Pittsburgh Pirates: Final 2023 Opening Day Roster Projection

Thursday afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates will travel to Cincinnati to kick off their 2023 season. So, for one last time this spring, let's take a stab at projecting the team's Opening Day roster

At 4:05 PM ET on Thursday afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds will kick off their 2023 seasons. Before the Pirates prepare to head north to Cincinnati they must first finalize their 26-man Opening Day roster.

We know Mitch Keller will get the ball for the Pirates on Thursday afternoon, but what could the team around him look like? Who could be waiting in the wings in the bullpen to relieve Keller when needed? What players will be waiting on the Pirate bench?

With Opening Day now less than 72 hours away, potentially even a lot less depending on when you're reading this, let's take one last stab at predicting the 26 players that Derek Shelton will have at his disposal for the start of the season.

Catcher - Austin Hedges, Tyler Heineman

While there was some back-and-forth at times between Tyler Heineman and veteran Kevin Plawecki for who would backup Hedges to begin the season, it will be almost assuredly be Heineman. Plawecki has opted out of his minor league deal with the Pirates, and Heineman appears to have the edge over Jason Delay.

Offensively, the catcher position could be a bit of an albatross for the Pirates when the season begins. However, defensively, Hedges and Heineman could be one of the strongest duos in all of baseball.

Both Hedges and Heineman bring plus value as pitch framers. They both block the plate well, and have strong pop times to second base with Hedges's being one of the best in baseball. Additionally, since he made his MLB debut in 2015 Hedges leads all MLB catchers in Defensive Runs Saved.

They may not provide much offensively, but the defense and ability to help a pitcher work through the game this duo will bring, especially Hedges who will likely start 90% of the time, will be vital for a young Pirate pitching staff.

Infield/designated hitter - Ke'Bryan Hayes, Oneil Cruz, Rodolfo Castro, Carlos Santana, Ji-Man Choi

This is a group that has remained very consistent throughout the spring.

The left side of the infield is locked down. Ke'Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz are the guys there, and the Pirates hope they are the guys there for a very, very long time. If all goes according to plan they will both likely start at least140+ games this season.

If Hayes can carry the offensive improvement he showed this spring into the regular season, then when you combine this with his elite defense he could be a 5+ WAR player. There is also reason for optimism that this will happen as Hayes has been getting more loft in his swing and he looks bulkier, in a good way, as well as looking stronger.

As for Cruz, if he can limit the errors at shortstop the rest will take care of itself. His freak athleticism, incredible range, and elite arm strength will allow him to make plenty of plays most shortstops can not make. If he takes what he did in his final 230 plate appearances last season and replicates that for the entire 2023 season, then you're looking at a 30+ home run hitter.

No one seized the job at second base in the spring. Due to this, you may see some second base by committee and playing of the hot hand to start the season. But, on Thursday, look for Rodolfo Castro to be there due to what he showed in the final two months last season.

Carlos Santana and Ji-Man Choi could split the duties between first base and designated hitter a lot of days. Against left-handed pitching, however, look for Choi to be on the bench due to his woeful career numbers against southpaws.

Outfielder - Bryan Reynolds, Jack Suwinski, Andrew McCutchen, Canaan Smith-Njigba

Bryan Reynolds, obviously, will be the stalwart. Left field or center field, he will be in the lineup every day for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season. Hopefully, his season will start similar to Hayes last year with a new long-term contract extension.

Despite his struggles with the swing-and-miss in the spring Jack Suwinski will be a starter when the season begins. Likely playing a lot of center field. If Suwinski's struggles with the swing-and-miss continue into the season and he fails to take a step forward from last season it will be interesting to see how long his leash is.

Andrew McCutchen is ready to embark on his 14th MLB season and 10th in Pittsburgh. The plan is for the Pirate legend to play on a near daily basis in right field. However, some elbow inflammation could push Cutch to a DH role to start the season.

The first change we see from our last Opening Day roster projection is the addition of Canaan Smith-Njigba. Shortly after he made his MLB debut last season his season was cut short due to a wrist injury. Smith-Njigba responded with a phenomenal spring and was arguably the team's best hitter in Grapefruit League play. With McCutchen potentially set for a lot of DH at-bats early in the season, it would not be a surprise to see Smith-Njigba potentially even crack the Opening Day lineup.

Bench/utility - Ji Hwan Bae, Connor Joe

Rounding out the bench are Ji Hwan Bae and Connor Joe. Bae will serve as the team's backup third basemand, shortstop, and seocnd baseman. Bae can also play the outfield, and could see his fair share of starts at second base as well.

Joe can play first base and the corner outfield spots. Regardless of the position on the diamond, Joe should be in the lineup every time the Pirates face a left-handed starting pitcher. He consistnetly puts together quality at-bats, can get on base at a good rate, and will work the count. All good traits for a hitter to have.

Starting rotation - Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, Rich Hill, Vince Velasquez, Johan Oviedo

After Keller gets the ball on Opening Day, Roansy Contreras will likely get the ball on Saturday in Cincinnati and Rich Hill on Sunday. Veteran free agent addition Vince Velasquez will follow in Boston, we then have a shakeup to what the original projected starting rotation was.

Following Monday's news that JT Brubaker will likely start the season on the injured list, Johan Oviedo is the beneficiary. After pitching extremely well last September and turning heads this spring while working on a new pitch, the 25-year-old may have made the team's Opening Day roster regardless. Now, he will be getting the ball every fifth day.

If Keller, Contreras, and Oviedo all take a step forward this season and Hill continues to pitch the way he has for most of his career then this rotation could be sneaky strong this season. What's most encouraging is that none of that is very far fetched.

With highly touted prospects such as Quinn Priester, Mike Burrows, and Luis Ortiz all slated to start the season in the rotation at Triple-A Indianapolis this is a group that could look very different come this summer. For now though, these will be the five to start the season.