Erich Weiss

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2013
A-:  273/348/364, 121 AB, 7 2B, 2 3B, 13 BB, 40 K, 4-6 SB

Weiss got off to a blistering start after he signed, batting 377/415/541 in 18 July games before slumping to 161/290/161 in August, with no extra base hits in 56 ABs.  Overall, he struck out in a third of his ABs.  Weiss played third exclusively and struggled there, with 13 errors and an .875 fielding percentage.

2014
A:  287/378/378, 463 AB, 22 2B, 4 3B, 4 HR, 60 BB, 117 K, 21-33 SB

The Pirates moved Weiss to second base, a position he played some in college, and he spent the season there with West Virginia.  He got off to a fast start, posting an OPS of .854 in April and .827 in May.  He slumped badly in June, though, hitting 209/340/256, before recovering somewhat in July and August.  Weiss’ numbers have to be viewed in context, as he was a college draftee playing in low A.  A lot of his value was tied up in walks, which he’ll find it harder to draw at higher levels given his limited power.  Another bad sign is the very high K rate for a player without much power.  Weiss struggled in the field, with 20 errors, which is a lot for a second baseman, even at that level.

2015
A+:  285/362/366, 372 AB, 17 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 41 BB, 70 K, 11-15 SB
AA:  250/290/304, 112 AB, 4 2B, 1 3B, 8 BB, 22 K, 4-6 SB

Weiss spent most of the season starting at second for Bradenton.  He did a good job of getting on base and significantly reduced his K rate.  He didn’t hit for much power, but he was in a league where the slugging average was only .337.  At the end of July, the Pirates promoted Weiss to Altoona to replace the traded JaCoby Jones.  He held his own in AA without hitting especially well.

2016
AA:  276/352/408, 456 AB, 24 2B, 9 3B, 6 HR, 49 BB, 90 K, 6-9 SB

Weiss added some muscle in the off-season and, early on, it seemed to be making a big difference in his hitting.  In April and May, he had an isolated slugging average of .176, by far the most power he’d shown.  After that, though, his ISO subsided to .101.  Of course, that was still better than it had been in any previous year and he had a good season overall.  His walk and K rates were solid.  He had a reverse platoon split, posting an OPS of .823 against LHPs and .741 against RHPs.  He’s continued to improve defensively and shows good range and reliability at second.

2017
AAA:  274/353/422, 332 AB, 23 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 38 BB, 67 K, 6-8 SB

The Pirates didn’t add Weiss to the 40-man roster and he wasn’t selected in the Rule 5 draft.  He spent the season at Indianapolis.  He played sparingly at first, as the Pirates had a logjam of infielders in AAA.  Weiss struggled at the plate, putting up a .406 OPS in limited April action and .698 in May.  From the beginning of June on, he was one of the team’s best hitters.  After the AAA all-star break, he hit 285/394/446.  He had a sizeable platoon split, with a .559 OPS against LHPs and .844 against RHPs.  He played primarily second, but also got into 30 games at third and ten at first.

2018
A-:  231/231/385, 13 AB, 2 2B, 5 K, 1-1 SB
AAA:  234/292/390, 218 AB, 11 2B, 4 3B, 5 HR, 15 BB, 54 K, 1-1 SB

Other than the month of July, most of which he missed with an injury, Weiss spent the season in Indianapolis.  With the Pirates giving Jose Osuna time at third, Weiss played mostly at first, seeing just a handful of games at other positions.  Weiss’ offense dropped off, mainly due to weaker walk and K rates; he hit for about the same power as the previous year.  He hit RHPs and LHPs about the same.

Weiss has another year left before free agency.  He’ll be 27 throughout the 2019 season.