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Pirates Prospects Daily: The Pirates Continue to Focus on First Base

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The Pittsburgh Pirates have been addressing their first base position in the early part of this offseason.

Earlier this month, the Pirates added Ji-Man Choi in a trade with the Rays. On Tuesday, they claimed Lewin Diaz off waivers from the Miami Marlins.

Choi and Diaz are both left-handed hitting first basemen, and neither stand out as full-time starting options. The Pirates have needs at first base and DH, so it’s possible that both could end up playing on the same team.

What’s interesting is that these two first basemen are complete opposites.

Diaz excels defensively, but has struggled offensively. Choi is the opposite, struggling on defense, but doing well offensively. The difference between the two on defense can be the equivalent of a full win. Offensively, we haven’t seen much from Diaz, while Choi can hit enough to justify his role as a starter.

Chances are that Diaz is a standard waiver claim, with no guarantee for the roster. That said, it looks like there’s a clear issue with his swing in the last year.

Diaz saw a massive decline in his barrel rate in 2022, along with a continued decline in launch angle to pair with his increase in ground balls. He made less hard contact, and saw his power drop from 2021. Diaz seems to have more power than Choi, although Choi gets on base more often. Between the two, the Pirates might be able to get a 1-2 WAR first baseman.

It would be interesting if the Pirates could figure things out with Diaz. He just turned 26-years-old, and has five years of control remaining. That said, nothing the Pirates have done would warrant any kind of optimism that they could get Diaz on the right track. That doesn’t mean they shouldn’t take the flier on him. It just means we probably shouldn’t be locking him into the 2023 lineup just yet.

Highlight of the Day

Pirates Prospects Daily

**The Pirates claimed Lewin Diaz from the Marlins and designated Hoy Park for assignment.

**Our Article Drop hit the site, with features on Jared Jones, Nick Garcia, Dauri Moreta, Noe Toribio, and John O’Reilly.

**Missed Yesterday? Anthony Murphy looked at the best contact hitters in the Pirates’ system in 2022.

Song of the Day

Pirates Prospects Weekly

Every Tuesday, we release our Article Drop, with all of our features for the week. This week, we went heavy on player features.

Anthony Murphy profiled two Greensboro pitchers who I talked with at the end of the 2022 season.

**Jared Jones: Learning To Trust Stuff Through Development Process

**Nick Garcia: Simplified Approach In Work As A Starter

I looked at Dauri Moreta’s sinker, wondering if he even has such a pitch, or if he just has a really inconsistent four-seam fastball.

**The Mystery of Dauri Moreta’s Sinker

Ryan Palencer broke down the seasons for a pair of relievers who finished the year in Indianapolis.

**Noe Toribio Sees Growth As a Reliever

**John O’Reilly Finished Strong After Rollercoaster Season

Pirates Discussion

Weekly Pirates Discussion: Where the 40-Man Roster Stands After Rule 5

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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