Pittsburgh Pirates Spring Training: Players Creating Tough Decisions

Phillip Evans

Early in the 2020 season Phillip Evans appeared to be on his way to having a breakout campaign with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The right-handed hitting utility man was one of the team’s best hitters early in the season. This led to Evans seeing time at third base, first base, left field and right field.

Evans hit for a .359/.444/.487 slash line to go with a 158 wRC+ in 2020. Unfortunately, this came in just 45 plate appearances. This was due to Evans’s season being cut short following a nasty collision with Gregory Polanco in shallow right field.

So far this spring Evans has continued to hit. He is 6-for-22 with five walks and a double. This comes out to a .273/.414/.318 slash line for Evans. He has done this while once again playing all over the diamond.

When you combine his resuls this spring with his results last season Evans may look like a lock to crack the Opening Day roster for the Pirates. Well, the problem is, minor league options are not working in his favor.

It appears the Pirates will start the season with just a four man bench with two of these four players being either Tony Wolters or Michael Perez as the team’s backup catcher, as well as whoever is not starting at shortstop between Kevin Newman and Erik González. That would leave the Bucs with just two bench spots.

Two of the three between outfielders Anthony Alford, Brian Goodwin and Dustin Fowler seem like safe bets to make the team. So does veteran corner infielder Todd Frazier. This would leave Evans without an Opening Day roster spot.

All of that said, it is hard to overlook a hitter having a Grapefruit League season like Evans is. Especially when Evans was hitting well prior to a season-ending injury the prior season. Evans, if nothing else, is giving the Pirate brass a lot to think about.