KEVIN HART

12/29/82; '04 11th (Baltimore); Univ. of Maryland
R/R; 6-4, 215

Level

W-L-Sv

BB/9

K/9

WHIP

OAVG

ERA

2004 A (Balt)

2-0-0

14.0

3.2

10.3

1.29

.232

3.77

2004 A- (Balt)

3-0-1

14.0

4.4

10.0

1.19

.189

3.77

2005 A (Balt)

9-8-0

152.1

170

164

3.2

9.7

1.47

.278

4.55

2006 A+ (Balt)

6-11-0

148.1

149

122

3.9

7.4

1.44

.258

4.67

2007 NL (ChiC)

0-0-0

11.0

3.3

10.6

1.00

.189

0.82

2007 AAA (ChiC)

4-1-0

56.0

3.7

6.3

1.41

.271

3.54

2007 AA (ChiC)

8-5-0

102.0

100

2.4

8.1

1.25

.255

4.24

2008 NL (ChiC)

2-2-0

27.2

5.9

7.5

2.06

.325

6.51

2008 AAA (ChiC)

4-2-5

57.0

3.1

9.8

1.01

.187

2.81

2008 AA (ChiC)

0-0-0

3.0

6.0

9.0

1.33

.200

3.00

2009 NL

1-8-0

53.1

4.4

6.7

1.88

.333

6.92

2009 NL (ChiC)

3-1-0

27.2

5.9

4.2

1.48

.242

2.08

2009 AAA (ChiC)

3-3-3

52.1

3.4

9.8

1.13

.206

3.10

2009 A (ChiC)

0-0-0

4.0

2.3

6.8

1.00

.200

4.50

The Pirates obtained Hart, RHP Jose Ascanio and 2B Josh Harrison from the Cubs for LHPs John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny. Hart was muddling along in the Orioles' system until he went to the Cubs in a minor trade and learned a cut fastball. He reached the majors for the first time that year and was rated by Baseball America as the Cubs' 6th best prospect going into 2009, although you have to take into account the fact that the Cubs' system is extremely weak. Hart throws in the low-90s, or harder as a reliever, and also has a curve, slider and change. The Pirates seem to like Hart's secondary offerings but BA describes them as fringy; LH batters have hit about sixty points higher against him in the minors, so his changeup probably needs to improve. Hart saw time with the Cubs in 2009 due to injuries and posted a very low ERA, but it's obvious from the walk and K numbers that the ERA is misleading. He probably projects better as a reliever and the Pirates have referred to him as a potentially solid starter or a late-inning reliever, so they've at least acknowledged that he might be better in the bullpen.

Hart replaced Virgil Vasquez in the Pirates' rotation after the trade and pitched every bit as badly as the stats indicate. The fundamental problem was that he couldn't throw strikes. He didn't just miss a little with a lot of pitches, like Charlie Morton; he was far off the plate on a frequent basis. He routinely got into three-ball counts and threw only 59% of his pitches for strikes on the season. Both RH and LH batters hammered him, with OPS figures of .983 and .898, respectively. With Jose Ascanio having labrum surgery, the trade with the Cubs is already looking like a failure. What's especially odd is that GM Neal Huntington's description of the trade made it sound like it was originally just Grabow for Ascanio, but the Pirates wanted Hart and had to give up Gorzelanny to get him. The Pirates' big complaint with Gorzelanny, while he was dominating in AAA, was that he didn't throw strikes consistently or pitch efficiently. Hart, however, has the same problems, only worse, and he's the same age as Gorzelanny so it's not like the Pirates got a younger pitcher whose command figures to improve more over time. Although the Pirates supposedly were impressed with Hart's sinker, his groundball to flyball ratio of 1.37 in 2009 was nothing special. Hart is a fairly good hitter.

Barring a trade or free agent signing, Hart figures to compete for the last spot in the 2010 rotation with Dan McCutchen, Phil Dumatrait and others. Whether the Pirates will be willing to move him to the bullpen will be a test of Huntington's ability to acknowledge that a trade hasn't worked out well. Hart also has an option left; hopefully the Pirates won't be reluctant to use it.

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