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Pittsburgh Pirates 2023 Opening Day Roster Prediction: Version 4.0
By Marty Leap
Catcher - Austin Hedges, Kevin Plawecki
This is one position where the prediction has changed since our last Opening Day roster prediciton. While Austin Hedges (obvisouly) is still proejcted to be the team's primary catcher, his projected backup has changed.
For much of the offseason, the projected backup was Tyler Heineman. This was due to the Pittsburgh Pirates re-signing Heineman to a minor league contract early in the offseason. However, after adding veteran Kevin Plawecki via a minor league contract we're now going to project him to be the backup to Hedges.
Neither Heineman nor Plawecki will bring much to the table offensively. However, Plawecki is the far superior offensive player. Hell, he's a better hitter than Hedges, but Hedges is one of the best defensive catchers in baseball.
Plawecki is not as strong a defender as Heineman but he is still a strong defensive backstop. Combine this with him being the better offensive option of the two and we'll peg Plawecki to be the team's backup catcher to start the regular season.