Five Things the Pittsburgh Pirates Need to Do in June

June will be a big month in the rebuild for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and these are five of the most important things that need to be done during the month.

June is the start of the summer for most. The weather starts to get hot, the days are longer, and everyone has more free time to do what they want. It’s also the start of baseball’s best regular-season games. For the Pittsburgh Pirates, it could be the start of the end of the rebuild.

This month is an important point in the Pittsburgh Pirates rebuild. Now that we’re two months into the year, many of the MLB-ready prospects have had ample time to establish themselves in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Many things need to happen this month, but here are five of the most important items the Pirates need to resolve as we get into the first month of summer.

Time to promote the big names

The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t been all that bad in getting some of their prospects to the majors. Currently, Diego Castillo, Jack Suwinski, Cal Mitchell, Yerry De Los Santos, Roansy Contreras, and Rodolfo Castro are part of the 26-man roster. But more needs to be done; specifically, it’s time to bring up the big names. For some reason, the Pirates have been hesitant to bring up their big prospects, even now that we’re past the service time and super-two deadline.

You can’t get any bigger than Oneil Cruz. After a freezing cold start to the season, Cruz has finally hit his stride. The last month has seen Cruz batting .280/.392/.549 He has a .411 wOBA, .941 OPS OPS, and 152 wRC+. Although he had a slow start, a Cruz promotion is now well overdue.

The fact that Mason Martin hasn’t been promoted yet is a massive shock. With Yoshi Tsutsugo and Daniel Vogelbach on the injured list the Pittsburgh Pirates are missing a great opportunity to give Martin a chance. So far, he’s hit .241/.317/.566 with a .373 wOBA and 127 wRC+. He’s still struck out a ton, but he’s just kept hitting.

Ji-Hwan Bae is arguably the minor league’s hottest hitter. Bae has hit .337/.438/.581 with a .441 wOBA and 171 wRC+ throughout the month of May. The Pirates shouldn’t have a hard time finding playing time for Bae either. He has experience at second base, shortstop, and center field. The fact that Josh VanMeter keeps getting semi-regular playing time, yet Bae has been held in the minor leagues should be painful for Pirates fans.

Travis Swaggerty is the last big name that deserves the call to the bigs. Like Cruz, Swaggerty got off to an ice-cold start. But after an injury list stint, Swaggerty has been on the up-and-up. His last 55 plate appearances have yielded a .309/.367/.473 line, .372 wOBA, and 126 wRC+. With Ben Gamel on the IL, now would be a great time to see what Swaggerty can do.

Weed Out The 40-Man Roster

Getting prospects up here in a hurry means you have to weed out the 40-man roster quite a bit, and it should be quite simple as well. The Pirates’ 40-man roster is filled with guys who serve as seat warmers for better players. It’s time to start the great purge of the roster.

Cole Tucker was recently designated for assignment, but that was only to make room for another light-hitting utility man in Yu Chang. Hoy Park is still on the 40-man roster as well. I understand that not every single guy on the roster can’t be an all-star, and you need some depth guys as an insurance policy, but do we need more than three? Heck, do we need more than one?

The Pirates should DFA Heath Hembree and Aaron Fletcher to make room for Bolton and McGough. VanMeter is also a guy who should be on his way out the door. He’s a guy who has pretty much taken playing time away from greater prospects. If DFA’ing VanMeter means getting Bae on the roster, the Pirates need to take that opportunity.

Last but not least, they shouldn’t keep both Chase De Jong and Tyler Beede. I get you need a few low-leverage guys just in case, but there’s no real reason to keep two who can pitch multiple innings at a time. That roster spot could be used for a better pitcher.

I don’t expect the Pittsburgh Pirates to completely weed out all the below-replacement level players all in one month. That would be a challenge for even the best MLB teams. You still need at least a few emergency roster depth kind of guys in the event of an injury, and you can’t make a significant roster move immediately. But I at least expect this to be the start of the process.

Find another catcher

Look, I’m not saying go out there and make a trade for a big, expensive catcher. But let’s take a look at what the Pirates have right now. It’s the dynamic duo of Michael Perez and Tyler Heineman. Perez had a 38 wRC+ last season and hasn’t done much better this year. Heineman spent the previous four years as an up-and-down third-string catcher.

Roberto Perez undergoing season-ending hamstring surgery was a massive blow to the Pirates. Not only was he putting on a defensive clinic behind the dish, but he was also hitting pretty well. At the time of his injury, he ranked 6th among catchers in wRC+ and wOBA in at least 60 plate appearances. Finding that kind of production with the bat is extremely hard, especially considering the average catcher is hitting .217/.289/.348 this year.

The Pirates aren’t going to replace Perez. They’re not going to “re-create him in the aggregate,” a la Moneyball. No team will just so happen to stumble on an above-average hitting catcher with arguably the best defense in the league in the middle of the season. But something has to be done. Perez and Heineman aren’t the answer behind the dish.

Both are terrible hitters, and both are below-average fielders. The Pirates need to find an above-average defender to take the reins behind the dish, at the very least. There has to be a low-cost minor leaguer who is a plus defensive catcher out there or a low-cost veteran like Austin Hedges the Pirates could pursue and get for nothing more than cash and maybe a low-level prospect.

Play the kids

How many more times will we have to watch Josh VanMeter take semi-regular reps? How many more times will we have to watch Yoshi Tsutsugo make regular starts with a 60 wRC+? When are we going to start passing the ball off to Yerry De Los Santos in close games rather than Chris Stratton?

It’s one thing if the Pirates are going to lose with the young guys, but it’s another thing to lose when they keep marching out the depth/utility men who are in their late-20s/early-30s. It’s time they start to get the kids playing time.

Jack Suwinski and Cal Mitchell should be getting regular reps in the outfield. They’re two guys who could be part of the long-term outfield plans. You’re never going to figure out what they have when you sit one, have VanMeter start at second base, and have Diego Castillo playing in one of the outfield spots.

Speaking of Castillo, it’s time to get him and Bae platooning at second base, rather than him and VanMeter. Castillo has demolished lefties to the tune of a .295/.311/.568 line, .378 wOBA, and 144 wRC+. He has a sub-40 wRC+ against right-handers. Meanwhile, you have Bae with a .886 OPS against right-handers. A Castillo/Bae platoon at second base might give the Pirates the best production from the position in the bigs.

Get Cruz starts at shortstop, get Martin starts at first base, get some of the pitching prospects some starts in the major leagues. It’s time to put the youth movement in full swing. No more excuses, no more half-measures, and no more pulling punches. Start getting these guys playing time now.