The Pirates have anything from a set roster.
They’ve added a lot of free agents this offseason, but those free agents will only help to boost an organization ready to promote a lot of young players from Triple-A Indianapolis. That wave of prospects will first impact second base and the outfield, where the Pirates are loaded with young options, and seem set to go with those young options.
This week I asked everyone which roster battles they’re watching during Spring Training. The answers largely revolved around those two positions above.
Which Spring Training roster battle are you watching?
JOHN DREKER
If I’m focusing on one battle this spring, it’s whether or not Ji-Hwan Bae makes the Opening Day roster. I believe he’s ready for it, but there’s the common sense side of things where I wouldn’t want to throw away a year of service time over a few weeks of him being a bench player in 2023.
That story changes if I think the Pirates are ready to compete for the division. Then every game is important towards that goal.
The Pirates need a backup middle infielder to start the season, but I don’t think it’s as much of a battle for the spot as it is roster management. Since they signed Chris Owings, I think he’s the guy to at least take that spot early in the season. Maybe they sign someone else over the next few weeks who is a better option, or maybe they trust Tucupita Marcano to take the limited shortstop time when Oneil Cruz is on the bench/DH.
Either way, I’m more interested in seeing how they handle Bae, as opposed to who actually wins the job if he doesn’t.
ETHAN HULLIHEN
This is lame because it’s probably the very popular choice, but I’m going to go with second base. I would have pegged it to be Rodolfo Castro’s to lose, but there’s at least a possibility that Ji-Hwan Bae could stake a claim to it as well — unless they truly feel more comfortable moving him around and giving Castro the bulk of the playing time.
Tucupita Marcano is definitely on the outside looking in, but probably has a nonzero chance of winning it as well. However, I’m also interested to see how this plays out because of how it affects the makeup of the bench, with whomever loses out likely sticking around as the utility player.
The addition of Kevin Plawecki makes backup catcher at least a bit more interesting, but they are all still just placeholders until one of the prospects is ready to take over, with second base more up-for-grabs long-term.
WILBUR MILLER
The second base job will have the most direct battle, between Rodolfo Castro and Ji-Hwan Bae . . . and possibly also Tucupita Marcano, although he should be a much more remote possibility. In the end, though, both Castro and Bae should get significant looks, unless one or the other just takes charge in the spring and never looks back. So there isn’t that much suspense involved for the spring, as the position should play out however it’s going to play out over the course of the season.
The outfield, though, is much more fluid. The general assumption is that the primary outfielders will be Bryan Reynolds, Andrew McCutchen, and Jack Suwinski. Cutch, though, is supposedly going to serve as DH, possibly a lot. And Suwinski hasn’t established himself yet; in fact, if he has any more long hitless stretches, he might not be in the majors. We also don’t know whether he’ll play a lot against LHPs. He batted .122 against them in 2022, and the team added Cutch and Connor Joe.
Of course, there’s the raft of outfield prospects – Cal Mitchell, Canaan Smith-Njigba and Travis Swaggerty – all of whom need opportunities, unless the team is simply ready to cut bait on one or more. And there’s always the looming threat of Derek Shelton playing weak-hitting infielders in the outfield. There are so many possible scenarios that they’d too extensive to delineate. Of course, the ideal situation is that somebody takes a big step forward in the spring. The outfield is open enough that true surprises are realistically possible.
ANTHONY MURPHY
The biggest position battle for me will be how the outfield rotation shakes out. Bryan Reynolds will be in center field, and you would have to imagine Jack Suwinski would factor into the picture as well. How much depends on the progress he makes on trying not to be a home-only, righty-facing-only platoon player.
Andrew McCutchen will factor into the picture somewhat, but if designated hitter is going to be his primary position, there is still a lot to fall into place in the outfield.
The Pirates added a couple of extra names to the mix, but also got Canaan Smith-Njigba back after missing time with an injury. Ji-Hwan Bae might be a guy that bounces all over the field, as his speed is really an asset in the outfield.
There are plenty of names in play, and all of them seem to have a legitimate case to make the Opening Day roster, so from start to finish I think this will be the position battle I’ll be watching the most.
JEFF REED
The battle I’ll be most focused on will be the outfield. I think we mostly assume Bryan Reynolds will be the center fielder, but they did attempt other alignments at the end of last season. Even if ever so slightly.
It feels that should be answered quickly by whether Reynolds is playing strictly center field innings or not early in the spring. What will be more interesting to follow is the other two spots. We know Andrew McCutchen will be utilized more as the designated hitter (his own words).
Jack Suwinski would appear to have an inside track for at least one corner outfield spot. Though, I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s set in stone, as he had his own issues when it came to strikeouts and very severe home/road splits along with not hitting left-handed pitching well.
The roster is once again rather left-hander heavy, leaving the door open for Connor Joe and Ryan Vilade as right-handed outfield options. Then we can’t forget about Miguel Andujar who will be in camp, and I’d say could have a good chance of supplanting Vilade from the 40-man roster. It’s probably fair to say they seem to really like Vilade, since he’s made it all this way through various roster moves. I also think there is a chance they held onto him as they feel he is someone that may easily pass through waivers midway through spring, or the end, when they would be making their final opening day decisions.
All-in-all, I think it’s going to be a wide open competition. You have a handful of outfielders that all received various levels of big league experience last season, and an argument could be made for any of Canaan Smith-Njigba, Cal Mitchell, Ji-Hwan Bae, Travis Swaggerty, and so on. That’s why I believe the only given at this point is Reynolds in the outfield (somewhere), and looking to make the kids compete for a spot.
TIM WILLIAMS
I’m interested in seeing how the second base competition plays out. Rodolfo Castro, Ji-Hwan Bae, and Tucupita Marcano are all intriguing options who have shown brief periods of success in the big leagues. They could all end up in the big league mix. Castro seems like more of a lock at second base, while the other two have been used as super utility types.
Castro was making better swing decisions at the end of the 2022 season, after several trips back and forth from the minors. His raw power is unmatched by Bae and Marcano, and his defensive abilities might be the best of the three. His struggle has been making consistent contact, leading to power, but a low average and a decent walk rate at best.
From August 9th through the end of the season last year, Castro hit .247/.310/.478 with ten homers in 200 plate appearances. That’s a 25-homer pace over a 500 plate appearance season, for some quick, easy math. Honestly, a .788 OPS and a 25-homer pace should put Castro in the starting role.
I’m not sure that the 37 plate appearances from Bae is enough to discount what Castro did. Those plate appearances and his performance during them — a .333/.405/.424 — should put Bae in the discussion for the Opening Day roster. There’s a lot to like from Bae, who is entering his age 23 season, has a lot of speed, great contact and on-base skills, and can play center field.
Perhaps the best caution against his small sample size would come from Tucupita Marcano, who hit for a .259/.355/.519 line in 33 plate appearances in his first run through the majors last year. Marcano hit for a .185/.225/.246 line in 141 plate appearances throughout a few appearances in the majors the rest of the year.
Bae and Marcano are the same age. Bae might not struggle like Marcano, but Marcano shows a reason for caution against putting too much stock in small sample sizes from young players in the majors.
All the more reason why I think Castro should be the starter, while Bae and maybe Marcano should be treated as wild cards off the bench.
