I don't know if Ruben Mateo is a legitimate option in center. I doubt it: he's not playing center at Nashville though the Reds sometimes played him there the last two years. So far this year, Mateo is 17-for-59 with thirteen extra-base hits and eight walks. He's 26 and he's a former megaprospect who lost a few years of playing time to a broken leg. A few years ago he had a reputation as a guy with a bad attitude and poor work ethic. That kind of thing makes me reluctant to cheer for a quick promotion to the big leagues. By all means don't treat the guy like a savior. There's hope though: Milton Bradley is playing well now. If the Bucs someday get a full productive season from Mateo, it will make it a little easier to watch Jose Guillen enjoying a semi-productive career in his late twenties.
Left-handed-hitting Luke Allen is 21-for-67 with nine extra-base hits and seven walks. The Bucs picked him up as a minor-league free agent in January. Though only 26, he's in his eighth professional season and coming off a hellish streaky year of hitting at attitude. He has a great arm but played more right than center for Colorado Springs last year.
Tony Alvarez is also 26. His current Nashville numbers are relatively unimpressive (15-for-60, five extra-base hits, eight walks) but what jumps out is the fact that he only has eight strikeouts. Last year at Nashville he hit with a three-to-seven walk-to-strikeout ratio. Obviously he's refining his approach at the plate.
I don't have the HBP numbers from Nashville. Using walks and hits and at-bats, their lines come out as Mateo .288 / .373 / .746, Allen .313 / .378 / .612, and Alvarez .250 / .338 / .383.
There are two 24-year-old centerfielders at Altoona: left-handed-hitting Chris Duffy and five-foot-seven-inch Gary Thomas. 23-year-old Ray Sadler, who had been a centerfielder in the Cubs organization, is listed as a rightfielder for Altoona. Altoona has only played fifteen games as the weather hasn't been great in western PA. None of these guys are doing much hitting. Duffy has seen the most PT and he's 16-for-55 with five extra-base hits and four walks for something like .291 / .339 / .400.
Redman should have plenty of time. The Pirates have to haste slowly with the assembly of the roster. It's not good to start an inexperienced guy and give up on him after twenty games. It's disastrous to do that twice in a row. And it's embarrassing to go back to the first guy after souring on the guy who replaced him. Every time a player starts at a new level there is a potentially disruptive transition period, and players will hold a grudge against management if they aren't given enough time to make the necessary adjustments. The only way to do a time-share that allows two players to audition for full-time play is to have both players on the roster at the same time. You can't be promoting and demoting guys in rapid succession and expect to encourage development or maintain the respect of your players.
Meanwhile, lots of things could happen. With one pitch you can lose a player to a broken wrist. If Mateo or Allen is the centerfielder of the immediate future, they'll continue to produce at a high level at Nashville and another month down there won't change anything. If either player was 22, there would be more urgency to get them to a level that challenged them.
There's also been talk of Bay playing some center whenever he's ready to return. He played a wee bit of center for San Diego and Pittsburgh and I have no idea how much center he played for Portland or Mobile. The Bucs can afford to be patient with Tike Redman, and it's premature to start recruiting members for the Luke Allen fan club.
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