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LUCAS TANCAS, CORNER OUTFIELDER
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| Born: November 12, 1993 Height: 6’2″ Weight: 220 Bats: Right Throws: Right Drafted: 26th Round, 778th Overall, 2017 How Acquired: Draft College: Cal State Long Beach Agent: N/A |
WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE |
| Tancas transferred after 2015 to Cal State Long Beach from Irvine Valley College, where he hit .340 in his last season. He missed most of 2016 with a broken wrist, playing just ten games and going 3-for-27 with nine strikeouts. Tancas had a much better 2017 season, hitting 304/371/491 in 62 games, with nine homers while playing in a very large home park. He also went 9-for-10 in stolen bases. Tancas has a big leg kick and is prone to strikeouts, as he had 45 with just 15 walks in 230 ABs in 2017. Unlike prior years, when the Pirates seemed to focus on college hitters with good contact ability, they went for several hitters with power potential in 2017. Tancas was old for the draft, as he’ll turn 24 in November, but between the 2016 injury and the fact that he took some time away from baseball to play football and wrestle prior to college, he doesn’t have as much experience as many draftees.
2017 Tancas had a decent debut, showing some power and getting much better as the season went along. His OPS before the league’s all-star game was .638; after it was .868. The power was a little better than it may appear, as the league slugged only .340 as a whole. Obviously, Tancas could have shown more patience. He hit about the same against LHPs and RHPs. Tancas played some in left, but much more at first base. With the Pirates having drafted a number of college outfielders in earlier rounds than the one in which they drafted Tancas, playing first may be his best chance going forward. 2018 The Pirates jumped Tancas up to Bradenton, where he played about two-thirds of the time. He made the majority of his starts at first, while also playing left and serving as DH. He never got the bat going all year, although he hit all four of his home runs in June. Tancas especially struggled against LHPs, with just a .552 OPS. 2019 Tancas returned to Bradenton and hit better, boosting his numbers with a big final month (317/431/583). On the year he hit LHPs hard, with a 298/344/500 line. His numbers were good enough to place him fifth in SLG and sixth in OPS. Of course, the two big caveats were the very bad walk and K rates, and the fact that he played the season at age 25. Tancas played first for most of the year, but after Mason Martin’s promotion he played left and served as DH. Tancas should get a shot at Altoona in 2020. |
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CONTRACT INFORMATION
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| 2020: Minor league contract |
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PLAYER INFORMATION
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| Signing Bonus: MiLB Debut: 2017 MLB Debut: MiLB FA Eligible: 2023 MLB FA Eligible: Rule 5 Eligible: 2020 Added to 40-Man: Options Remaining: 3 MLB Service Time: 0.000 |
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TRANSACTIONS
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| June 14, 2017: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 26th round, 778th overall pick; signed on June 21. |
