Pittsburgh Pirates: Anthony Alford Earns a Second Chance After Strong Triple-A Performance

Following a strong performance with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians outfielder Anthony Alford has earned a second chance with the Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Anthony Alford has gone 4-8 with a pair of doubles and he’s driven in a run since his recall from Triple-A. Let’s examine how he has gotten here why the Pirates should be giving him a look the rest of the way.

Alford made his Major League debut in 2017, and, in my opinion, he never really got a chance to succeed with the Blue Jays as he was limited to just 75 MLB plate appearances over 46 games covering 4 years – with constant trips back to the minor leagues. Granted he wasn’t very good with the Blue Jays when he did play (.155/.200/.254 42% strikeout rate) but he never had a chance to get going, getting sporadic starts and entering games late and ultimately led to his release by Toronto.

The Pittsburgh Pirates took a chance last year on him last year, and yes again it was a tiny sample size in 2020 as he played in 5 games and went 3-12 with a a triple, a home run and 4 RBIs – but it was enough to raise some eyebrows and keep him in contention for a 2021 roster spot.

He played well enough in the spring to earn a roster spot and there is no denying that he (again) struggled terribly by going 2-24 with 16 strikeouts over 28 April PAs this year. This led to Alford being designated for assignment and then joining Triple-A Indianapolis after he went unclaimed. With as up and down a career as Alford has had one would think he couldn’t rebound – but he did in fact rise to the occasion.

While he missed some time due to injury, Alford slashed .307/.420/.593 with 12 doubles, 14 HR and 9 stolen bases over 56 games. The naysayers will point out that he has a ridiculously high BAbip (batting average on balls in play) of .454 which is unsustainable at the Major League level and he still posted a big time 34.5% strikeout rate but it is encouraging that when he does make contact the ball is finding holes.

So how should the Pittsburgh Pirates utilize Alford the rest of the way? First off all I get it – a guy with a 30%+ strikeout rate, especially one that has had this issue throughout the minor leagues isn’t an ideal candidate for every day MLB reps. The thing is the Pirates have exhausted most other MLB ready outfield options at this point as guys have either been sent down to the minors or injured and I don’t see any reason why Alford shouldn’t be starting at a minimum 5 days a week.

Remember he is still only 26-years-old and with 121 career PAs over 63 games and 6 seasons perhaps it is finally time for a team to see if Alford can deliver enough hitting wise with regular playing time to offset his big-time Strikeout issues. Sitting at 41 wins and being 25 games out of first place with 2 months to play means you can afford to take a risk here with virtually nothing to lose – and it would be a missed opportunity in my eyes if the Pirates don’t let him play.