5 players that should be on the Pirates’ major league roster by the end of May

Liover Peguero

Liover Peguero was one of the first players the Pirates picked up at the start of the rebuild. Acquired in the Starling Marte trade, Peguero hasn’t found his footing in the big leagues. He spent most of last season at Triple-A, turning in a meager .257/.319/.410 triple-slash, .324 wOBA, and 89 wRC+. He struck out a quarter of the time, with a whiff rate over 30%, while only having an 8.1% walk rate. The only positive is that he stole 14 bases and hit 13 home runs.

However, Peguero has silently done well at Indy to open 2025. It has only been 67 plate appearances, but the infielder is slashing .328/.388/.443. Peguero, who struck out just over 28% of the time last year, has only struck out nine times, good for a 13.4% BB%. Peguero has also drawn walks at a respectable 9% rate. Statcast has looked fondly at Peguero’s performance so far, with massive improvements in his exit velocity and whiff rate between 2024 and 2025.

Although Peguero has yet to hit a home run, he is currently sitting with a .380 wOBA and 129 wRC+. Peguero has been playing the positions you’d typically find him at (those being shortstop and second base). However, he’s also now gotten work in at the hot corner. Peguero was in the 70th percentile of arm strength in 2023, so he can make the throws needed to play third base.

Peguero could easily take Adam Frazier’s roster spot. The Pirates need offense, and Frazier has just a .538 OPS, .239 wOBA, and 47 wRC+. While the Pirates may not get a defensive boost by replacing Frazier with Peguero, they still have other defensive-minded utility men they can use, like Jared Triolo and Tsung-Che Cheng.