Pittsburgh Pirates: Canaan Smith-Njigba’s Potential 2022 Role

Pittsburgh Pirates outfield prospect Canaan Smith-Njigba could begin to play a regular role with club in 2022

Last offseason the Pittsburgh Pirates swung a trade that seems to get better by the week. They sent right-handed starting pitcher Jameson Taillon to the New York Yankees for four prospects. Those being Miguel Yajure, Roansy Contreras, Canaan Smith-Njigba, and Maikol Escotto.

Contreras had a big year at Double-A and even got his first MLB start in late September. Yajure looked solid throughout the 2021 season but was limited because of injuries. He’s a front-runner for a rotation spot right now. Escotto may have struggled at A-Ball, but he’s also extremely young. Smith-Njigba? Well have a solid season down at Double-A, he’s on the verge of being a potential contributor in the major leagues.

In 266 plate appearances, the outfield prospect hit .274/.398/.406 with a .364 wOBA, and 127 wRC+. The outfielder didn’t hit for much power, but he walked at a fantastic 16.9% rate. The biggest issue was that he was hitting a ton of ground balls. His GB% sat at 65.3%. Meanwhile, he had a sub-25% fly ball rate (23.8%), and line drive rate of just 10.9%.

He got a few plate appearances up at Triple-A but struggled to the tune of a .260 OPS in only 23 trips to the plate. But his work at the Arizona Fall League has been beyond fantastic. He has only 65 plate appearances but is batting .333/.477/.510. He has 6 doubles, albeit only one home run, but 13 walks.

Smith-Njigba is an on-base machine but has the potential to be a big-time slugger. In 2019, he had a 50% hard-hit rate and 91 MPH exit velocity. No batter in 2021 had a wRC+ lower than 110 with both a hard-hit rate of at least 50% or 90+ MPH exit velo. The lowest was Miguel Sano, who still rocked a solid 110 wRC+. The raw power is there and is reflected in his 60-current and future grades for the tool.

Smith-Njigba may be a bit on the slow side, but he sure is a smart base runner. He knows when he can take a base. Last year, he was 13-for-14 in stolen base attempts. So far at the Arizona Fall League, he’s been successful in all 5 of his attempts. His ability to reach base often makes his baserunning ability a true weapon.

Now his hit tool only projects as a 45-grade tool. But that’s mainly because his strikeout rates aren’t always the best. He still hits for a fair amount of contact, despite his unimpressive K-rates. Fielding-wise, he usually sits below average but he’s good enough to stick in left field. With a very good possibility of the DH returning next year, the Pirates could limit his time in the field by having him DH every so often.

Smith-Njigba has the power potential to be a 30-home run threat. He needs to get the ball in the air more, but that’s about his only major knock on his offensive ability. He reaches base quite often as he draws a lot of walks and hits for average. He should get a call to the majors sometime early next season. 2022 will be his age-23 campaign and with already a few games played at Triple-A, a hot start to the ‘22 campaign could earn him a promotion by the beginning of May. Given the current outfield situation, he could slot into one of the corners pretty quickly.