SHELBY FORD

12/15/84; '06 3rd; Oklahoma State Univ.
S/R; 6-3, 190

Level
BA
OBP
SA
AB
2B
3B
HR
BB
K
SB
CS
2004 NCAA
.301
.410
.570
249
13
3
16
28
30
6
2
2005 NCAA
.370
.479
.578
211
17
3
7
28
35
12
3
2006 NCAA
.319
.406
.573
213
12
3
12
21
34
7
5
2006 A
.265
.329
.444
223
16
3
6
14
51
4
3
2006 A-
.400
.483
.520
25
3
0
0
3
3
1
0
2007 A+
.281
.360
.433
360
26
7
5
34
68
14
0
2008 AA
.285
.338
.458
319
23
10
4
20
49
19
5
2009 AAA
.188
.240
.279
298
11
2
4
14
58
8
1
2009 AA
.233
.325
.350
103
6
0
2
12
18
2
0

The Pirates drafted Ford as an offense-oriented infielder.  He played at Texas Christian before transferring for 2006.  Although his statistics look good, he was only the fourth best hitter on his team in his senior year.  He signed shortly after the draft and got off to a hot start at Williamsport, earning a quick promotion to Hickory.  He did only OK there, showing some power but weak plate discipline.  He tailed off in August, so maybe he was tired.  In 2007, he started off slowly, posting only a .687 OPS in the season's first half.  He got hot in late June, however, and had an OPS of 1.001 after the midpoint.  Unfortunately, he went on the DL with back problems in late July and didn't return.  The problem was eventually diagnosed as a muscle strain, which is better than some other types of back problems.  Defensively, Ford is very steady although his range is not great.  He had only five errors in 2007 and was voted the top defensive 2B in the Carolina League.  (So was Rob Mackowiak—you have to keep in mind that there are only eight teams in the league and 2B is a low priority position in the minors, as most major league secondbasemen move there from SS.)

Ford figured to be the regular 2B at Altoona in 2008, but missed most of the first two months with hip flexors.  He also missed about half of July with another injury.  In his two healthy months, he posted an OPS of .853 (June) and .891 (August).  It doesn't look like he'll have more than very good gap power and he'll need to draw more walks than he did in 2008 to have a decent OBP.  His numbers for 2008 overall were solid and not dominant, but you have to wonder what he'd do if he stayed healthy a whole year.  He's a tall, lean guy who doesn't looks especially fast, but he hits a lot of triples and is obviously a good base stealer.  He's hit LHPs and RHPs about the same over his career so far.

Ford missed the start of the 2009 season due to yet another injury, this time a sprained wrist.  He took over at secondbase for Indianapolis partway into April and, unfortunately, had probably the most disappointing season of any prospect in the system.  To put it mildly, he completely tanked at the plate.  It took a five-hit game late in the season to get his numbers up to the level where they finished in AAA.  The Pirates finally demoted him to Altoona in early August and he didn't hit well there, either.  It's hard not to think that the wrist injury may have been behind Ford's struggles, but it wasn't considered a major injury.  The Pirates face a difficult decision with Ford because he's eligible for the Rule 5 draft after the season.  It's hard to see putting a player coming off such an awful season on the roster, just as it's hard to imagine anybody drafting him.  It may depend on whether the Pirates believe the wrist injury caused his problems.

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