Pittsburgh Pirates: Projecting the Team’s Bench

When the Pittsburgh Pirates travel to St. Louis to kick off their shortened 60-game 2020 season in 12 days, which players could make up the Pirate bench?

Just 12 days from now the Pittsburgh Pirates are scheduled to travel to Busch Stadium in St. Louis to kick off their abbreviated 60-game schedule. This means, coronavirus pandemic permitting, the start of the 2020 Pirates’ season will take place on July 24.

When the team travels to St. Louis on July 24, they will be able to take 30 players with them as part of their active roster. Two weeks into the season this number will drop to 28, and then after two more weeks it will drop the to normal 26.

So, who will be the 30 players the Pittsburgh Pirates take with them to St. Louis?

Last week, I took a stab at predicting the team’s Opening Day bullpen. A few days later, Noah predicted the team’s Opening Day line up. This leaves two more position groups – the team’s starting rotation and the team’s bench. Today, we will take a look at what the team’s Opening Day bench could look like.

This year’s bench will have a different construction than year’s past. Between the universal DH, as well as the expanded rosters to star the season, there are a variety of different directions the Pirates could go.