Pittsburgh Pirates Setup a Platoon with Power Potential

The Pittsburgh Pirates desperately needed to add some power to their lineup. Well, they added some power yesterday.

Over the last few seasons, the Pittsburgh Pirates have really lacked quality offense.  Even more so, the team was missing any type of impressive power bats.  This was a big complaint from the fanbase but also was acknowledged by the Team’s Front Office.

Last season the team took some steps toward adding more power to their lineup.  Late into the season, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired corner player Yoshi Tsutsugo from the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Tsutsugo was a highly thought of International Player who signed with the Rays in 2019 and was eventually traded to the Dodgers.

Tsutsugo obviously did not get much of an opportunity with either club.  Both the Dodgers and Rays have been in the thick of the playoff race over the last few years.  This can be challenging for a new player going to a new team, in this case, Tsutsugo was on the outside looking in and never really got a consistent chance.

The Bucs gave him chance to play every day and through the consistency of play, Tsutsugo was able to start to show his potential. The power-hitting lefty put together a slash line of .268/.347/.535 with a 134 wRc+.  On top of those numbers, he posted a .268 ISO which led the team albeit in just 43 games. The Pittsburgh Pirates brought Tsutsugo back on a deal before the lockout went into place.

Yesterday, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced the signing of corner player Daniel Vogelbach. Voegelbach is similar to Tsutsugo in the way that both strikeout above the league average but also have power. The other part is that both players are much better in platoon situations.

Vogelbach faced lefties just 26 times in 2021 and definitely proved that he is much better served to face righties instead.  Last season Vogelbach hit just .097 against southpaws while hitting .240 against righties.  Meanwhile, Yoshi Tsutsugo, who like Vogelbach is a lefty hitter, is actually better against lefties than he is righties.  Last year Tsutsugo hit .258 against lefties (between the Rays, Dodgers, and Pirates).  Tsutsugo had a higher ISO against lefties than righties as well.

Now, will they be a platoon?  Probably not completely, but both will definitely be used when there are righties on the mounds.  The question is will Tsutsugo stay in the lineup consistently when there is a lefty on the mound? We know Vogelbach will not be hence why they could be used in a platoon of sorts.  With the addition of the Designated Hitter to the National League, the Pittsburgh Pirates have more flexibility in terms of how they platoon these two.