3 Pittsburgh Pirates hitters who are dead weight on the current roster

If there’s one way the Pittsburgh Pirates can improve a lineup that has been struggling throughout the early parts of the season, it’s addition by subtraction. The Pirates are losing way too many games where the pitching does its job while the offense sits behind and watches. Some players, like Bryan Reynolds, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and Andrew McCutchen, are getting unlucky, and will eventually heat up, as logic dictates. But, amid the crossed fingers, there are some players who look more like lost causes. The Pirates can’t keep giving playing time to these three hitters.

3 completely lost hitters the Pittsburgh Pirates can't afford in their lineup

Alexander Canario

It has not been fun watching Alexander Canario. The Pirates picked up the former top prospect from the New York Mets in a trade involving just cash. To say Canario has been struggling would be an understatement. He’s been outright bad since the Pirates picked him up.

Let’s at least first start with the good. Canario is having no trouble hitting the ball hard. He has a 91.3 MPH exit velocity and an impressive 30% barrel rate in his small sample size of playing time in Pittsburgh. His xSLG% is a whopping .673. He also only has a 21.5% chase rate, which is above average. Canario also hit for a 135 wRC+ for the Chicago Cubs in 2023-2024, albeit in only 45 plate appearances.

Now, let’s get on with the bad. For starters, he has just three hits in 34 plate appearances. He is only one of eight batters in baseball right now with a batting average below .100 in 30+ PAs. Even though Canario has top-of-the-line raw power and posted a well above-average wRC+ with the Cubs, his power is severely limited due to his ability to make contact. He has a 36.5% whiff rate with the Pirates, and it sat well over 40% while with the Cubs. His contact rate with the Pirates sits at 68.3%. That’s a slight uptick from his days with the Cubs, but it still falls well short of the league-average 76.7% contact rate.

It’s not as if the Pirates can keep playing Canario because he brings good defense or elite speed either. He is only in the 71st percentile of sprint speed and has -1 defensive run saved and -1 out above average. If Canario was a plus runner with good defense, the Pirates might be able to sneak him by to see if he can figure things out. Nope.

I get the Pirates’ fascination with Canario. He’s a player with faster bat speed than Aaron Judge. But he’s a lot more like Jo Adell than Judge. Canario has no options remaining, but when players like Nick Gonzales and Spencer Horwitz begin returning, Canario is likely the first player the Pirates will decide to move on from.