293
6.52
2008 A+
1-2-1
49
0
53.1
51
3
47
41
7.93
6.92
1.84
.246
5.23

In both of his abbreviated GCL seasons, Cuffman struggled badly with his control, while fanning hitters at a good rate.  In 2005, he improved his control somewhat, although it still left a lot to be desired.  He held hitters to a .162 average and fanned nearly a batter an inning, so he appears to have good stuff.  His primary pitches are a cut fastball and sinker, and he throws in the low 90s.  He opened 2006 in the Hickory bullpen and pitched well in April, with a 2.31 ERA and 12/1 K/BB in 11.2 IP.  After that, the wheels came off and his control problems returned.  He bounced back and forth between Hickory and Williamsport while he struggled at the higher level, and also spent a little time injured.  He tried Hickory again at the start of 2007 and was just terrible.  He eventually was sent back to extended spring training and resurfaced to pitch briefly, and not well, for State College.  He threw one inning as a fill-in pitcher at Lynchburg at the end of the season.  Surprisingly, not only did he return for 2008, but he opened at Lynchburg.  Considering his experience at Hickory in 2007, he probably made progress by some measures, but walking a batter an inning doesn't work well.  There are some positive signs in his pitching, as he's a strong groundball pitcher (1.79 GO/AO ratio) and keeps the ball in the park.  He struggled badly with LH hitters in 2008, as they hit 100 points higher against him than RH hitters.  He'll probably return to Lynchburg in 2009.  He has a good arm so the Pirates will likely keep trying to get his control problems straightened out.

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