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Morning Report: Is Cole Tucker Showing Us Something New?

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I saw a discussion online yesterday where some fans were marveling at Cole Tucker’s speed in legging out a double.  I thought it was interesting because, while Tucker has good speed and is a very intelligent baserunner, he’s not exactly Billy Hamilton.  (Statcast in a very small sample size so far measures Tucker’s sprint speed at 28.1 ft/sec, which is comfortably above the average of 27.0, but below the elite speedsters, who are up over 29.0.)

But then I thought about what Pirate fans are used to watching.  Not just in the sense of foot speed, but overall athleticism, which in Tucker’s case rates very highly.  Speed and athleticism are, of course, related closely to age.  The assumption among baseball fans used to be that hitters peaked around age 30.  (I’m leaving aside pitchers, who have very different aging patterns.)  Then, as people examined the data more closely, the notion of peak age moved to 27.  More recently, there are some indications that it may be closer to 25.  But that’s hitting.  Speed, and with it defensive ability, probably peaks even earlier, although I’m now aware of any comprehensive data.  (Bill James did find that triples peak at age 21.)

The notion that speed and defensive ability peak at a very young age started getting some purchase when the current version of the Astros emerged from their rebuild to win 86 games in 2015 with baseball’s youngest position players.  That team was third in MLB in defensive efficiency and was very exciting to watch.

The Pirates in recent years, while they’ve had young pitching staffs, haven’t had young position players.  In 2015, their average age of 28.2 years was just 0.2 above the MLB average.  (These are all weighted averages, taken from baseball-reference.com.)  In 2016, the Pirates had MLB’s tenth oldest position players.  In 2017, their average moved back to 28.2, just under the average of 28.3.  In 2018, it was 27.8, a little further under the average of 28.1.

And that’s where Tucker comes in.  He’s 22 and the advantages of youth may be one thing making him more exciting to watch than what we’re used to seeing.  The last time a player under 25 became a regular for the Pirates was Josh Bell, at age 24 in 2016, but speed and athleticism aren’t exactly keys to his game.  Before that, it was Gregory Polanco, who became a regular at age 22 in 2014.  So we’re not used to seeing players as young as Tucker in the field and on the basepaths for the Pirates.  Hopefully, players like Bryan Reynolds, Jason Martin and Ke’Bryan Hayes will make this a more common experience.

TODAY’S SCHEDULE

Today’s Starter and Notes: The Pittsburgh Pirates lost 2-1 to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night. They will send out Jordan Lyles for his fourth start tonight. He has allowed just one run in 17 innings this season, and he’s coming off of six shutout frames in his last start. The Diamondbacks will counter with 30-year-old right-hander Merrill Kelly. He has just four career starts in the majors, all of them this season. Kelly has a 4.37 ERA in 22.2 innings, with 22 strikeouts and a 1.46 WHIP. He allowed three runs over 3.2 innings in his last start and walked seven batters.

The minor league schedule includes two early start times. Brad Case and Greensboro will get the morning start time, while Altoona will send out Scooter Hightower for the noon start. JT Brubaker returns to action for his fourth start. He left his last game with elbow stiffness, which caused him to push this next start back three days. Cody Bolton makes his fourth start of the season. He has a .153 BAA and an 0.88 WHIP, with 17 strikeouts in 16 innings.

The full 2019 Pirates Prospects Prospect Guide is now available, up to date as of April 3rd, with every player in the minor league system. Includes full reports on the top 50 prospects, reports on over 150 other players, as well as looks back at the recent drafts and international signing classes.

MLB: Pittsburgh (12-9) vs Arizona (13-11) 7:05 PM
Probable starter: Jordan Lyles (0.53 ERA, 18:5 SO/BB, 17.0 IP)

AAA: Indianapolis (10-7) @ Gwinnett (9-9) 7:05 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: JT Brubaker (1.69 ERA, 15:3 SO/BB, 16.0 IP)

AA: Altoona (8-10) @ Harrisburg (16-2) 12:00 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Scooter Hightower (5.02 ERA, 8:3 SO/BB, 14.1 IP)

High-A: Bradenton (12-7) vs Fort Myers (12-7) 6:30 PM (season preview)
Probable starter: Cody Bolton (1.13 ERA, 17:5 SO/BB, 16.0 IP)

Low-A: Greensboro (10-8) @ Lexington (10-8) 10:35 AM (season preview)
Probable starter: Brad Case (2.16 ERA, 12:2 SO/BB, 16.1 IP)

HIGHLIGHTS

From Bradenton, Travis Swaggerty’s second home run of the season

Wilbur Miller
Wilbur Miller
Having followed the Pirates fanatically since 1965, Wilbur Miller is one of the fast-dwindling number of fans who’ve actually seen good Pirate teams. He’s even seen Hall-of-Fame Pirates who didn’t get traded mid-career, if you can imagine such a thing. His first in-person game was a 5-4, 11-inning win at Forbes Field over Milwaukee (no, not that one). He’s been writing about the Pirates at various locations online for over 20 years. It has its frustrations, but it’s certainly more cathartic than writing legal stuff. Wilbur is retired and now lives in Bradenton with his wife and three temperamental cats.

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