A look at the five candidates for Opening Day second baseman for the Pirates

Which of the Pittsburgh Pirates' five second basemen on the 40-man roster could be the team's Opening Day option?

The Pittsburgh Pirates entered Spring Training without a definite answer at second base. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t have an answer at the keystone. Quite the opposite; if anything, they have an overabundance of potential second basemen ready to take the reigns at the position. As of right now, they have five potential options on their 40-man roster, four of which already have Major League experience.

Now that Spring Training is in full swing, we’ve gotten a brief taste of the competition thus far. Today, we are going to take a look at each of the five players on the team’s 40-man roster who are potential options at second base to start the season, their strengths, weaknesses, and the likelihood they are the Pirates’ Opening Day second baseman to open 2024.

Liover Peguero

Liover Peguero was one of the first players the Pirates acquired at the start of their rebuild. Part of the Starling Marte trade, the 23-year-old middle infielder has looked great in Spring Training. In 14 plate appearances, he has four hits, including a double and a home run. He’s also drawn two walks, however more impressively is that he has yet to strikeout. Of course, we are only looking at 14 plate appearances, but strikeouts are something he struggled with last year.

Peguero definitely showed some potential last season. On September third, Peguero was batting .274/.323/.462 with a .336 wOBA and 109 wRC+. Although he had a sub-par 27.9% strikeout rate and 6.2% walk rate, Peguero was hitting for decent pop with a .188 isolated slugging percentage. His 88 MPH exit velocity and 7.1% barrel rate were also about league average.

However, Peguero fell into a massive slump toward the end of the year. His final 84 plate appearances saw him bat a meager .185/.214/.247 with a .204 wOBA and 20 wRC+. His strikeout rate ballooned to a massive 36.9% rate, while his walk rate nose-dived to just 3.6%. Although Peguero was still hitting the ball hard with a 91.4 MPH exit velocity, he wasn’t making quality contact with a 4.1% barrel rate.

Peguero’s defense at second base was far better than at shortstop. He had -4 defensive runs saved but zero outs above average in 208.2 innings at the keystone. But when he took over at shortstop, he had -3 DRS and -1 OAA in 284.1 innings. UZR/150 was also significantly more favorable to Peguero’s glovework at second base at -1.1 compared to -11.9 at SS.

Peguero probably is one of the more likely candidates to take over the role at second base. He has the highest offensive upside, and as long as he can remain a solid defender at second base, he’ll be a viable cog in the line-up. For what it’s worth, his glove has also looked good at 2B in Spring thus far.

Nick Gonzales

Ben Cherington’s first ever draft pick as the Pirates’ general manager definitely has a shot at the second base job. Nick Gonzales has looked decent thus far in his brief sample size of plate appearances with five hits in 17 plate appearances. Three of said hits are two-baggers, and he’s only struck out twice. However, he has yet to draw a walk.

Gonzales’ brief MLB time did not go well. He only had 147 plate appearances but hit .209/.268/.348 with a .268 wOBA and 64 wRC+. Gonzales’ walk rate was just under 5% at 4.7%, and he struck out in 28.1% of his plate appearances. When he did make contact, it was mostly poor contact, as he had just an 85.5 MPH exit velocity and a 3.7% barrel rate. But it was a small sample size of playing time, and he was much better at Triple-A, especially during the summer months.

From the start of June through the end of the year, Gonzales 265 plate appearances where he had a 302/.408/.550 triple-slash, .418 wOBA, and 139 wRC+. He was hitting for a lot more power with a .248 isolated slugging percentage. Gonzales had a manageable 23% strikeout rate, which was about league average in the International League, along with an above average 13.2% walk rate in this stretch. He was especially good in the second half of the season with a .977 OPS, .420 wOBA, and 141 wRC+.

Defensively, Gonzales was solid at second base with -1 DRS, but +1 OAA. He also saw a handful of games at shortstop, both in the Majors and minor leagues, as well as the hot corner at Triple-A. Gonzales is best suited to play second base, but can occasionally fill-in at both short and third.

