Cuffman's eye on Altoona
Butler pitcher hopes to begin with Curve in '09





BUTLER TWP— Progress for
Butler resident and minor league pitcher Jake Cuffman may mean Altoona this spring.
The right-hander turns 24 March 3 and is entering his sixth full season in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. He's also entering the final year of his contract with the Pirates.
Cuffman has not pitched above Class Aball and, though Rule VDraft eligible this offseason, was not selected by another organization.
"Absolutely, the goal this year is to get to Class AA(Altoona) and stay there as long as possible,"Cuffman said.
Though he's not required to report to spring training until March 5, Cuffman is heading to Florida on Feb. 22.
"I like to get down there early and get started,"Cuffman said. "My arm feels great. I'm healthy and that's the big thing. When you're not healthy, you can't pitch.
"I need innings. I need to show what I can do."
Cuffman was the Pirates' 14th-round selection in the 2003 amateur draft. He only threw 18 innings in 2007 because of arm problems.
Cuffman has been working out this winter with fellow Butler resident and pitcher Matt Clement, who leaves this weekend for spring training with the Toronto Blue Jays.
Cuffman's fastball is hitting 94 and 95 miles per hour with regularity. He stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 215 pounds.
"My velocity's picked up, but the problem is, everybody can hit 95 mile an hour fastballs at this level,"he said. "The pitches need movement. My days of throwing fastballs down the middle and having guys swing and miss are over.
"This year, I'm pitching to contact. I'm not going to worry about strikeouts and walks. It's all about getting outs on the first few pitches and not getting myself deep into counts."
Pitching for Class ALynchburg last year, Cuffman finished third in the Carolina League with 49 appearances. He was 1-2 with a 5.23 earned run average, allowing 51 hits and 47 walks in 53.1 innings pitched while striking out 41.
Right-handed hitters batted just .214 against Cuffman, who began the season allowing just one earned run in his first eight appearances.
"Jake threw the ball well in a modified role last year,"said Kyle Stark, the Pirates' Director of Player Development. "He worked plenty of innings and needs to do more of that this year.
"He's got good stuff. He definitely needs to spot his pitches better."
Stark said the addition of more young arms into the organization shouldn't affect Cuffman's standing in the Pirates' farm system.
"What the additional arms do is provide more competition for spots," Stark said. "At any given level, we don't believe in holding guys back.
"We'd like to see Jake at the Double A level this year. That should be part of his natural progression. If he doesn't get there, it doesn't mean we've soured on him at all ... But he would do well to make that push."
Cuffman said he wasn't disappointed about being bypassed in the Rule VDraft.
"Not at all,"he said. "If things don't work out this year and the Pirates release me, a lot of teams have seen me pitch. I'm confident I'll still be pitching somewhere this summer.
"On the other hand, if I cut my walks in half, I may rocket through the system this year. You never know what's going to happen in this game. Just keep working."