Pittsburgh Pirates: Players Who Could Get Promoted Soon

Miguel Andújar

The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired Miguel Andújar late last season from the New York Yankees. Andújar was a former top prospect and American League Rookie of the Year runner-up back in 2018 when he batted .297/.328/.527 with a .361 wOBA and 127 wRC+. Andújar hit 27 home runs and a franchise record-setting 47 doubles and finished behind Shohei Ohtani in ROY voting. The massive downside to Andújar’s season was that he struggled with defense, with -21 defensive runs saved, a -24.5 UZR/150, and -7 outs above average.

But he looked like a long-term piece of the Yankee core, which at the time also included 3rd place ROY finisher Gleyber Torres, 2017 Rookie of the Year winner Aaron Judge, Gary Sanchez, Giancarlo Stanton, and Luis Severino. However, things quickly went south for Andújar. Andújar would only step to the plate 376 more times between 2019 and 2022, suffering many injuries. In the few sporadic times he played, he managed a wRC+ of just 56 (44% worse than the league-average batter). In that time, he lost his starting third base job to the likes of Gio Urshela and Josh Donaldson and moved to left field as his primary position.

That’s when the Yankees decided to move on from the former top rookie and when the Pirates claimed him. Andújar only appeared in nine games with 40 plate appearances, and he had his ups and downs. He collected a hit in six of his contests with two multi-hit efforts and only struck out five times. But he also walked just twice and had an exit velocity of 85.5 MPH.

After signing Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates designated Andújar for assignment this past off-season. However, Andujar has gotten off to a nice start to 2023, batting .298/.379/.524 through 95 plate appearances at Indy. He’s walked 11 times with just 11 strikeouts, with eight doubles and three long balls to his credit. Andújar hasn’t played any third base, with most of his time spent at first base, both outfield corners, and designated hitter.

I would guess Andújar is the likeliest candidate to get promoted. He can play first base and both corner outfield spots, and DH. It’s not like the Pirates don’t already have competent starting players at all those positions, either, unlike last year when Josh VanMeter got semi-regular playing time. Plus, he’s not a player that you’d be wasting his development with once/twice a week starts with, so there’s also that to consider. The only downside is the Pirates would have to make room on the 40-man roster.

Travis Swaggerty

Travis Swaggerty made a significant bid to open the 2023 season on the Pirate Opening Day roster during spring training. Alas, he lost out to Canaan Smith-Njigba, who was recently optioned. With that, Swaggerty could rejoin the Major League ballclub again within the coming week.

The former first-rounder isn’t off to a great start in 2023. It’s only been 89 plate appearances, but he’s batted .231/.310/.442 with a .332 wOBA and 89 wRC+. Swaggerty is hitting for some decent power with a .212 isolated slugging percentage, but his walk rate clocks in at a career-worst 6.9% rate, and his strikeout rate is at 24.1%.

But Swaggerty was a slightly above league-average batter between 2021 and 2022, slashing .251/.347/,403. That came with a much better-looking 12.5% walk rate and a respectable .153 isolated slugging percentage. The only major downside was he struck out nearly a quarter of the time with a 24.7% strikeout rate. Overall, he had a 102 wRC+.

Swaggerty is mostly known for his fielding and running ability. Swaggerty has swiped 20+ bases in two minor league seasons and has displayed a strong ability to play center field. If Swaggerty could reliably reproduce his 2021-2022 numbers, he’d be a pretty good outfielder. New York Mets’ outfielder Mark Canah is about a .250/.350/.400 batters, and he still averages nearly 3.0 fWAR in 600 plate appearances the last three years with so-so defense in center and left field. Though that’s a major assumption to think that Swaggerty could be a league-average/slightly above-average batter.

Swaggerty is already on the 40-man, had a great Spring, and has looked great at Triple-A. But the Pirates calling up Swaggerty would make him run into the same problem CSN did: he’s not getting consistent playing time and potentially stalling any potential development he could make at the major league level. I believe that Swaggerty is the most talented option we’ll talk about today, but I’d rather him get consistent playing time than to come up and not make any potential progress.

