Steve Pearce should have become a second baseman years ago

[DrungoHazewood]

Well, Peace came up with the Pirates. I know he and Neil Walker are close contemporaries, so maybe that had an effect on his development, though Walkers transition to second was pretty late in his development. He was brought up as a 3B but didn't really stick there, mostly because of Pedro Alvarez. The Pirates organization as a whole generally prefers smaller, defense first type second basemen judging from the fill ins they have brought up over the last few years when Walker was injured.

If that's true it's interesting, because I believe that Walker is the tallest regular second baseman in history.

[sportsfan8703]

Pearce is definitely an athlete. He's got soft hands, and surprising wheels when he has to. He and Davis are similar in that aspect.

[Redskins Rick]

Pearce is definitely an athlete. He's got soft hands, and surprising wheels when he has to. He and Davis are similar in that aspect.

true, but I like Davis a tad bit more at 1st, taller and longer arms for wild throws and reaching out for the short hops.

[Camden_yardbird]

If that's true it's interesting, because I believe that Walker is the tallest regular second baseman in history.

Neil was originally a catcher, where he couldnt keep healthy, and then moved to third. When the organization drafted Pedro it became clear that Neil would have to move. The organization obviously loves him. He is from Pittsburgh and was a star two sport athlete in high school. They wanted to keep him but didn't know where. He worked a lot with Mazeroski to become the defensive second baseman he is, which is actually half decent. Then again if I had Maz as a tutor I could probably play a decent second base too.

Ironically, the Pirates have moved Alvarez. They now start Josh Harrison at 3B and Walker at 2B. However in the minors Harrison started 20 more games at 2B (180 to 160) than 3B and Walker was predominately started at 3B (353 games v. 29 at 2B.)

Given this revelation and having looked at the AAA team in 2008 I would guess that Pearce was never really challenged in the Pirates organization to move off of 1B. They didn't have any contemporary 1B prospects.