Three Potential Pirate Players That Could Be Cut When Rosters Downsize

Relief Pitcher Miguel Del Pozo

After spending nine years in the minor leagues with the Florida/Miami Marlins and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, left-handed reliever Miguel Del Pozo finally made his MLB debut in 2019. Well, in 9.1 innings of work with the Angels he showed why he had been a career minor leaguer.

Del Pozo allowed 11 earned runs on 10 hits, eight walks and three home runs in his 9.1 innings of work. This led to the Angels designating him for assignment, and Del Pozo signing as a minor league free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates this past off-season.

When summer camp started, Del Pozo was with the group of players working out in Altoona. Well, after Kyle Crick and Clay Holmes were placed on the injured list on Tuesday, Del Pozo was recalled to join the Pirate roster.

Del Pozo would pitch for the Pirates on Tuesday night, and it was a disaster. He faced four batters, three of these batters walked and the fourth hit a double. He was then removed from the game for Geoff Hartlieb.

Honestly, it would be shocking if Del Pozo is not one of the two players taken off the Pirate roster on August 6. That is, if Del Pozo even lasts that long with the Bucs.

Relief Pitcher Richard Rodriguez

It would have sounded crazy two years ago that Richard Rodriguez might be on the chopping block. Rodriguez had an outstanding 2018 with a 2.47 ERA, 2.60 FIP and 1.06 WHIP in 69.1 innings pitched. Rodriguez was a huge strikeout pitcher, getting 31.5% of the batters he faced down in strike three, and walking them at a rate of just 6.8%. Plus, he only gave up five home runs. Rodriguez finished that year with a 1.3 fWAR, which was in the top 30 of all relievers in baseball.

However, the wheels fell off last year. Rodriguez may have had a solid-looking 3.72 ERA, but he got worse. Through 65.1 innings, his strikeout rate dipped to just 22.1% and his walk rate went up to 8.1%. Home runs became a huge problem for Rodriguez. He gave up nearly triple the amount of home runs he did in 2018, surrendering 14 long balls.

The long ball might still be an issue for the right hander in 2020. Rodriguez ha already allowed a home run. In his first outing of the season he surrendered a two-run home run to Paul DeJong during the first game of the season, which ended up being the game winning hit for the St. Louis Cardinals that night. Though he did pitch a perfect inning on Monday, the concerns about Rodriguez still remain.

Utility Man Erik Gonzalez

Erik Gonzalez was acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2018-2019 off-season, and he was their starting shortstop to open the 2019 season. But aside from defensive utility, which is something the Pittsburgh Pirates have a lot of, Gonzalez could potentially be on the chopping block soon.

Gonzalez last year batted just .254/.301/.317 with four doubles, a triple and a home run in 156 plate appearances. All told having a 65 OPS+ and 59 wRC+. A hard collision with former center fielder Starling Marte caused Gonzalez to miss a good chunk of the 2019 season recovering from injury. However, in the final month of the season, Gonzalez did hit for a much more palatable .322/.349/.407 line and 100 wRC+ in his final 63 plate appearances of 2019, overall being a league average batter.

Gonzalez was a help defensively though. At shortstop, the primary position he played in 2019, Gonzalez had +3 DRS, a 1.3 UZR and 1.1 range runs above average. Plus he was in the top 85th percentile of sprint speed with a 28.6 feet/second dash. He also has experience at third base, second base, first base, and could even play some left field.

But Gonzalez doesn’t really do anything that neither Cole Tucker or Phillip Evans can’t do and provide more value doing. Both Tucker and Evans can play wherever on the infield, and occasionally in the outfield as well. With Evans getting off to a hot start in 2020, and Gonzalez only having one single through six plate appearances/at bats, he could be one of the Pirates to be considered to be cut very soon.