Projecting the Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day Lineup

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PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 24: Jose Osuna #36 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the game against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park on September 24, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 24: Jose Osuna #36 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in action during the game against the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park on September 24, 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images) /

First Base

Now, this one is a bit up in the air. Currently, the Pittsburgh Pirates have two players who are in the running for regular first base duties: Jose Osuna and Will Craig.

Osuna seems to be the front runner right now to take the field Opening Day. Last year, Osuna was roughly a league average bat last season, finishing the year with a .264/.310/.456 line, 100 OPS+ and 97 wRC+. He also hit 10 home runs to go with 20 doubles in 285 plate appearances. Osuna struck out just 16.8% of the time, which is a very good mark.

Defensively, at the worst, he’s a league average glove. Throughout his MLB career, Osuna has collected 461 innings at first base posting -1 DRS, -0.9 UZR, +1.1 range runs above average, and +1 total zone runs above average.

Craig is also a very similar player to Osuna. There are not any big questions about his glove. He’s at the worst an average defender at first with a 50 fielding grade per MLB Pipeline. But his bat will definitely carry a handful of questions.

For one, he only hit .249/.326/.435 with 23 home runs and doubles through 556 plate appearances. In such a hitter friendly environment, Craig had a 92 wRC+, making him about 8% worse than the league average. The Pirates’ front office also have questionable faith in the 25-year-old as they left him off their MLB squad on the 60-player pool, instead opting to leave him as a depth option on the taxi squad. But a strong Summer Camp might change the organization’s minds.