Cal Mitchell

Cal Mitchell is a former second-round pick by the Bucs. Going into 2022, there was some potential that he could take over a semi-regular role in the outfield and as a designated hitter. Although he didn’t make the greatest first impression, he made significant improvements down the line that could help him in the long run.

Mitchell split his time almost evenly between Triple-A and the big leagues. The outfielder was a .339/.391/.547 batter with a 146 wRC+ at Indy. He walked at a below-average 6.5% rate but also only K’d in 14.6% of his plate appearances. Mitchell hit for good power with an isolated slugging percentage of just over .200 at .202.

But the young outfielder posted a much worse .226/.286/.349 triple-slash and 79 wRC+ with the major league team. Although he upped his walk rate to 7.8%, his strikeout rate also increased to 22.4%. He also didn’t hit for much power with a .123 ISO. But after being sent down to Triple-A in early August and returning in early September, Mitchell started to turn things around.

Through his last 86 plate appearances, Mitchell batted .267/.367/.373 with a .329 wOBA and 129 wRC+. Cal upped his BB% from just 4.8% to 12.8% while cutting the strikeouts down to just 18.6%. Most of his plate discipline numbers were above average in this late-season stretch. Keep in mind that it wasn’t even 100 plate appearances, but the improvements were undeniable.

Where Mitchell still needs to improve is with the defense. He had -4 defensive runs saved and -4 outs above average in right field last season. Mitchell was never known for his glove, but he definitely cost the Pirates potential out opportunities with his defense. The Pirates could utilize him more in left field and designated hitter to hide his defense.

A couple of things don’t make Mitchell an obvious candidate for promotion. The first one is similar to Swaggerty, that being playing time. Mitchell could get regular playing time at Triple-A or 6-8 plate appearances a week in the major leagues. The second is he hasn’t gotten off to a great start in 2023. Mitchell only has a .567 OPS and 44 wRC+. Sure, it’s only been 83 plate appearances, but it’s a poor start nonetheless. The only major advantage he has is the fact the Pirates wouldn’t need to make room on the 40-man for him.

Ryan Vilade

Ryan Vilade was a waiver claim by the Pirates this past offseason. Vilade was a second-round pick by the Colorado Rockies back in 2018, the same draft as Swaggerty. Originally an infielder, the Rockies moved Vilade to the outfield over the last two seasons. However, the Pirates have once again toyed with Vilade on the infield dirt.

So far, in 40 plate appearances at Indy, Vilade is slashing .294/.400/.382 with a .367 wOBA and 112 wRC+. Vilade has only struck out eight times and has drawn five walks. But he’s hit for almost no power. Vilade’s only extra-base hit is a lone home run. Vilade’s start to 2023 has been pretty solid, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Last year, Vilade batted a lowly .249/.345/.352 with a .319 wOBA and 80 wRC+. That was in a much larger sample size of 430 plate appearances. The only thing of value, Vilade brought was being able to walk at an above-average rate (12.1%) and avoid striking out at a high rate (16%). He brought little power to the table with an ISO of just .103. He also failed to post a wRC+ above 90 in 2021.

Vilade was originally drafted as an SS/3B, and after not playing either infield position for three years, the Pirates have put him back at the hot corner for 43 innings so far this year. He’s nearly split his time 50/50 between 3B and both corner outfield spots, with 43.1 innings spent in LF/RF.

Now this is my least favorite option. However, given Vilade’s versatility and the fact that, like Andujar, the Pirates aren’t wasting any sort of potential major league development by making Vilade the once-a-week starter, you can’t fully rule out the possibility of Vilade being the guy who gets the call if they decide to replace Drew Maggi. The one major thing that will deter the Pirates from calling him up (aside from his unimpressive 2021-2022 performances) is the fact he would need to be added to the 40-man roster.