When you think of the Pirates' farm system, you think pitching, and rightfully so. Still, there are interesting bats in the system. Below are some quick blurbs about two of them, Jarek Cunningham and Starling Marte.

Cunningham continues to be an extra-base machine. With 21 of his 30 hits going for extra bases, including eight homers (which ties him with Kyle Jensen as tops in the Florida State League), Cunningham sports an insane .404 ISO.  He has only walked four times in 99 at bats, but if he can improve that to go along with his improved strikeout rate (20 times in 99 AB, about 20 percent, as compared to over 25 percent last year), he could really move up the board.  

As for Marte, this anecdote via the PBC Blog makes one wonder if Marte might have been a pitcher, and perhaps a pretty scary one, had circumstances been different.

This day, [Aaron] Thompson was behind the plate with the team’s radar gun when, with a runner on second, a clean single was hit into center toward Marte, the 22-year-old Dominican and Pirates prospect known for his rifle arm.

"I cleared the radar gun out from the pitch real quick," Thompson said. "Then I pointed it at Marte because I knew he was going to come up throwing. And, dude, it was 101. Guy was safe at the plate, but it was 101."