I’ve been a fan of Gonzales for years, but I would definitely put Triolo and Peguero above him on the depth chart right now. I think he’ll settle into a utility role, seeing time all over the infield while providing some power.

Ji Hwan Bae

South Korean infielder/outfielder Ji Hwan Bae got his first extended look in the Majors last season, but it didn’t go over very well. Although Bae provided elite speed and base running value, along with decent utility, his bat fell well short of expectations. Bae has 16 plate appearances in Spring Training with three hits and four walks. He has also struck out four times.

Last season, Bae batted a mere .231/.296/.311 with a .272 wOBA and 66 wRC+. He had a respectable 8.1% walk rate and 24.4% strikeout rate, but he ranked in the bottom 15 of batters with 350+ plate appearances in wOBA, OPS, and wRC+. The most worrying aspect of his game was his 2% barrel rate and 24.3% sweet spot rate. Both were below the third percentile of batters in 2023. But Bae did use his top 97th percentile speed to swipe 24 bags, hustle out 17 doubles, and rack up +2.9 base running runs.

But Bae was much better throughout the minor leagues. He spent nearly all of 2022 at Triple-A, where he hit .289/.362/.430 with a .353 wOBA and 112 wRC+. He did not strikeout nearly as much as in the major leagues at 16.9%, and he also had a quality 10.1% walk rate. Bae’s power had always been his weakest tool, and a .141 isolated slugging percentage reflects that. But overall, it was a good season for Bae. He then made his MLB debut in September, where he would go on to have 11 hits and only six Ks in 37 plate appearances.

Bae split his time between second base and center field in 2023. His glove in center field was solid with -1 DRS but +1.1 UZR/150 and +3 outs above average. His above-average arm strength also let him make decent throws from the grass, and he also got great jumps on fly balls and line drives hit to the OF. He does need to work on his route running, but 2023 was the first year he played center field frequently, so it could just be a matter of getting used to the angle. But at second base, he had -6 DRS and -2 OAA. He de

Bae’s defense is much better in center field than at second base, and overall, he might be better utilized in a utility role. He did not hit well at all last year, but he was hitting about .270 with a league-average OBP in mid-June. An average OBP with his speed and utility could be extremely valuable.

Tsung-Che Cheng

Tsung-Che Cheng has become a dark horse candidate for the job after his outstanding start to Spring Training. Cheng is ranked as one of the Pirates’ top prospects. After a solid 2023 season, the Pirates added Cheng to their 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft. He currently has five hits, including two home runs in Spring Training. It’s a small sample size, but he has a 98 MPH exit velocity and 14.8% barrel rate thus far.

Cheng got off to a phenomenal start to the year at Greensboro, batting .308/.406/.575 with a 433 wOBA and 163 wRC+. Cheng had an ISO of just .148 the year prior but saw that jump to .266 with Greensboro. He maintained a walk rate of 13.8% at both Bradenton and High-A but cut his K% down from 20.7% to 18.5%. Cheng’s start to the year earned him a quick promotion to Double-A Altoona, but his numbers came crashing down.

Over his next 281 plate appearances, Cheng batted a a sub-par .251/.304/.352 with a .299 wOBA, and 80 wRC+. Cheng’s strikeout rate stayed about the same at 18.9% and he went 13-16 in stolen base attempts, however this is about the only positives from his time at Altoona. His walk rate plummeted to just 6%, with his ISO also falling dramatically to just .101. Although his overall production went down, keep in mind that Cheng was only in his age-21 season.

Cheng is an aggressive base runner. He stole 26 bags last year and 33 in 2022. But in total, he’s attempted 77 stolen bases. He’s a fast runner and can cover a lot of ground at either second base or shortstop. Cheng will have to hit for a decent average and draw enough walks to make his OBP viable, as the 5’7”, 175-pound infielder is not known for his power potential.

Cheng has the most outside shot of any of the team’s options at second base. He’s only 22 and hasn’t played at all above Double-A, and when he did play at Altoona last year, he struggled. Now, that doesn’t mean his Spring Training isn’t promising. But I don’t think it’s promising enough for him to surpass the four options currently on the roster who have already played in the Major Leagues.