Pittsburgh Pirates Free Agent Target: Left-Handed Hitting Utility Man

With the Pittsburgh Pirates in need of some power and an outfield capable player, free agent utility man Brad Miller could fill both holes for the team.

The Pittsburgh Pirates did not show much pop in their bats during 2020. Among all 30 MLB teams, they were last in slugging percentage, next to last in isolated slugging percentage and third to last in home run total.

After trading Josh Bell, who hit 37 home runs in 2019, the team has very few proven power options. Corner infielders Colin Moran and Ke’Bryan Hayes showed really good power potential in 2020, but haven’t really shown that over a long period of time. Since the Pittsburgh Pirates could use some power and another outfield capable player, they should go after free agent Brad Miller.

Miller has spent the last two seasons with the Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. He’s been highly productive in a part time role batting .247/.343/.510 with 20 long balls, a 123 wRC+ and .358 wOBA in 341 plate appearances. Miller’s .264 isolated slugging ranks 31st among all batters between 2019 and 2020 with at least 300 plate appearances, which is higher than sluggers like Matt Olson, Josh Donaldson, Anthony Rendon and Ronald Acuna Jr.

Last season, Miller mainly served as the Cards’ designated hitter and put up a solid .232/.357/.451 line, .349 wOBA and 121 wRC+. The lefty slugger also was above average in terms of exit velocity (89.8 MPH, top 64th percentile), hard hit rate (43.3%, top 73rd percentile), expected slugging (.483, top 77th percentile) and expected wOBA (.364, top 87th percentile). He also isn’t a bad base runner either. His 27.3 feet/second sprint speed was in the top 61st percentile and was worth 0.5 baserunning runs above average.

Miller not only hits for power, but he also gets on base a lot. He has an 11.7% walk rate since the start of 2019 and ranks 52nd among all batters with at least 300 plate appearances. While his .343 OBP ranks 108th, it’s still a strong mark given the league average OBP in 2020 was .322. This was another one of the Bucs’ biggest weaknesses during 2020 as their .284 OBP was the worst in baseball.

The slugger has an ample amount of experience at almost every position aside from pitcher and catcher. Miller has the most time logged at shortstop throughout his career where he has a -3.6 UZR/150. However, he has an ample amount of time in the outfield with 363 innings.

Most of Miller’s outfield defensive struggles came early in his career when he was put in center field, but he isn’t a bad left fielder. During 2019, Miller racked up 102 innings in left for the Phillies and put up +3 DRS, a 2.1 UZR, 0.7 range runs above average and 1.3 outfield arm runs above average.

The Pittsburgh Pirates current outfield situation would see either Anthony Alford or Jared Oliva as the team’s primary center fielder with Bryan Reynolds moving to left field. Reynolds made major improvements to his defensive game in 2020 going from an average/below average defender to a well above average defender. Last season, he logged 129.1 innings in center field where he had +2 DRS, a 1.2 UZR and 0.2 range runs above average.

If the Pittsburgh Pirates were to sign Miller, he could become their regular left fielder with Reynolds moving to center. Miller brings pop to the table, something the Pirates need as they traded a potential 30 home run bat in Bell. Miller could serve almost any role the Pirates need. He gets on base, he hits home runs, he doesn’t clog up the base paths and he can play almost anywhere in the field. He’s also a guy who could be a hot commodity around the deadline if he is producing anything like he has the past two seasons, especially given his versatility.