Pittsburgh Pirates: Notable MiLB Free Agent Signing Performances

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed a handful of minor league deals this winter. So far, how have some of their more notable minor signings performed this spring?

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed a handful of players to minor league contracts. Some of which were some pretty notable veterans gunning for semi-regular or even regular roles for the 2021 Pirates. So far, we’re almost three weeks into Spring Training and some of the Bucs’ minor league deals have gained some traction in their quest to make the Pirates’ MLB roster out of camp.

Today, we will take a look at a few of the Pirates’ most notable minor league signings and how they’ve done in Spring Training so far. These can range from veterans to former prospects. Keep in mind all of the players have very small sample sizes and 2021 Spring Training has been nothing like we’ve seen before. We will not be including Clay Holmes though as despite being brought back into the organization on a minor league deal, was formerly part of the organization.

Corner Infielder Todd Frazier

Todd Frazier was formerly part of one of the Pirates’ biggest rivals, which was the early-to-mid-2010s Cincinnati Reds. Frazier was quite the hitter earlier in his career, making two All-Star Games in 2014 and 2015, won the 2015 Home Run Derby, and hitting 35 and 40 home runs in 2015 with the Reds and 2016 with the Chicago White Sox.

Frazier is coming off a rough 2020 season. He appeared in just 45 total games and stepped to the plate 172 times for the Texas Rangers and New York Mets. All told, he hit for just a .684 OPS, .300 wOBA and 89 wRC+. He also walked just 6.4% of the time to combat a strikeout rate of 24.4%.

However, he’s only a year removed of a much more solid season with the Mets. Throughout 2019, Frazier served as one of the Mets’ primary answers at third base and put up a .251/.329/.443 with a 21 home runs, .328 wOBA and 106 wRC+ in 499 plate appearances. While he was a below average defender at the hot corner with -3 DRS and a -1.1 UZR/150, his overall 1.8 fWAR represented a solidly average player.

Throughout Spring Training, he’s mainly gotten work at first base with consensus top 10 prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes locked down at third base. So far, he’s collected four hits in 18 plate appearances, two of which have been home runs and a third was a double. He also has drawn two walks to oppose just four strikeouts. He’ll likely make the roster given the Pirates’ need for a right-handed bat to occasionally spell Colin Moran and to help give a guy who can field first base to an average or better level.

Pitcher Chasen Shreve

The Pittsburgh Pirates brought in Chase Shreve as a potential lefty bullpen arm. The southpaw spent the 2020 season with the New York Mets where he put up a solid 3.90 ERA, 3.99 FIP and 1.16 WHIP through 25 innings of work. He put up his typical peripherals as well, striking out 33.1% of the batters he faced, but put up an overall weak 11.8% walk rate and 1.44 HR/9.

To go with his solid surface numbers Shreve had a 3.45 SIERA, 3.61 xFIP, 3.40 xERA and 3.74 DRA. Shreve was in the top 95th percentile of whiff rate in all of baseball last season with a 37.4% mark. The lefty had an outstanding fastball in 2020. While he doesn’t throw very hard, he was in the top 77th percentile of fastball spin rate and was ranked 49th among the 317 qualified pitchers in run value per 100 pitches.

Currently, Shreve hasn’t done well in Spring Training. He’s surrendered 3 earned runs on four hits in 4.0 innings of work. However, he hasn’t walked a single batter yet. Shreve likely will get one of the last bullpen spots as the team does not have very many left handed relief options. Sam Howard looked solid in 2020, but he’s the only lefty that is projected to make the bullpen.

Pitcher Chase De Jong

Chase De Jong looked like one of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ next big prospects back in 2016. He pitched a total of 147 innings, mostly with their Double-A affiliate, posting an outstanding 2.82 ERA, 3.55 FIP and 1.03 WHIP. Not only did he put up great results, but allowed just 6.8% of batters to reach base via free pass and had a solid 0.9 HR/9 rate. Strikeouts weren’t his strong suit with a 22.7% rate, but overall, he looked like another potential long term arm for the Dodgers.

However, despite his great numbers at Double-A, De Jong has struggled at Triple-A and during the brief time he’s been in the majors. After 2016, he was sent to the Seattle Mariners and has since bounced around with the Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros and even the Independent League Sugar Land Skeeters. At Triple-A, he’s tossed a total of 174 innings while having a poor 6.21 ERA, 5.63 FIP and 1.60 WHIP. Home runs became a massive issue with his HR/9 skyrocketing to 1.9. Meanwhile, his already so-so strikeout rate dropped to 16.6% and his strong walk rate rose to 8.2%.

Things only got worse in the majors as he’s pitched to the tune of a 7.12 ERA, 6.00 FIP and 1.656 WHIP through 54.1 innings. He has walked 26 batters as well to oppose just 35 strikeouts and has surrendered 11 home runs.

2021 will be his age 27 season, but he has a lot of competition in the pitching staff if he wants to secure a spot with the team. He’ll likely get sent to the alternative site and then Triple-A when the season starts, providing the Pittsburgh Pirates with some pitching depth.

Catcher Tony Wolters

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed Tony Wolters as a potential back up to Jacob Stallings. Wolters isn’t being brought in because of his bat. Throughout his career 1232 trips to the plate, Wolters has a slashline of just .238/.323/.319 with a .282 wOBA and 57 wRC+. He does draw walks at a solid rate of 9.9% and only strikes out 19.4% of the time, but Wolters’ value is in his defense.

In 2764.2 innings behind the dish, Wolters has +24 DRS, 11.3 framing runs saved and has caught 31% of runners trying to take an extra base on the backstop. He, along with Stallings, would be one of the best defensive duos behind the dish in baseball.

So far, he’s hit as you’d expect for Tony Wolters. He has just two hits in 17 plate appearances with one walk and two strikeouts. However, he does have some competition for the second catcher role. The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Michael Perez from the Tampa Bay Rays earlier in the offseason, but Wolters may have the upper hand for the second catcher spot.

Perez also hasn’t hit well in Spring Training having just one hit in 14 plate appearances. But while Perez has a higher offensive ceiling than Wolters, Wolters is by far the better defender. Perez has +4 DRS, but is a negative framer and has caught 27% of runners trying to steal on him.

Both Wolters and Perez have minor league options remaining. There is a chance the Pittsburgh Pirates decide to go with three catchers to start the season. However, if it comes down to either Perez or Wolters, Wolters’ defense may win the roster spot.