Players You Forgot The Pittsburgh Pirates Drafted Part 5

Pitcher Tim Wakefield

Tim Wakefield is one of the most famous and successful knuckleball pitchers in MLB history. Wakefield spent 17 seasons with the Boston Red Sox, but the first two years of his career were spent with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team he was drafted by. But what many may not know is that he was originally drafted in the 8th round of the 1988 draft as an infielder.

Wakefield wasn’t much of a hitter, only having a .636 and .508 OPS through his first two professional seasons. He played multiple positions including first base, third base and second base, but his lack of a bat led to him making the transition to the mound, as a knuckleball pitcher.

He eventually made his Major League debut in 1992, and was a very effective pitcher. In 92 innings, Wakefield had a 2.15 ERA, 3.27 FIP and 1.20 WHIP. He didn’t strike out many batters with a 13.7% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate, but he allowed just 3 home runs. His sophomore year was a real struggle. In 128.2 innings, Wakefield walked more batters than he struck out with a 59/75 K/BB ratio while surrendering 80 earned runs.

After 1993, Wakefield had to undergo Tommy John surgery, which caused him to miss all of 1994. Wakefield was released in April 1995, and was picked up by the Red Sox just days later on a low-risk deal. The low-risk deal the Sox took on Wakfield turned out to be an outstanding move.

He pitched 195.1 innings putting up a 2.95 ERA, 4.53 FIP and 1.18 WHIP. Wakefield saw his walk rate drop to just 8.4% while his strikeout rate went to 14.8%. Wakefield would spend the next 16 years with the Red Sox.

He served as both a bullpen arm and starter with 590 total games played with 430 being starts. While he did have a 4.43 ERA and 4.74 FIP throughout his long career with the Sox, his ERA was considered above average with a 106 ERA+. Pretty good career for a guy who was forced to move to the mound and take up one of the rarest pitches in the game.

First Baseman John Kruk

John Kruk was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in a very interesting fashion. He was selected by the Pirates in the third-round of the January Draft Regular-Phase in 1981, but did not sign. He was then selected again months later in the normal June amature draft, again in the third-round, but by the San Diego Padres this time around.

Kruk made his way through the Padres minor league system as an outfielder and first baseman, but someone who could get on base at an insane rate. Kruk’s lowest on base percentage from 1981 to 1985 was .400. This carried over to the major leagues where in his rookie campaign, he hit .309/.403/.424 with only 4 home runs in 327 plate appearances, but a 138 wRC+ and 13.8% walk rate.

Kruk continued to be an on base machine, posting a .406 OBP in his sophomore season while seeing his power take an uptick. He crushed 20 home runs with a .488 slugging percentage while posting a .313 batting average. Kruk continued to be a very productive batter with the Padres up until he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies in 1989.

Philly was where Kruk made a name for himself. In 3001 plate appearances, Kruk hit for a fantastic .309/.400/.461 line with 62 home runs and 138 wRC+. Kruk continued his ability to draw walks at an insane rate, sitting with a 13.6% walk rate. He combined this with a strikeout rate of just 14.5%. He was silently one of the top 20 batters in baseball during this stretch, ranking 16th in wRC+, 20th in OPS and 21st in wOBA (.379).

Notably, Kruk made three straight All-Star Games from 1991 to 1993 and received MVP votes in each of those seasons. Kruk ended his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1995, but his crusade on drawing walks didn’t even come close to slowing down as he drew 26 base on balls in 188 plate appearances.