It’s a light week for “Diamonds in the Rough” with just four big league debuts made this week, two of them for the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates who took two out of three games from the Boston Red Sox during interleague play this past weekend:

CHASE D’ARNAUD
3B, Pittsburgh Pirates
B/T: R/R H/W: 6-1/175 BORN: Jan. 21, 1987
ACQUIRED: Selected in the fourth round of 2008 out of Pepperdine
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Triple-A Indianapolis June 23 when IF Josh Harrison was sent down.
DEBUT: June 24 in a 3-1 win against the Boston Red Sox: The starting third baseman, he went 1-for3 with a triple and a sac bunt.
NOTES: The elder of the D’Arnaud brothers, whose younger brother Travis is a top catching prospect for Toronto, the Pepperdine product was hitting .280 with four homers, 33 RBI and 17 steals prior to his promotion. Though his defense moved him off of his original position of shortstop and eventually over to third, he has a strong arm, good speed and a live bat, with a knack for triples, ironicially his first hit. He stole 33 bases at Double-A Altoona last summer.

BLAKE DAVIS
IF, Baltimore Orioles
B/T: L/R H/W: 5-11/170 BORN: Dec. 22, 1983
ACQUIRED: Selected in the fourth round of 2006 out of Cal State-Fullerton
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Triple-A Norfolk June 17 when IF Ryan Adams was sent down
DEBUT: June 22 in a 5-4 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates: The starting second baseman, he batted eighth and went 0-for-4, committing a fifth-inning error which allowed the eventual winning run to score.
NOTES: Davis, who missed much of the last two seasons with injuries, was hitting .284 with five homers, 24 RBI and four steals in 49 games at Norfolk prior to his promotion. He hit .242 in 75 games there, and .235 in 68 games between short-season Aberdeen and Norfolk in 2009. His last full season came in 2008 when he emerged as a borderline prospect, hitting .284 at Double-A Bowie.

ERIC FRYER
C, Pittsburgh Pirates
B/T: R/R H/W: 6-2/215 BORN: Aug. 26, 1985
ACQUIRED: Via trade from the New York Yankees in June 2009 for OF Eric Hinske.
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Triple-A Indianapolis June 25 when C Dusty Brown was designated for assignment.
DEBUT: June 26 in a 4-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox: The starting catcher, he batted eighth and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout.
NOTES: In his third organization since being drafted in the 10th round of 2007 by the Milwaukee Brewers, Fryer has been a high-average hitter when given the chance to play, including picking up South Atlantic League All-Star honors in 2008, his first full season, when he hit .335 at Class A West Virginia. Dealt to the Yankees in the spring of 2009 for southpaw Chase Wright and then to Pittsburgh a few months later for Hinske, he split the first part of this season between Double-A Altoona (.345) and Indianapolis and had combined to bat .315 with seven homers and 25 RBI before his callup.

JOSH SPENCE
LHP, San Diego Padres
B/T: L/L H/W: 6-1/170 BORN: Jan. 22, 1988
ACQUIRED: Selected in the ninth round of the 2010 draft out of Arizona State
PROMOTED: Contract purchased from Double-A San Antonio June 21 when P Wade LeBlanc was sent down.
DEBUT: June 24 in an 11-2 win against the Atlanta Braves: The last of three pitchers, he tossed a perfect inning, striking out one.
NOTES: The Australian-born Spence who spent his college career stateside at Arizona State is in his first full season after combining between the Arizona League, short-season Eugene and Class A Fort Wayne for a 3.00 ERA in 10 games in 2010, during which time, splitting between starting and relief, he walked seven and struck out 42 in just 24 innings. This year at San Antonio he had a 1.71 ERA in 35 games out of the Missions’ bullpen, fanning 42 in 47 1/3 innings while walking 11.