Pittsburgh Pirates: Travis Swaggerty Could Make a 2021 Debut
The Pittsburgh Pirates are looking to promote some of their best young talent more quickly through the system. A former first round pick could be on a similar path.
Last week, I wrote an article looking at pitching prospect Cody Bolton and the possibility of him making the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021. With a lost Minor League season, it is really hard to judge what level certain prospects will start at next season. With that being said, one thing has been made clear by the new Front Office, they want to start streamlining their best talent to the Big Leagues.
Looking at the team’s top prospects, another player who could make the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021 is Travis Swaggerty. Swaggerty was the Bucs first round pick back in 2018 out of the University of South Alabama. The left-handed centerfielder has slowly been working his way up the system.
The Bucs took Swaggerty with the ninth overall pick. Many scouts compared Swaggerty and his potential to that of Brett Gardner. If Swaggerty can turn into as productive of a player as Gardner, then the Bucs will be happy. Like Gardner, Swaggerty projects to be a good all-around player without a real standout tool. Here is some of what FanGraphs has to say on Swaggerty, who they have ranked as the Pittsburgh Pirates third best prospect:
"“Even if Swaggerty never dials in his swing and actualizes his power, his secondary skills (mostly the defense) should help lift the profile to that of a regular anyway.”"
I say slowly, because for some reason Swaggerty is not following the normal path that previous top prospects did. He started 2019 in High-A, after getting a coffee cup of action with the organization in 2018. Typically, top prospects do not spend their whole time at High-A, but of course under the previous regime prospects were always moved along at what seemed to be a slower pace.
Pittsburgh Pirates Prospect Travis Swaggerty’s Career Numbers: .257/.339/.381, 32 steals 173 games
So for the 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates most likely would have had Swaggerty start at Double-A Altoona. If he would have put together a solid first half he would have likely been moved to Triple-A. With that being said, Swaggerty will likely start the 2021 season at the Triple-A level.
This of course immediately puts him in consideration for a promotion at some point during the 2021 season. A lot will have to happen for Swaggerty to get promoted. The team currently has Bryan Reynolds and Gregory Polanco locked in at the corners. This leaves centerfield and players like Anthony Alford and Jared Oliva, who will get the first crack at the job. Still, everyone knows how baseball goes and how unpredictable it can be, so there is a good chance that Swaggerty will get the call at some point.