Pittsburgh Pirates: 5 Best Left Fielders in Franchise History

Number 5 – Brian Giles

Brian Giles is one of the most underrated hitters not just in Pittsburgh Pirates history, but MLB history. The left fielder may have played only four and three-quarters of a season with the Pirates, but he was outstanding offensively in every single one of those seasons.

During his Pirates’ tenure, Giles batted for a .308/.426/.591 line in 3,114 plate appearances. In three of the four full seasons he played with the Pirates, Giles had an OPS above 1.000. In 2002, he posted a 1.072 OPS, which was the 2nd best in the National League, behind only Barry Bonds who had one of the best seasons in MLB history in 2002.

He averaged about 35 home runs a season, and is the Pirate franchise leader in wRC+ (156), slugging percentage, and on base percentage. He also owns the 2nd highest wOBA (.426) and walk rate (16.7%) in franchise history. Defensively, he wasn’t awful, but he was below league average. He finished up his Pirates tenure with only -3 total zone runs, but a -5.0 dWAR.

Giles is not number 1 on this list for one reason and one reason alone. That reason being his playing time. Despite being the best Pirates batter of all-time, Giles didn’t even spend 5 full seasons in a Pirates uniform. If he spent the majority of his career in Pittsburgh, I honestly think he could have gone down in history as a top three Pirate ever.