Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Position Groups Set to Improve in 2022

Number 3 – Shortstop

Defensively, the Pittsburgh Pirates had shortstop on lockdown. Kevin Newman posted a +7 DRS, +3 outs above average, and a +7.6 UZR/150. He was a finalist for the Gold Glove and was a great defender up the middle. The issue was that he was an awful batter. Newman posted a .226/.265/.309 line with a .249 wOBA, and 54 wRC+. His OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ were all the league’s worst by fair margins.

We all know the Pirates have a ton of middle infield prospects, but among all of them, Oneil Cruz will likely be the starting shortstop for the Pirates for most of the 2021 season. Last season the towering infielder got his season started by posting a strong .292/.346/.536 line with a .377 wOBA, and 136 wRC+ at Double-A. Though once he reached Triple-A, Cruz went from a very hot batter to a god-like hitter. While it was still a very small sample size of 29 plate appearances, you can’t help but be extremely impressed by the fact he had 11 hits, 5 of which were home runs, and 8 walks.

Things got even better for Cruz as he even made his major league debut and played two games. It was only 2 games and 9 plate appearances, but Cruz golfed a ball well below the strike zone for a long home run and singled on a ball that was hit 118.2 MPH off the bat, the 7th hardest-hit ball all year. That’s something some of MLB’s most feared power hitters like Fernando Tatis Jr., Kyle Schwarber, Nelson Cruz, Juan Soto, and Yordan Alvarez didn’t top.

Cruz should be in the Majors by the end of April/beginning of May. Even beyond Cruz, the Pittsburgh Pirates have some near-ready quality options. Ji-Hwan Bae had a solid season at Double-A Altoona and will likely get things started at Triple-A Indianapolis. They have some other quality secondary options for shortstop like Rodolfo Castro and Hoy Park.

Number 2 – Starting Pitching

The amount of pitching talent in the Pirate farm system is immense. The big-name is Quinn Priester, but he likely won’t appear in the big leagues next season. Despite that, the starting pitching staff could be the most improved area of the team, but right now, I have it as the 2nd most improved position.

By the end of May, both Roansy Contreras and Miguel Yajure should be in the rotation. The duo was sent over to the Pirates in the Jameson Taillon trade. Contreras had a phenomenal year at Double-A Altoona and saw a huge uptick in fastball velocity. He went from averaging out in the low-to-mid-90’s all the way up to 96-98 MPH. He also has a plus breaking ball and change-up. Two of his three offerings are easily 60-grade offerings while his change-up is still a 55-grade pitch.

Yajure might not throw very hard, only averaging out in the 90-94 MPH range, but what he lacks in velocity, he makes up for in volume and command. All of Yajure’s offerings project as average or better. He throws a four-seam fastball, a cutter, curveball, and change-up. Those are the 4 pitches that FanGraphs grades, but he also throws a sinker and slider, mainly to right-handed batters. He also has projected-60 grade command. Yajure may not have overpowering stuff, but he keeps hitters off-balance with the number of offerings he throws, as well as throwing them with good control. Yajure would have been in the rotation for a decent part of 2021 had it not been for injuries.

Both Contreras and Yajure should be getting regular starts by mid-May. They’re considered top 100 prospects by FanGraphs with Contreras even ranking at #49. Yajure may not be on the same level as Contreras, but he’s easily a guy who could be a strong #3 type of starter. Contreras on the other hand could be a high-end #2, possibly even a low-end #1 if the stuff he showed in the minors this year was the true Roansy Contreras.

Another high-ranking prospect that could get a shot at the major leagues next season is Carmen Mldozisnki. He was a first-round pick by the Pirates in 2020 and showed a lot of promise at High-A Greensboro. He has a handful of offerings, but none are considered bad either. They’re all very usable pitches. Mlodzinski even got to pitch 2 innings at Triple-A and considering that next year will be his age-23 campaign, he’s a guy you could see in the rotation by the All-Star break

There are also a handful of others that should improve next year. Bryse Wilson will get his first shot at regular innings. Before being traded, Wilson was optioned back-and-forth from the major leagues to the Atlanta Braves’ Triple-A team six different times, which surely isn’t a good way to get acclimated with the major leagues. JT Brubaker’s underlying numbers suggest a very solid pitcher. He had a 22.4% HR/FB ratio, which is extremely unlucky when you consider he had a healthy ground ball with an exit velocity and hard-hit rate around league average. Despite his poor overall numbers, Brubaker had a solid 4.00 xFIP, 4.04 SIERA, and 4.34 DRA. Recent free-agent signee Jose Quintana had a highly unlucky .370 batting average on balls in play but had a solid 3.75 xFIP, 3.94 SIERA, and 4.09 DRA. Plus from 2017 up through 2020, he was pretty much a solid league-average pitcher.

