Hillcats Baseball: What happens in the second half?

As several Hillcats celebrated promotions Sunday afternoon, others sat quietly as the chaos unfolded around them. Players gave Pedro Alvarez, Michael Dubee, Dustin Molleken and Miles Durham congratulatory hugs and handshakes before sitting back down to contemplate what would be next for those who remained in Lynchburg.

The Carolina League’s second half begins tonight as Lynchburg hosts Myrtle Beach in the opener of a three-game set at City Stadium. The Hillcats’ lineup will have a vastly different look, especially with Alvarez — who led the Carolina League in RBIs and was second in home runs — five hours north in Altoona.

In reality, the Hillcats have nothing to play for in the second half. They could finish in last place in the North and still would host three of the five games in the division series against the second-half victor.

Of course, player development is more important at the Advanced-A level than wins and losses, and there are still plenty of interesting storylines to follow in the second half. Among them:

- Where does Chase d’Arnaud fit in? The shortstop is the one known promotion to Lynchburg from Low-A West Virginia, where he hit .291 with three home runs, three triples and 14 doubles. He stole 17 bases, scored 32 runs and drove in 31.

D’Arnaud, who was rated the Pirates’ No. 17 prospect by Baseball America before the season, was Pittsburgh’s fourth-round pick in the 2008 draft. He played two seasons of third base at Pepperdine before switching to short.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound d’Arnaud has more of a traditional shortstop body than Mercer, the No. 15 prospect in the Pittsburgh organization. Mercer is 6-3, 192, and the Pirates love his arm strength. One of the two will likely play third in the second half.

- There’s still plenty of pitching. So much so that former starter Paul Mildren is struggling to find his way back to the rotation. Lynchburg’s five-man rotation coming out of the break features Jeff Locke (who will start tonight), Bryan Morris, Justin Wilson, Matt McSwain and Chi-Hung Cheng.

That leaves Mildren and Ronald Uviedo (who is currently on the disabled list) out of the rotation for now. It’s unlikely that any West Virginia starters will come to Lynchburg unless someone heads north to Altoona. Curve starter Brad Lincoln earned a recent promotion to Triple-A Indianapolis, leaving Altoona a little short of starters. (Jared Hughes and Tony Watson are both on the DL.)

The promotion of Dubee and Molleken likely will open more bullpen work for Hillcats reliever Mike Colla, who put together a sneaky good first half (4-0, 0.96 ERA in 28 innings), one overshadowed by Dubee, Molleken and All-Star closer R.J. Rodriguez.

- Watching West Virginia. Two prospects in Charleston bear watching — CF Robbie Grossman and C Tony Sanchez.

Grossman was Pittsburgh’s sixth-round pick in 2008 and has played well in his first full season of professional baseball (.295, 25 RBIs, 22 SB). With Durham gone, Lynchburg features an outfield with moveable parts, as Alex Presley and Maiko Loyola are both capable of playing all three outfield spots. Jared Keel remains best suited to play in left.

There are no plans to move Grossman up now. He won’t turn 20 until September and just last spring was still playing high school baseball in Texas. But it’s not out of the realm of possibility that his development is accelerated if he goes on a tear.

Sanchez, the No. 4 overall pick in the 2009 draft, played three games for short-season Low-A State College but was quickly promoted to West Virginia. He’ll join the Power today.

Hillcats C Kris Watts was a Carolina League All-Star and could be promoted in the second half. If that happens, it wouldn’t be shocking if Sanchez made an appearance in Lynchburg before year’s end.

- Who’s the second-half favorite in the North? The smart money is on Wilmington, which came on strong at the end of the first half and likely will keep much of its roster together for a run at a playoff spot.