Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Things That Must Be Done After the All-Star Break

Jack Suwinski needs to be playing every day

There is a strong argument to be made that Jack Suwinski has been the best Pirate hitter so far this season. Suwinski is hitting for a .235/.360/.514 slash line with a 15.5% walk rate, 32.3% strikeout rate, and a 135 wRC+. He has hit a team-leading and career-high 19 home runs.

Suwinski walk rate is tied with McCutchen for the highest on the team among hitters with at least 100 plate appearances. His slugging percentage, .280 isolated slugging (ISO), 18.5% barrel rate, 53.8% hard-hit rate, and average exit velocity of 92.2 MPH all lead the squad as well.

There have been a lot of strides that have been made by Suwinski this season. However, there is a strong argument to be made that the biggest strides have been in what he does against left-handed pitching. Due to this, Suwinski needs to be playing every day to see if he can be more than a platoon hitter.

Against LHP this season Suwinski is hitting for a .234/.324/.359 slash line with an 89 wRC+ and an ISO of .125. Not great numbers by any means, but more than good enough to warrant playing every day as a left-handed hitter.

Results aside, the eye test tells you that Suwinski is improving against LHP. Suwinski has been driving the ball more and hitting it harder than last season against LHP. He has been putting together stronger at-bats and doing a better job of laying off pitches outside of the strike zone.

If the strides Suwinski has made this season against LHP continue then he can be an every day player in the majors. For the rest of the season, the Pirates need to continue to play him every day against LHP to find out if he can be that hitter or not.