Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Overlooked Players Entering 2022

When the 2022 season begins these three players could be overlooked when it comes to what they could offer to the Pittsburgh Pirates

When the 2022 Major League Baseball season begins the Pittsburgh Pirates will have much less certainty than many other teams in baseball. That said, there is plenty that is known about the Pirate roster entering 2022.

Ke’Bryan Hayes will be at third base. Bryan Reynolds will man center field. Yoshi Tsutsugo will be a middle of the lineup bat. David Bednar and Christ Stratton will be handling the back of the bullpen, and José Quintana, Miguel Yajure, and Bryse Wilson will likely be relied upon for the team’s starting rotation.

That said, there are still plenty of question marks about the Pittsburgh Pirates as the calendar prepares to flip from 2021 to 2022. This leads to the Pirates have some overlooked, but talented players on their 40-man roster.

Today, we will take a look at three overlooked players for the Pittsburgh Pirates entering the 2022 season. While these players could flame out and struggle in 2022, they could also put together a season in which they see plenty of playing time with the Pirates.

Outfielder Anthony Alford

Earlier this month we took a look at potential Opening Day outfield options for the Pittsburgh Pirates. This included the often times overlooked and forgotten right-handed hitting Anthony Alford.

Alford opened the 2021 season as the starting center fielder for the Pirates. Following a woeful start to the season he was designed for assignment but went unclaimed. This led to him landing at Triple-A Indianapolis.

Following Alford’s stint at Indy he was recalled in August. After rejoining the Pirates, Alford put together a strong finish to the season.

The right-handed hitting Alford hit for a .266/.328/.477 slash line to go with a 114 wRC+, .211 isolate slugging (ISO) and a 6.7 % walk rate in his final 19 plate appearances of the season. Alford also picked up extra base hits at a 10.1% clip during this stretch, which included 5 home runs. However, his 35.3% strikeout rate continued to be an alarming number.

As a former top-100 prospect who finished 2021 strong, Alford could find a role with the Pirates to start the 2022 season. Especially on a team in need of right-handed hitting. Regardless, he is an overlooked Pirate player to watch whenever spring training begins.

Right-handed pitcher Max Kranick

After being protected from the Rule 5 Draft last offseason Max Kranick made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2021 season. In his first MLB start Kranick pitched 5 perfect innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. While he did flash his potential at times moving forward, he was never again able to find this form last season.

In 9 starts with the Pirates last season Kranick pitched 38.2 innings. He posted a 6.28 ERA, 4.64 FIP, walked 10.4% of batters faced, and struck batters out at a  17.6% rate. He also struggled to limit quality contact, allowing line drives at a 23.4% rate and hard contact at a 33.9% clip, both of which were worse than league average.

All of that said, Kranick still has the potential to be a quality MLB pitcher. FanGraphs ranks his fastball as a 50 value pitch, while his slider and cutter grade out as pitches with a value of 45. There are tools there for Kranick to work with.

When the 2022 season begins Kranick will find himself at Triple-A Indianapolis, most likely in their starting rotation. At some point during the season the Pirates will likely give Kranick an opportunity, and it could come out of the starting rotation or the bullpen.

Kranick’s fastball averaged 94.2 MPH last season and his slider averaged 87.9 MPH. Both of these pitches could be maximized further out of the bullpen, adding more velocity to them. This could also lead to their respective whiff rates of 20.5% and 30% increasing.

While Kranick has always worked as a starting pitcher he has a higher ceiling as a reliever. He could also quickly get passed up by other starting pitching prospects, something that has already started to happen with pitchers such as Roansy Contreras and Miguel Yajure.

The Pirates made it clear when they protected Kranick from the Rule 5 Draft last offseason and then gave him an opportunity for his first MLB action that they are high on him. This should also be a factor in him getting another opportunity at some point in 2022.