It used to be really easy to run analysis on the offense of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
You could go to FanGraphs, pull up the offensive team leaders, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and see if the Pirates were last, or next to last.
Now?
I had to spend extra time searching through the rankings to discover that the Pirates rank 9th in wOBA (.334) and 12th in wRC+ (107) in all of baseball. They rank third in isolated power, seventh in walk rate, and have the ninth lowest strikeout rate. The team BABIP is a very conservative .292, ranking middle of the pack in the league.
This all comes despite injuries to Oneil Cruz and Ji-Man Choi. It comes with a big assist from offseason additions like Andrew McCutchen, Carlos Santana, and Connor Joe.
What is most impressive is that the lineup remains victorious in the face of variability and the need to manage so much versatility on the roster. The breakdown below looks at all of the players who have started a game in Pittsburgh this year, along with where they hit and fielded in the lineup.
THE ACTIVE LINEUP
The most common lineup, from the active players, is as follows:
- Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B
- Bryan Reynolds, LF
- Andrew McCutchen, DH
- Carlos Santana, 1B
- Connor Joe, RF
- Jack Suwinski, CF
- Rodolfo Castro, SS
- Ji-Hwan Bae, 2B
- Austin Hedges, C
You’ll notice in the details below that there is a lot more variability in spots 5-8, dealing with the outfielders and middle infielders.
1. KE’BRYAN HAYES, 3B
Where He Bats: 1st (12), 5th (5), 6th (4), 3rd (1)
Where He Fields: 3B
Playing Status: Hayes moved into the leadoff spot on April 15th and has started there every game since. Prior to that, he was mostly 5th/6th, with one game batting third and three batting leadoff.
2. BRYAN REYNOLDS, LF
Where He Bats: 2nd (21)
Where He Fields: LF, CF
Playing Status: Reynolds is currently on the Bereavement list, and expected to return on Tuesday. He played three games in a row in center field from April 2nd through April 4th. Since then, he’s started one game in center, spending the rest of time in left.
3. ANDREW MCCUTCHEN, DH
Where He Bats: 3rd (17), 2nd (1)
Where He Fields: DH, RF
Playing Status: McCutchen has made 18 starts, getting most of his work as the designated hitter. In fact, he’s been the DH in every game since April 13th, when he started in right field and had his lone time batting second in the order.
4. CARLOS SANTANA, 1B
Where He Bats: 4th (21), 3rd (1)
Where He Fields: 1B, DH
Playing Status: Santana has mostly been the cleanup hitter, save for one game on April 13th when he hit third. He’s only been the designated hitter in four of his games, and has played in all but one game. The Pirates lost that game 3-0.
5. CONNOR JOE, RF
Where He Bats: 5th (7), 3rd (2), 6th (2), 7th (2), 4th (1)
Where He Fields: RF, 1B, LF
Playing Status: Joe has spent most of his time hitting in the five spot. He’s started a few times batting third in recent games when Andrew McCutchen gets a day off. Joe has been hitting very well all season, and gives a nice addition to the top four in this order. He plays first base when Andrew McCutchen or Carlos Santana need a day off.
6. JACK SUWINSKI, CF
Where He Bats: 6th (5), 5th (4), 7th (3), 8th (3)
Where He Fields: CF, RF, LF
Playing Status: Suwinski has been the primary starter in center field, yielding to Bae for a few games. He has started six games in a row, which is an increase in pace from the early part of the month. He has moved up to the 5th/6th spots after all of the recent injuries.
7. RODOLFO CASTRO, SS
Where He Bats: 6th (7), 7th (7), 8th (3)
Where He Fields: SS, 2B, 3B
Playing Status: Castro has an even split of time between the sixth and seventh spots in the order. He’s moved up to the six spot more consistently over the last ten games. He’s also gotten most of his time at shortstop with Oneil Cruz out. While Castro has 17 starts, he’s been a main guy off the bench, getting in all but one game.
8. JI-HWAN BAE, 2B
Where He Bats: 8th (11), 7th (3), 1st (3)
Where He Fields: CF, 2B, SS
Playing Status: The Pirates tried Bae as the leadoff hitter for a brief stretch from April 11th-April 14th, rotating him with Hayes. He eventually moved back to the eight spot. He started the season with seven starts in the team’s first eight games. He’s since been starting about every other game.
9. AUSTIN HEDGES, C
Where He Bats: 9th
Where He Fields: C
Playing Status: Since returning, Hedges has been starting three games in a row, with Delay getting the start on the day off.
THE BENCH
It’s hard to call any of these players true bench players. Every one of them gets regular playing time and starts, with the exception of the backup catchers.
CANAAN SMITH-NJIGBA, RF
Where He Bats: 6th (4), 7th (3), 5th (2)
Where He Fields: RF, LF
Playing Status: He’s been the top backup in the outfield, but hasn’t started two games in a row since the third and fourth in Boston.
MARK MATHIAS, 2B
Where He Bats: 7th (5), 8th (3)
Where He Fields: 2B
Playing Status: Mathias is benefitting from the loss of Oneil Cruz, getting all of his starts at second base after arriving to replace Cruz. He and Tucupita Marcano are now splitting time at second, with Bae getting the occasional start.
TUCUPITA MARCANO, 2B
Where He Bats: 8th (3), 2nd (1)
Where He Fields: 2B
Playing Status: Marcano came up to replace Choi, and has been working into the second base mix, with Ji-Hwan Bae moving to center field more often.
JASON DELAY, C
Where He Bats: 9th
Where He Fields: C
Playing Status: Delay has an even split in playing time, only because Austin Hedges was out for a week. In that time, Delay emerged as the primary starter when Hedges is out, and won the backup job from Tyler Heineman.
TYLER HEINEMAN, C
Where He Bats: 9th
Where He Fields: C
Playing Status: He’s in Triple-A right now, but would be the top backup to slide into that 9th spot in the order and the defensive role behind the plate.
INJURIES
ONEIL CRUZ, SS
Where He Bats: 1st (8), 6th (1)
Where He Fields: SS
Playing Status: Cruz won’t return until August. He will be the equivalent of a trade deadline addition. He’d slide back into the number one spot in the order, which would slide everyone down. Ke’Bryan Hayes moves to the middle of the order. Connor Joe strengthens the bottom half of the lineup.
JI-MAN CHOI, DH
Where He Bats: 5th (5), 3rd (2), 4th (1)
Where He Fields: DH, 1B
Playing Status: Choi had been the primary DH, serving as a replacement at first for Santana. He’s been out since April 13th, which led to a lot of changes in the lineup structure. This injury could impact Santana and McCutchen in the long-term, as it removes a piece from the 1B/DH/RF matrix. The fact that Connor Joe is playing so well helps to mitigate this loss.
THE HEALTHY LINEUP
- Oneil Cruz, SS
- Bryan Reynolds, LF
- Andrew McCutchen, DH
- Carlos Santana, 1B
- Ke’Bryan Hayes, 3B
- Connor Joe, RF
- Jack Suwinski, CF
- Ji-Hwan Bae, 2B
- Austin Hedges, C
