Pirates' Travis Swaggerty: Advances to High-A

Swaggerty will open the year with High-A Bradenton, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com reports.

He excelled in the New York-Penn League after the Pirates selected him with the 10th overall pick in last year's draft, but his production fell off in a 16-game run at Low-A. Nevertheless, the Pirates like what they have in Swaggerty, so he will get the benefit of the doubt with an aggressive assignment to the Florida State League. If he can improve upon last year's 25.3 percent strikeout rate, the power and speed production should be pretty enticing.