Pirates former first round pick is leading the offense

The Pittsburgh Pirates offense this season has not been good as a team, but a few players have stood out. One of these players who has stood out is Connor Joe, who the Pirates acquired last off-season from the Colorado Rockies. When acquired, Joe was a familiar face to the Pirates organization as he was Pittsburgh's first-round pick in the 2014 MLB Draft.

Joe played in the Pirates organization until 2017 when he was traded to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Sean Rodriguez. He later made his MLB debut in San Francisco in 2019. After the shortened pandemic season, Joe played two seasons in Colorado and turned into a solid player. The Pirates took a chance on him by sending right-handed pitcher Nick Garcia to the Rockies in exchange.

Joe has been one of the more underrated pickups that general manager, Ben Cherington, has made. Last season, Joe posted a .247 batting average with 11 home runs and 42 runs batted in. He also had an OPS of .760, which includes an on-base percentage of .339 and a slugging percentage of .421. He walked a lot at a 10.6% rate but struck out a lot at a 23.3% rate. His wRC+ was above the league average of 100 by seven at 107.

The Pirates came into 2024, planning to use Connor Joe as a platoon option with Rowdy Tellez at first base.

Tellez has been one of the worst hitters in the Pirates lineup but remains to get consistent starts against right-handed pitching. Joe has been the best overall hitter on the team but is still not getting everyday starts. This season, Joe has a batting average of .296 with six home runs and 22 runs batted in. He also has an OPS of .868, which includes an on-base percentage of .364 and a slugging percentage of .504. He also has reduced his strikeouts by nearly five percent to a total of 17.9%. His wRC+ is also very high at 145 and his WAR leads the team at 1.0.

Joe leads the Pirates in the following statistics; batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and runs batted in. He is second on the team in doubles with 10.

Not only is his offense very impressive, he has been solid at first base. In 135 innings played, Joe has not made a single error and has saved negative one defensive runs. His outs above average is also even at zero. Not the greatest, but certainly not costing games.

Connor Joe has been very impressive this season and deserves to be playing more. With Rowdy's struggles, let's see if Joe will emerge as the everyday first baseman.