Pittsburgh Pirates: 2022 Middle Infield Could Become a Revolving Door

When the 2022 season begins the starting middle infield of the Pittsburgh Pirates could be Derek Shelton playing the hot hand

Looking ahead to the 2022 season the Pittsburgh Pirates have plenty of questions about the makeup of their middle infield. While it appears that Kevin Newman will once again be the team’s Opening Day starting shortstop, his offensive woes may lead to the Pirates finally moving on from him.

Additionally, prior to the start of the work stoppage there was plenty of trade rumor swirling around Newman. With plenty of teams reportedly having shown interest in Newman before the roster freeze it is conceivable the Pittsburgh Pirates could trade the Gold Glove Award finalist after the work stoppage ends and before the season begins.

Regardless of what happens with Newman, second base will be wide open when spring training begins. Hoy Park, Michael Chavis, Tucupita Marcano, Cole Tucker (who could very possibly come off the 40-man roster before Opening Day), Rodolfo Castro, and Diego Castillo will likely all compete for playing time at second base.

Out of these six it is unclear how many will crack the team’s Opening Day roster. At least three of them are likely to be members of the Opening Day roster of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and four of them making the cut is certainly possible.

However the Opening Day roster shakes out, it is very possible fans see Derek Shelton take a second base by committee approach to start the regular season. Whoever the hot hand is at the time could be the player getting the starts at second base.

If the new CBA includes the National League adding the designated hitter as is expected, that could be a factor as well. This could lead to Chavis seeing playing time at first base while Yoshi Tsutsugo makes starts as the DH. Also, each of these players could factor in at DH as well if more than one of them are swinging at hot bat at the same time.

There is also the question of what happens if Newman is traded. If Newman is moved, unless the Pittsburgh Pirates add any more middle infield help, then the odds of all four of these players cracking the Opening Day roster increase.

In this scenario fans would likely see two of these players in the lineup every day. Although, the team may also look to give Marcano a long look at shortstop. The Pirate front office has been high on Marcano for quite awhile and could view him as a potential building block moving forward.

Slugging shortstop prospect Oneil Cruz will look to force his way into the conversation as well. Cruz made his MLB debut during the final series of the regular season. Cruz turned heads  with his performance in this series, which included hitting his first MLB home run.

Cruz will likely start the 2022 season at Triple-A Indianapolis. However, if he gets off to a strong start with the Indians he could be in the team’s MLB lineup by late May/early June. Especially if the Pirates are failing to get offensive production from the shortstop position.

Highly touted second base prospect Nick Gonzales could reach the Majors in 2022 as well. However, if this occurs, it likely would not be until late in the season as Gonzales has yet to record an at-bat above High-A. But due to Gonzales being one of the most advanced hitters in the farm system he could quickly rise from Double-A, where he will start the 2022 season, to the Major League level.

No matter how things prove to shake out fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates should see multiple players earning starts in the middle infield early in the season. Hopefully, one or two players will be able to step up and take control of shortstop and second base. If not, the middle infield could be a revolving door and be handled on a by committee basis throughout the 2022 season.