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The State of the Pittsburgh Pirates Address
The other guys
No complaints here. Fransico Cervelli is picking up right where he left off in 2015, continuing to be one of he best offensive catchers in baseball. Jordy Mercer is playing a rock solid shortstop and is getting the most out of his offensive ability. Josh Harrison is killing it over at second base, making fans forget about Neil Walk…… ok, maybe that’s a stretch, but Harrison is currently hitting .308 and dazzling defensively, showing range at second that has not been seen in Pittsburgh in quite some time.
Over at the hot corner, David Freese more than held his own filling in for Jung-Ho Kang, especially defensively. Even though Friday marked the day Freese became a bench player, I expect King David to still play a large role in the success of this club. As we all saw, Kang had quite the return on Friday night at Busch Stadium, smacking two dingers and showing signs that his rookie campaign was no fluke. The Pirates outfield is easy to explain: Marte is a star, Gregory Polanco is on the cusp of becoming a star, and Andrew McCutchen is still a superduperstar. In other words, the outfield is awesome.
Overall, the Pittsburgh Pirates offensive has exceeded expectations, as they are near the top of MLB in virtually every major offensive category. Given that there were many question marks this winter due to the loss of Pedro Alvarez and superhero Neil Walker, I’d say the offense has been pretty damn good.
Grade: A+