Other prospects who aren’t necessarily ranked high like Omar Cruz and Trey McGough might get to the majors sometime earlier in the season. Maybe this is the year Mitch Keller figures it out. Wil Crowe also flashed some potential as a back-of-the-rotation arm. Dillon Peters could end up being a diamond in the rough.

Overall, there’s a glut of pitchers who the Pirates will see next season. Many of them are going to be contributing to the major league roster positively. Yajure and Contreras may be the most notable, but they’re far from the only ones with a decent chance of being good starters.

Number 1 – Outfield

I’ve gone over it before, but the Pittsburgh Pirates have a ton of young talent coming up through the pipeline who play the outfield. Last year, the Pirates mainly used Bryan Reynolds, Ben Gamel, and a mix of Anthony Alford, Yoshi Tsutsugo, Ka’ai Tom, Wilmer Difo, and a slew of others to cover the outfield. Alford and Gamel will be returning next year, but as nothing more than placeholders for the young talent.

Among the most talented Pirate outfield prospects you have Travis Swaggerty leading the pack. The team’s 2018 first-round pick, Swaggerty’s defense has always gotten high praise, but his bat has consistently been underrated.

His hit tool is considered average by FanGraphs and has been praised for his raw power. Last year, he started to turn some of that raw strength into home runs with a .220 isolated slugging percentage and 3 home runs in his small taste of playing time at Triple-A. 2021 just wasn’t Swag’s year. Not only did he get extremely unlucky on batted balls (.200 batting average on balls in play despite a fantastic 26.7% line drive rate and 36.7% ground ball rate), but he dislocated his shoulder just 12 games into his season. So long as he is fully recovered from shoulder surgery and it doesn’t have any lingering effects, he’s a guy that you could see in early May. In a full season, you’re looking at a guy who can hit .260/.350/.450 with 20/20 and display strong plate discipline.

He’s not the only outfield prospect who we will see next year. Far from it. Next, we have Canaan Smith-Njigba. Like Swaggerty, Smith-Njigba has a ton of raw power potential but has yet to fully translate that into game power. He hits for a decent average as well as drawing a ton of walks. But he has so far struggled to get the ball in the air more often. That is what might be separating him from 15 home runs and 30 home runs. Smith-Njigba isn’t all that fast, nor is he a fantastic fielder like Swags. But the Pirates will be wanting his bat in the line-up, so they’ll find somewhere for him to play.

Matthew Fraizer had a huge breakout campaign last year. He finished 2021 with a 149 wRC+, .402 wOBA, and .939 OPS with 23 home runs in 499 plate appearances between High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona. If Fraizer’s breakout was for real, he’s easily one of the Pirates’ most underrated prospects. He’ll be going into his age-24 season next year, but hasn’t had any experience past Double-A. If the Pirates feel he needs that Triple-A experience, he could be a candidate to come up around late May to early June.

A guy we talked about earlier was Ji-Hwan Bae as a potential shortstop, but he’s a potential outfield option as well. Last year, Bae had a solid season at Double-A Altoona, posting a 114 wRC+, .343 wOBA, and .771 OPS. Bae has been a middle infielder for his entire professional career but has started to get some time in the outfield. Between late last season and the Arizona Fall League, Bae has racked up 165.2 innings in center field. He is a bit younger than all the guys we have talked about so far. Next year will only be his age-22 campaign, but he’ll have a very good chance of starting at Triple-A. He’s a mid-season call-up but should have plenty of time to show what he is capable of.

While those might be the four most notable prospects who should see a fair amount of time next season, they’re far from the only outfield prospects the Pirates have. Cal Mitchell had a decent campaign down at Double-A. Jack Suwinski was added to the 40-man roster. Tucupita Marcano and Hoy Park are two outfield capable infield prospects. They also picked up Greg Allen, who had a 140 wRC+ with the Yankees last season (albeit in only 48 plate appearances).