One realistic remaining free agent at each position for the Pirates to pursue

Right Field - Randal Grichuk

Randal Grichuk was formerly a long-time rival as he spent his first four MLB seasons on the St. Louis Cardinals. Last season, Grichuk started the year off hot with the Colorado Rockies but fell off down the line for the LA Angels. But he is a solid platoon bat who can play all three outfield positions and is still looking for a team to play with in 2024.

Grichuk hit .267/.321/.459 with a .333 wOBA, and 100 wRC+. Grichuk has never been one to draw many walks, and he had just a 6.2% walk rate last year. But he combated that with a career-best 20.4% strikeout rate. Grichuk hit 16 home runs in 471 plate appearances, marking the eighth straight season he’s reached that many home runs (not counting 2020) with a .191 isolated slugging percentage.

Most of the damage Grichuk did was against left-handed pitching. He had a .995 OPS, .415 wOBA, .279 ISO, and 155 wRC+ in 134 plate appearances vs Southpaws. Few batters were as good against left-handed pitching as Grichuk, who ranked in the top 15 in OPS, wOBA, and wRC+ among batters with at least 130 PAs.

Grichuk has had better years with the glove in the past. He had -1 DRS and -7 OAA in the outfield. Most of his innings came in left field, but he has more logged in center field and right field in his career. He saw an ample amount of time at each position in 2023 and he graded out best in right field.

Grichuk isn’t a bad player, but I think that if the Pirates were to sign another outfielder, they would go after Taylor, Pham, or Adam Duvall, someone I wanted to mention but had nowhere to put him. Grichuk can hit for power but does most of his damage against left-handed pitching, and while he can play the three outfield spots, Pham, Duvall, and Taylor are all superior defenders and could probably play on a more regular basis.