3-8-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on X
“If there are things we can do to make the team better, we’re gonna stay on that,” Cherington told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. “No guarantee those things happen. We’re mostly focused on the guys who are here.”
I’m not breaking news to you here, in fact I just wrote this in Five thoughts two weeks ago… “The Pirates may ultimately decide to not add, every passing day makes it seem more and more likely”.
I guess you could say adding Eric Lauer made this false already, but I also think you can say that addition isn’t in the spirit of the type of move being discussed.
The spots I was most worried about entering Spring were 1B, 2B, C and SP, I think some of you would probably add Outfield in some way shape or form to that list, whether that be a center fielder or right fielder. I wasn’t as concerned about the last part, but I’ll discuss it anyway just to cover all the bases.
Today, what I want to do is talk about all these spots, try to explain why the team might feel they’re ok heading into the season, and I’ll try to show the reasons to remain concerned they haven’t done enough.
Look, either way, they’ve made it relatively clear that the Pirates aren’t in hot pursuit of anyone at the moment and largely, this group of players is what we have to work with.
Starting Pitching
Why They Might Think They’re OK – This one is simple, if not overly hopeful. The starting rotation will likely be Mitch Keller, Marco Gonzales, Martin Perez, and then two of Quinn Priester, Luis Ortiz and Roansy Contreras. I know, I know, let me get through it.
What changed here for the Pirates since Spring started is their immediate depth. Jared Jones, who Pirates Skipper Derek Shelton recently said was in the competition for the opening day rotation, well, he’s shown the club if he doesn’t win a spot outright, he won’t be long.
Paul Skenes is likely in the same boat.
If they feel one or both of these guys is part of the very near term, I’d have to say that’s the best way to explain why they might not be super passionate about filling it.
Toss in cheap here if you feel the need, it’s certainly not false.
Reasons to Remain Concerned – Again, easy. Aside from you know, actually pitching well, innings are also something we should be concerned with. Relying on youngsters might be dicey for both sides of this coin. Some of these NRI’s they’ve brought in along with some of the returning from the IL arms could help provide those innings, but its not without risk. Lots of it. I can understand thinking the youth could step up and leaving room for it to happen, but if truly competing this year is the priority they painted, these are risks you don’t take. I’d still sign another.
Outfield
Why They Might Think They’re OK – This is a case of throwing a bunch of guys against the wall in the hopes someone sticks. The club feels they have two starters in the outfield, Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski of course, and further, they believe Jack can handle CF. That leaves Conner Joe, Andrew McCutchen, Edward Olivares, Gilberto Celestino, Ji-hwan Bae and whomever else you might want to add like Canaan Smith-Njigba or Matt Gorski, to eat up what it’ll take to fill the position, at least early on anyway. I can see the logic here, again, the disconnect is in their stated goals.
Reasons to Remain Concerned – Obviously that nobody grabs a spot, but there’s good reason to believe between all those options, they’ll wind up with league average production out there. The biggest reason for overt concern to me though is proven depth. A Reynolds or Suwinski injury takes this doable proposition and turns it into very unlikely to look ok.
Catcher
Why They Might Think They’re OK – First off, Henry Davis has looked great behind the dish, and at the plate. We couldn’t have said this 2 weeks ago and had it be anything more than a hopeful assumption. Yasmani Grandal is already nicked up and my expectations for his contributions were already so low I almost don’t even see it as worth talking about. If they wind up with Davis and Delay to start the season, it’ll be better than they’ve been behind the dish since at least Stallings, maybe even Cervelli.
Reasons to Remain Concerned – Henry’s legs. If Grandal is hurt, or if Cutch can’t play the field much, Henry is going to wind up catching probably a bit more than they’d like this year. Building up the number of games you can catch isn’t a lot different than teaching a pitcher to hit new innings milestones. The legs get tired and it is often reflected in the hitting. That’s where the power comes from so my main concern with him would be he tires. And yes yes he’s in great shape, that’s still a workload he’s never in his life been asked to carry. I fully expect a fade.
Second Base
Why They Might Think They’re OK – There were so many options, I think it’s fair to say almost everyone had a list of 1-3 guys they thought could step in and take second base over. Maybe that’s narrowed for you now. For me I’m down to 2, and I don’t mean all the others can’t work their way back in at some point, but to start I believe it’s down to Triolo and Peguero, both of whom I believe will make the club.
Reasons to Remain Concerned – Having a ton of options, doesn’t mean you have a good choice. More than Spring, this season will clean up the scrap and clear this picture up. The biggest reason to be concerned is that Jared Triolo could easily become the starter at 3 other positions if there is an injury, but even then, I think they’re deep enough to survive and maybe even thrive through it.
Steel City Pirates 