Pittsburgh Pirates: Most Underrated Season at Each Position in Franchise History

With a long storied history, many great seasons among Pittsburgh Pirates players are going to be overshadowed by other great seasons. So let’s find the most underrated season at each position in franchise history.

When you think of the best seasons in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise, your mind probably goes to Roberto Clemente’s MVP season in 1966, or one of Barry Bonds’ early 90s seasons where he posted a 190+ OPS+/wRC+. Possibly you think of Andrew McCutchen’s 2013 NL MVP season, or one of hte many elite seasons posted by Willie Stargell or Dave Parker. But there are many seasons that fall well under the radar.

Most of these seasons aren’t ones you immediately think of when you think of the best single season performances by a player in Pirates’ history. But despite receiving little attention, these seasons are some of the best seasons each position has produced.

It’s hard to use surface numbers to compare players from different eras. 20 home runs is a lot in 1930, but not very many in the context of today’s game. So that’s why we will be using league and era adjusted stats like wRC+. It is adjusted for factors such as the league averages, park factors, and more.

With that out of the way, let’s get into the most underrated season by a Pirates’ catcher.

Catcher: 2015 Francisco Cervelli

Francisco Cervelli was acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates in Novemebr 2014, prior to his big breakout year in 2015. He had big shoes to fill, as Russell Martin left in free agency, and boy did Cervelli fill them in his first season.

In 510 plate appearances, Cervelli hit for a .395/.370/.401 slash line throughout the 2015 season. His 117 wRC+ that year was second to just Buster Posey that year, and his fWAR of 5.9 was also second to Posey (min. 300 plate appearances).

Among Pirate seasons where a catcher has had at least 500 plate appearances, Cervelli’s wRC+ is the 7th highest single season mark. In terms of overall WAR, the only other Pirate catcher to post a higher mark was Martin, which to me makes this season the most underrated season by a Pirate catcher.

Though he was quite the batter in 2015, he also brought value defensively. Cervelli had +10 DRS, and caught 22% of the runners that tried stealing off of him. Most of Cervelli’s value was as a pitch framer. He was worth a whopping +21.6 framing runs above average per Baseball Savant. That was the second highest mark in baseball that year. Without Cervelli, the 2015 Pittsburgh Pirates would not have won 98 games.

First Base: 1982 Jason Thompson

Among great seasons from Pirate first basemen, Willie Stargell might come to mind. But one of the best seasons from a Pirate first baseman came from Jason Thompson. I ranked Thompson as the fourth best Pirates’ first baseman in their history. His second full season with the Pittsburgh Pirates was one to remember.

Accumulating 662 plate appearances, Thompson hit for a fantastic slash line of .284/.391/.511. Throughout his career, Thompson was known to have great plate discipline, and this year was no exception. Thompson walked 15.3% of the time and went down on strike three just 16.2% of the time.

Thompson also crushed 31 long balls that year. Thompson’s 151 wRC+ made him the sixth best batter in baseball that year, even surpassing very notable names like Dwight Evans, the late but great Gary Carter, and Reggie Jackson.

What’s surprising is that this is the second-best season by a primary first baseman across an entire season. Only Willie Stargell’s 1972 season surpasses him offensively. But by a Pirate who played exclusively first base, Thompson holds the number one spot in wRC+. He also put up a 5.2 fWAR, again placing in the top 5, at number four.

Second Base: 2014 Neil Walker

Neil Walker is the second best second baseman ever to play in a Pirate uniform. But he doesn’t get recognition like the second best player to play at a position for a team. Walker gave the Pittsburgh Pirates five very good seasons of offensive performance. Out of the five, his 2014 season was the best.

Walker hit .272/.342/.467 with 23 home runs in 571 plate appearances. Walker only walked 7.9% of the time, which is solid, but not impressive. But what was impressive was his 15.7% strikeout rate. Walker posted a 130 wRC+ that season. Only Robinson Cano and Jose Altuve surpassed him in terms of wRC+. Daniel Murphy came in second in National League second baseman wRC+ at 110 in comparison. Walker was also tied with Brian Dozier for the major league lead in second basemen in long balls.

Among single seasons among Pirate second basemen, Walker’s wRC+ is second to Jim Viox in 1913. He eclipses Walker with a 139 wRC+. Walker’s 4.1 fWAR is the 9th highest of all time, but his long ball total, and isolated slugging percentage are top two.

