Who in the world is Steve Pearce?

With the injury bug hitting the Orioles outfield they have had to try different players in different positions. One of them is Steve Pearce.

Pearce was acquired by the Orioles on June 2^nd in a deal with the New York Yankees. Pearce was absolutely crushing in Triple-A Scranton Wilkes-Barre, hitting .321 with 11 home runs and an OBP of .422.

For fans that follow baseball really closely Pearce may be a familiar name.

Pearce was drafted in the 8^th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2005 MLB Draft after attending the University of South Carolina and leading the team in average, home runs, and runs batted in.

Pearce never had a hard time hitting in the minors. However, his big year came in 2007 when he was named MLB.com Minor League Player of the Year and he was also a Futures Game Selection. 

Throughout three levels Pearce hit .333 with 31 home runs and 113 runs batted in. On September 1^st the Pirates called Pearce up and he played 23 games for them in September.

In 2008 Pearce was called up on several different occasions and in 2009 he failed to make the Opening Day roster but he got his chance when the Pirates traded their starting first baseman Adam Laroche. Pearce failed to impress however.

In 2011 Pearce finally the Pirates Opening Day roster but only hit .202 in 50 games.

Pearce’s time with the Pirates finally came to an end and he signed with the Minnesota Twins. However, the Twins released him at the end of Spring Training and he was immediately scooped up by the Yankees.

Once the O’s traded for Pearce, he immediately was inserted into the line-up the next day. Pearce has had a very solid start with the Orioles, hitting a cool .324 in 10 games, to go along with 1 home run and 9 runs batted in.

Don’t get too crazy though Orioles fans, Pearce has yet to prove it in the major leagues and is considered a “Quad-A” player, which is someone who can hit in the minor leagues but can’t hit in the major leagues.

However, Orioles fans should hope Steve Pearce can be a solid fill-in while the Orioles wait for Nick Markakis and Nolan Reimold to return from injury.