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.

Super utility man JT Riddle

This past December, the Miami Marlins non-tendered utility man JT Riddle. This made the left-handed hitting Riddle a free agent. Then in January, he would sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In his career, Riddle has always struggled with the bat. In 718 MLB plate appearances, Riddle has hit for just a .229/.269/.368 slash line to go with a 69 wRC+. That said, he was a bit sanke bitten last year owning just a .226 batting average on balls in play. In fact, his career BAbip is nearly 30 points below league average at .272, indicating he has been victimized by some tough luck.

In addition to his BAbip, there are some other reasons to expect Riddle to improve some offensively in 2020. Last season, his average exit velocity of 88.9 MPH was more than 2 MPH higher than the league average. His .182 ISO indicates a hitter that could produce some solid pop off the bench as well.

But the main reason Riddle will be a part of the Opening Day bench is his glove. He can play the middle infield, as well as center field. He owns a +15 Defensive Runs Saved in his career at shortstop, to go with +10 Outs Above Average.

Utility infielder Erik Gonzalez

One of the final trade Neal Huntington made as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates saw the team acquire Erik Gonzalez from the Cleveland Indians in November 2018. When the move was made, the Pirates were in the market for a new starting shortstop. Well, that job would eventually be won by Gonzalez in Spring Training, largely due to his glove.

As you know, things did not work out for Gonzalez. After breaking his collarbone on April 17 last season, the door was opened up at shortstop. Eventually, Kevin Newman took the bull by the horns and the job became his. Now, Gonzalez will be looking to make his impact as a utility infielder.

While his bat is not as a poor as Riddle’s, he is still a glove first player. He has hit for a .260/.295/.354 slash line to go with a 71 wRC+ and .104 ISO in 431 plate appearances at the MLB level. But he does make solid contact owning a league average 87.3 MPH exit velocity for his career and an above league average 36.4% hard contact rate.

With the glove, Gonzalez is a very valuable player.  He has a lifetime +4 DRS and +1 OAA at shortstop, +1 DRS and +2 OAA at second base and a +1 DRS and an OAA of 0 at third base. If necessary, Gonzalez can dabble in the outfield as well.

Outfielder Guillermo Heredia

Another newcomer to the Pittsburgh Pirates is outfielder Guillermo Heredia. The right-handed hitting outfielder was signed by the Bucs on January 9 to be the team’s fourth outfielder this season.

Heredia has accumulated 1101 plate appearances in four MLB seasons with the Seattle Mariners and Tampa Bay Rays. He has hit for a .240/.317/.342 slash line to go with a wRC+ of just 84.

Defensively, Heredia has struggled in center field in his career. But, to be honest, many outfielders do. On the corners, however, Heredia has been excellent. He owns a +8 DRS in both left field and right field in his career, this is paired with a +1 OAA in left field and a +2 OAA in right field.

Heredia is also widely renowned for being a great clubhouse presence. This is something we have already seen during camp with his laid back, easy going attitude. As well as Heredia always looking to make a joke to help his teammates crack a smile and laugh. This was something his coaches and teammates in Tampa Bay raved about in 2019.

Players like this can be vital for helping to keep the clubhouse loose during the grind of a baseball season. While there will not be the regular 162 game grind this season, Heredia is under team control through 2022. So, he will have the opportunity to make this impact on the Pirates in future seasons.

Infielder Cole Tucker

In a normal season, the best course of action for Cole Tucker would likely be to start the season at the Triple-A level to make sure he was playing every day and getting consistent at bats. However, without a Triple-A season to go play in, Tucker would be better served playing a bench role for the Pittsburgh Pirates, which is why he will likely crack the Opening Day roster.

Now, personally, I believe Tucker should be the team’s starting shortstop with Newman at second base. This is because Tucker is, by far, the best defensive shortstop in the entire Pirate system. Additionally, Newman is a better defender at second base than he is shortstop and the Pirates should be emphasizing run prevention this season.

Tucker’s overall offensive numbers in 2019 were not pretty owning a .211/.266/.361 slash line to go with a 61 wRC+ and a 25.2% strikeout rate. That said, there is plenty of reason for optimism. His 87.0 MPH exit velocity was right about league average, and his 36.5% hard contact rate was a full 2% higher than league average. He also finished the season strong slashing .293/.359/.517 to go with a 15.6% extra base hit rate in his final 64 plate appearances. Tucker was also one of the team’s best hitters in Grapefruit League action back in the spring, owning a .296/.387/.667 slash line to go with three home runs and a double in 27 plate appearances.

But the biggest reason Tucker is here is the glove. He owned a +2 DRS at shortstop last season. Both in Spring Training and now in camp this summer, he has absolutely dazzled with the glove. He has also started to work at second base. Tucker has the ability to be a Gold Glove shortstop one day and remains the Pirates’ shortstop of the future. For now, he’ll start the 2020 season as a back up middle infielder.

Catcher Luke Maile

Catcher Luke Maile is another newcomer to the Pittsburgh Pirates. While minor league free agent signing John Ryan Murphy is pushing Maile to be the back up to Jacob Stallings, Maile still appears to be the front runner to get the nod.

As the new Pirate regime puts emphasis on defense behind the plate, Maile finds this mold. Despite a porous .198/.252/.304 slash line in his career, he does own a 2+ fWAR season while in Toronto, this is due to his defense.

Maile has a lifetime +21 DRS behind the dish. His pop time to second base was above league average in 2019 ranking in the 55th percentile among all catchers in baseball. He also rates out as a plus pitch framing, owning a 9.7 FrmaingRuns in his MLB career. Essentially, this means Maile has saved his teams nearly 10 runs that otherwise would have been scored without his framing ability.

While you always like to have some pop off the bench, when it comes to a team’s back up catcher defense always outweighs the offense. Just as it does with a team’s starting catcher. That is why Maile will likely get the nod as the back up to Stallings.