Pittsburgh Pirates: Phillip Evans Has Picked up Where He Left Off in 2020

After his hot start to the 2020 season ended abruptly, so far this season Phillip Evans has picked up where he left off at with the Pittsburgh Pirates

In the 2019-2020 off season, the Pittsburgh Pirates picked up a little known utility man by the name of Phillip Evans. Evans, who had previously spent nearly all of his professional career in the New York Mets’ organization, played the 2019 season with the Chicago Cubs’ Triple-A affiliate. In 539 plate appearances, Evans hit for a solid .283/.371/.470 with 17 home runs.

Overall, he had a .361 wOBA and 109 wRC+ as he did play in the extremely hitter friendly Pacific Coast League. He also displayed good plate discipline with a 10.6% walk rate, but outstanding 13.7% strikeout rate.

Evans got a shot for a bench spot with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020 Spring Training and he absolutely mashed. Evans racked up 11 hits, four of which were doubles including two home runs in 18 games and 33 at-bats. This outstanding production in the pre-season carried over into the regular season. Evans started off the season with 15 hits in his first 45 plate appearances with two doubles and a homer. Impressively, nine of his hits and both of his extra base hits came with runners on base.

However, Evans’ season was cut short in just the Bucs’ 5th game of the season. Evans, who was playing first base, collided hard into right fielder Gregory Polanco, leaving the infielder with a concussion and broken collar bone. This was a very hard hit for the Pirates’ depth chart. Not only were they losing a hot bat, but they were also losing a very versatile player. Throughout the minors, Evans was primarily an infielder with time at second base, shortstop and third base. In Spring Training, he also got playing time in right field and first base.

Evans missed the rest of the 2020 season, but has come strong in 2021. So far, he’s only stepped to the plate 21 total times, but hasn’t missed a beat. He already has 7 hits, two of which are home runs and a double to go with it. He’s also seen a rise in his batted ball rates.

His exit velocity is currently sitting at 90.7 MPH while his hard hit rate is at 50%. Compared to last year, he had an exit velo of just 85.5 MPH and hard hit rate of 34.4%. He’s already recorded playing time at third base, right field and even pitcher, although he likely won’t be used as a pitcher too much this season.

Now, granted, we’re looking at less than 70 plate appearances so far in his time with the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, so far, the results have been promising to say the least. He might not be a big time defender, but he’ll provide the Pirates with much needed versatility off the bench.

The Pirates haven’t had someone who can play as many positions as Evans can, while providing value with the bat, since Josh Harrison. Overall, he could be a surprising long term building block for this Pirates organization who have a ton of young and talented players coming up through their minor league system. With the Pirates current situation in the Major Leagues, we could start seeing Evans get more and more regular playing time if he can continue his outstanding performance so far in a Pirate uniform.