The Pittsburgh Pirates are calling up Billy McKinney from Triple-A, according to Noah Hiles of the Post-Gazette. The move comes as a bit of an initial surprise, as the Pirates have several depth options in Triple-A who are performing well.
Henry Davis was hitting .341/.398/.506 since the All-Star Break, before hitting his 13th Triple-A homer on Sunday.
The Pirates acquired Billy Cook at the trade deadline, and the 25-year-old utility player is batting .395/.460/.674 since the trade.
Nick Yorke was also acquired at the trade deadline, and is hitting .350/.394/.450 in his time in the Pirates’ organization.
McKinney has also been hitting well. Since returning to Triple-A from the injured list at the end of July, the outfielder is batting .385/.478/.615. That’s prior to going 1-for-5 on Sunday.
The Pirates have several hitters who are deserving of a promotion to the majors, but after reviewing the numbers, I do think there’s a benefit to going with McKinney.
Major League Experience
Yorke and Cook have yet to make their Major League debuts. Davis has played in the majors, but hasn’t performed well.
The Pirates have an opening at the DH spot, with Andrew McCutchen on the injured list. This would be a good time to give Davis a look at the big league level, allowing him to focus on his bat only as a designated hitter. The Pirates, however, look to be going with Bryan Reynolds more often as the replacement DH.
That would leave a need for an outfielder, and Yorke/Cook could play that role. I do think that’s a lot of pressure for a prospect making their Major League debut.
McKinney can factor into a crowded mix without much of an expectation. He’s played in the majors for parts of six seasons, with a combined 915 plate appearances. He’s mostly been a replacement level bench player, but has a few seasons with numbers around league-average off the bench.
In his career, McKinney has a .289 wOBA and an 80 wRC+. Those marks are below-average, but sadly an improvement on a lot of options on this offense. Nick Gonzales, for example, has a .293/85 split. Among the healthy players on the roster, McKinney would rank as one of the nine best hitters on the team with his career numbers.
The hope with Yorke, Cook, or Davis would be that they provided an upgrade with average or better results. This also feeds into a problem that the Pirates have faced for a long time: Demanding too much from their debuting prospects.
Perhaps McKinney will perform better than his career numbers. It’s possible he could perform worse, and end up looking like a guy who should have never been called up. What he doesn’t have to worry about is acclimating to the Major Leagues for the first time.
Yorke and Cook would have that added pressure, while Davis would have the pressure of proving that he’s beyond his below-replacement results from the past.
McKinney just needs to focus on capitalizing on another shot in the big leagues. Even if he plays to his career numbers, he’d be a better option in the lineup than Ji Hwan Bae or Jared Triolo.
Ideally, Yorke and Cook can arrive when they aren’t needed to be the saviors of the offense. The same goes for Davis. This would likely require the Pirates to add someone from the outside to take the pressure off any newcomer. Isiah Kiner-Falefa is doing a great job of this after being added at the deadline, but the Pirates need more than just one player improving this offensive group.
I personally would like to see one of the new guys get a shot at the big league level. I’d also like to see Davis get another shot without the pressure of catching. With McKinney playing so well lately, it does make sense to call on the experience in a tight spot.
Maybe one day they’ll get to a point where they can call up a rookie to boost a productive offense, rather than saving a bottom-five group. Until that happens, I think it’s unfair to look to a rookie as an answer to the offense.
Pirates Prospect Watch
Matt Gorski hit a walk-off homer for Indianapolis. Termarr Johnson homered in Greensboro. A few draft picks added their first hits and extra-base hits in Bradenton. Read about all of Sunday’s minor league action in the latest Pirates Prospect Watch.
