Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Goals For Shortstop In 2021

(Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
(Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
SARASOTA, FLORIDA – MARCH 15: Erik Gonzalez #2 of the Pittsburgh Pirates fields the ball during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles during a spring training game at Ed Smith Stadium on March 15, 2021 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images)
SARASOTA, FLORIDA – MARCH 15: Erik Gonzalez #2 of the Pittsburgh Pirates fields the ball during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles during a spring training game at Ed Smith Stadium on March 15, 2021 in Sarasota, Florida. (Photo by Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images) /

Goal Number One – Find A Starter

The first goal for the shortstop position in 2021 is to determine the every day starter for this season. Like mentioned before, Tucker, Newman and Gonzalez are all fighting for their right to claim the role here.

If you go off of who has gotten the most time this spring starting at short to be the every day starter there, Gonzalez would have the slight advantage here. Gonzalez has started a total of seven games this spring, where as Newman has only started five games.

Coming in last for starting games this spring is Tucker, who is sitting at four. Even though Tucker has started the least amount of games, this should not be the only thing that is considered when trying to figure out who is going to start for the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 1st in Chicago. This is so, since Tucker was out for a chunk of this spring for a hand contusion that he suffered earlier this year. The other aspect to look at would be who is hitting the best currently this spring.

There is a clear advantage for who should get the starting nod on Opening Day when you compare the hitting stats between the three players. Newman is leading the others by miles. Newman is batting .643 with and on-base percentage of .722 and an OPS of 1.437.

The next closest player to these stats would be Gonzalez, who is batting .375/.400/.900. All of these categories are all at least .250 lower than those of Newman’s, which is a considerable difference.

Based on everything that is given, it should be safe to say that while not set in stone, Newman should end up being the starting shortstop on Opening Day this season.