Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential Shortstop by the End of the Season

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstops have been one of the weakest positions in all of baseball, but who will be their starter by the end of 2021?

The Pittsburgh Pirates have gotten very poor production at shortstop this year. Combined, Pirate shortstops have only slashed .208/.253/.269 with a .232 wOBA, 46 wRC+, and -0.1 fWAR. By far, they’ve been the worst group of shortstops among all 30 teams.

They’re last in wRC+, wOBA, OPS, isolated slugging percentage, and next to last in fWAR. The only stat they’re not bottom three in is strikeout rate, which they actually have the lowest mark at 7.5% and walk rate at 5.7%.

They’ve gotten poor performances this year from Kevin Newman and Erik Gonzalez. Both have a wRC+ south of 60. However, the Pittsburgh Pirates have a few young players the we could eventually see take over the position. While we won’t see all of them this year, some will be given a shot at the position. So who could be playing shortstop for the Pirates by the end of 2021?

The most prominent answer would be Cole Tucker. Now Tucker has never been much of a hitter. However, he’s been a plus defender for most of his career. This season, he had -3 DRS during his short stint in the Majors, but in only 28 innings. Very small sample size to make any assumptions on his defense.

Though he’s never hit much, he’s done okay at Triple-A this year. He’s slashing for a .233/.341/.425 line, 340 wOBA, and 99 wRC+. He’s been an about league average hitter and has continued to show decent plate discipline. He’s striking out at a sub-20% rate while walking walking at an outstanding 13.9% clip. He’s also showing a bit of power. His .171 isolated slugging percentage would be a massive step forward compared to years prior.

Tucker has struggled in the majors, which is putting it lightly. Through 291 career MLB plate appearances, he’s only hitting .210/.256/.317, leading to a .247 wOBA, and 50 wRC+. This has come with little plate discipline. He’s walked at a 5.8% rate and has struck out over 25% of the time (25.8% to be exact). He may be a defensive upgrade, but potentially not much offensively.

One prospect that we could see get some innings at shortstop at the Major League level before the end of the season is Rodolfo Castro. Castro has already made his MLB debut, but went 0-3. However, he’s demolished the baseball at Double-A.

Through 171 plate appearances, Castro is hitting .310/.351/.544 with a .381 wOBA, and 137 wRC+. Castro has never been one to draw walks and only has a 5.9% walk rate this year. But he’s combating that with a .234 isolated slugging percentage and 9 home runs already this year.

As a defender, Castro is considered average with an average arm. He can move a bit as well with a 55-current speed grade on FanGraphs. Castro has mainly played third base this year at Altoona, but has more than enough experience at shortstop where he can play it if the Pirates want him to. While he might not be a big on-base/average hitter, he has decent power potential and may provide at least average defense at short.

I could also see the Pittsburgh Pirates giving Oneil Cruz some time there. However, they’re starting to give him some outfield reps. He may see a bit of time there in the Majors nearing the end of the season, but he’ll likely play most of his games in the outfield if they’re starting to get him comfortable in the grass now.

The Pittsburgh Pirates don’t really have too many other options at shortstop that could take over the position right now in the organization aside from Castro or Tucker. If Castro keeps hitting like he does, he’ll end the 2021 season as the team’s starting shortstop. They’ll likely give him more of a chance closer to the end of the season. However, I could also see them give Tucker a few weeks and up to a month at short if they trade Adam Frazier and want Castro to get some more playing time.