Third Base: 2001 Aramis Ramirez

Aramis Ramirez may have had his best years with the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers, but his 2001 breakout season was with the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was quite the season as well for the long time National League All-Star third baseman.

Through the 655 plate appearances Ramirez had in 2001, the hot corner defender hit for a .300/.350/.536 slash line. What’s more impressive is the amount of power Ramirez put on display during 2001. He had hit 34 home runs and he put up an isolated slugging percentage of .235. In most years, Ramirez would have probably been a top-3 slugger, but his home run total was just 5th in baseball, and his ISO was 6th among his position. He had a 125 wRC+, but because it was during the steroid era this was not as impressive a feat as it is today.

Still, just because it was the steroid era does not mean this was not  a good season. His wRC+ might be the 17th best among Pirate third baseman in a single season, but his home run total is the third highest mark. His ISO also ranks third, and no other Pirate third baseman has ever had a season where they put up a slugging percentage higher than his.

Shortstop: 1993 Jay Bell

Honus Wagner and Arky Vaughan own 21 of the 22 best offensive seasons in Pirate history at the shortstop positiob. That’s no big surprise. But who owns the one season in there as one of the best 25 offensive seasons of any Pirate shortstop? It’s Jay Bell’s 1993 season.

We ranked Bell  as the Pirates’ third best shortstop in their franchise history. His 1993 season was his best that many may not remember. Through 701 plate appearances in 1993, Bell hit for a solid .310/.392/.437 slash line. Though he only hit nine home runs, Bell stole 16 bases, walked at an 11% rate, and legged out 32 doubles.

Bell’s 125 wRC+ was third among all shortstops during the season, but was probably the best overall shortstop that year. His 6.6 fWAR was well ahead of the second place finisher Jeff Blauser (5.4). Bell could hit, get on base, run, and field with +11 total zone runs above average at short.

Bell’s single season wRC+ is 20th of any mark made by a Pirates’ shortstop through at least 500 plate appearances. But his 6.6 fWAR fits right in with some of Wagner’s and Vaughan’s seasons.

Left Field: 2002 Brian Giles

I’ve previously brought up just how great this season from Brian Giles was, because it simply is forgotten about and probably the most underrated season on this list.

In 2002, Giles stepped to the plate 644 times, and hit for an outstanding slash of .298/.450/.622. He’s one of four players in Pittsburgh Pirates’ history to post both an on base percentage of at least .450, and have a slugging percentage of at least .600 in a single season.

But what’s more impressive is when you consider how good he was for the era. This is reflected in his league, park, and era adjusted stats. Giles had a 177 OPS+ and 174 wRC+. Flatout, outstanding for the steroid era.

It’s the 11th highest wRC+ mark in Pirate history, regardless of position, and the 6th highest per left fielders. Giles was the second best National League hitter this year, only being surpassed by possibly the best season ever, Barry Bonds with a 244 wRC+, .544 wOBA and 12.7 fWAR.

Giles was also an underrated base runner, stealing 13 bases, and having a +1.3 base running runs above average. He wasn’t all that great of a fielder with -14 total zone runs, but his offense was fantastic. The only person who was better than him in the NL was a guy who was about 140% better than the league average.

Right Field: 1974 Richie Zisk

Richie Zisk’s career is one of the more underrated ones in the Pirates’ history. Despite giving the Pittsburgh Pirates four excellent seasons of production, he isn’t one of the Pirates’ more popular outfielders. That means he has some really underrated seasons under his belt. His 1974 season is one of the most underrated seasons for an outfielder.

Zisk appeared in 149 games and stepped to the plate 604 times. In those 604 plate appearances, Zisk hit for a .313/.386/.476 slash line to go with 17 long balls. Zisk posted a solid 10.8% walk rate, but struck out only 15.1% of the time as well. All told, Zisk had a 145 OPS+ and 144 wRC+. Defense wasn’t one of Zisk’s strong suits, but this year he posted some solid numbers in right field. He had +5 total zone runs in right, and threw out nine batters.

All told, Zisk had a 4.9 fWAR. That places him in the top 20 seasons of all Pirate right fielders. His wRC+ marks as the 22nd highest wRC+ among Bucco peers at his position throughout a single season.