Pittsburgh Pirates: Locks to be Removed From the 40-Man Roster

NEW YORK, NY - JULY 9: Jared Oliva #14 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the dugout before taking on the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 9, 2021 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 9: Jared Oliva #14 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the dugout before taking on the New York Mets at Citi Field on July 9, 2021 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images) /
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CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 06: Phillip Evans #24 of the Pittsburgh Pirates jogs back to the dugout during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on August 6, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images)
CINCINNATI, OH – AUGUST 06: Phillip Evans #24 of the Pittsburgh Pirates jogs back to the dugout during the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on August 6, 2021 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images) /

Utility man Phillip Evans

Phillip Evans made a strong first impression with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Prior to suffering a season ending broken jaw, he was hitting for a .359/.444/.487 slash line to go with a 158 wRC+ in 45 PAs during the 2020 season.

Evans once again made the Opening Day roster of the Pirates in 2021 and, once again, started the season strong. Through his first 80 PAs of the season Evans was hitting for a .246/.342/.449 slash line with a 116 wRC+ and an 8% extra base hit rate.

At this point it appeared that Evans was emerging as a potential long-term utility man/bench piece for the Pirates. However, in his final 168 PAs of the season Evans hit for a .186/.298/.228 slash line to go with a 52 wRC+.

After showing why he was largely a career minor leaguer with the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs, Evans now appears to be a player on their way out. With younger, higher ceiling utility players such as Diego Castillo, Hoy Park, and Tucupita Marcano all now in the mix, in addition to Ji-Hwan Bae being on the way, it’s hard to envision Evans remaining on the Pirate 40-man roster much longer.