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Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Goals For Center Field This Season

By Cody Potanko

VENICE, FLORIDA - MARCH 09: Anthony Alford #6 of the Pittsburgh Pirates swings at a pitch during the second inning against the Atlanta Braves during a spring training game at CoolToday Park on March 09, 2021 in Venice, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
VENICE, FLORIDA - MARCH 09: Anthony Alford #6 of the Pittsburgh Pirates swings at a pitch during the second inning against the Atlanta Braves during a spring training game at CoolToday Park on March 09, 2021 in Venice, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /
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PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 04: Anthony Alford #6 of the Pittsburgh Pirates slides safely into home plate to score on run on a wild pitch by Trevor Bauer #27 of the Cincinnati Reds in the fourth inning during game two of a doubleheader at PNC Park on September 4, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA – SEPTEMBER 04: Anthony Alford #6 of the Pittsburgh Pirates slides safely into home plate to score on run on a wild pitch by Trevor Bauer #27 of the Cincinnati Reds in the fourth inning during game two of a doubleheader at PNC Park on September 4, 2020 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /

Goal Number One – Speed, Speed, Speed

I want to see speed, speed, speed, and tons of it. I love speed in a center fielder, and I think between Alford, Fowler, and even prospects such as Jared Oliva the Pittsburgh Pirates will be offering you a plethora of it. According to FanGraphs, Alford has 70 graded speed, and in 2019 with Toronto’s Triple-A club, he swiped 22 bags, had a good 7.6 speed score, and had a positive wSB of 0.7.

On the other hand, Fowler is considered a little slower than Alford, but he still has good speed, and in 2018 he was graded with a 60 grade. Fowler is known a little more for hitting the ball hard, but in every year except his first two, he had double-digit steals, and in 2015 he had a career-high 30 stolen bases. Fowler, however, has just recovered from a Patella rupture in 2020, so we don’t know if his speed is still present or not.

If Goodwin does indeed make the club, we might not see any stolen base efforts with just 22 in his five-year MLB career. He does, however, have a 2017 report with a 60-grade speed which may tell me the clubs he was on did not utilize the speed game a whole ton.

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