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

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.