Pirates examples why you should take Spring Training stats with a grain of salt

There are plenty of examples in the Pittsburgh Pirates' recent history to show why you should take Spring Training stats with a grain of salt.

There are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and baseball fans overreacting to Spring Training.

One moment, a prospect is a bust because he had a bad Spring. The next moment, a career minor leaguer or bench player is a team’s next big thing because they did great in Spring. I’ve seen it all, and I’d be lying if I haven’t fallen for a good/bad Spring Training performance in my life before. Like every team in MLB, the Pittsburgh Pirates have had their fair share of strong or poor Spring Training performances followed by bad or good regular season performances.

Taking Spring Training stats beyond face value is not a smart way to identify who is good and who isn’t. It is a volatile time for all players. Players are tweaking their approach or working on new mechanics. Pitchers might be working on a new pitch, while batters might be working on a new swing. In some cases, pitchers might not even be worried about locating; they are just getting a feel for stuff again. Plus, you’re talking about some players shaking off rust for the first time since September or October. Overall, the level and effort of competition you see in the middle of March is so different from what you see in the middle of April.

There are reasons why when a player does great or bad in Spring, I do not take it super seriously. Today, I want to give you some examples from the Pirates’ recent history as to why this is the case.