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Completely happy New Yr, Pirates followers. The flipping of the calendar supplies an opportunity for a contemporary begin, as does the offseason as a complete. Lots of the Bucs’ gamers are working proper now to make the brand new 12 months one crammed with pleasure for folk in Pittsburgh.
The Pirates is not going to have a straightforward highway to competition and even enchancment within the standings in 2024. The last-place Cardinals have acquired veteran pitching, together with Sonny Grey, and the Reds have reworked their roster, most not too long ago signing Frankie Montas, who has been an All-Star earlier than accidents set him again not too long ago.
Pittsburgh has made its personal additions, particularly on the pitching facet. However from the skin trying in on the playoff image, it wants to succeed in some objectives to perform what the early projection fashions say is unlikely: reaching the postseason for the primary time in six seasons.
These are my New Yr’s resolutions for the Pirates in 2024.
1. Get extra pop from the backstops
Catcher is a place that wants nice protection, arguably greater than another. A catcher can hit .300, but when he permits handed balls and may’t body strikes, he is costing the workforce at the very least as many runs as he is driving in.
However slightly offense will not harm proper? The Pirates solely received slightly offense from the place final season between Austin Hedges, Jason Delay and Endy Rodríguez. In actual fact, they had been certainly one of three groups with a catcher OPS decrease than .600, beating out solely the White Sox (.566) and the Marlins (.570) with their .589 catcher OPS.
If Henry Davis can win the catching competitors this spring and understand his potential with the glove, it may very well be an enormous increase to the offense. Sure, he hit solely .213 with a .653 OPS in 62 video games final season, however these had been his first 62 video games in MLB and he missed practically a month with a proper hand pressure between August and September. A string of fine well being resulting in a run of beginning work could lead on the bat-first prospect that was drafted No. 1 total in 2021 to supply energy from an usually missing place.
2. Settle in at second base
The left half of the Pirates’ infield is ready. When Ke’Bryan Hayes and Oneil Cruz are wholesome, they will get 90% or extra of the reps at third base and shortstop, respectively. The fitting facet is much less settled. We all know that in 2024, Rowdy Tellez will likely be given the chance at first. However what about second base?
There are a handful of burgeoning center infielders who might earn that spot, together with Liover Peguero, Nick Gonzales and Ji Hwan Bae. Of this group I’d wager that Peguero is the favourite proper now, however remember that Gonzales has solely performed 35 MLB video games. It is onerous to consider his common hovered round .200 in that span given how sturdy his hit device has been all through his profession, however that is not unusual for a brand new participant to endure in his first month. And Bae’s velocity will earn him taking part in time whether or not at second or shortstop, however will his offense rise to the extent of beginning work at any level this spring or subsequent season?
Nonetheless, I am leaving out one one that shouldn’t be a center infielder, or at the very least wasn’t earlier than he was known as up: Jared Triolo. Triolo is a powerful sufficient defender at his pure third-base place that he’d be beginning there if it weren’t for a Gold Glover blocking his path. However he was stable at second base as a rookie and appeared to welcome the problem of attempting new positions, together with first base. He additionally had the very best offense of anybody talked about on this part. Triolo may very well be a beneficial utility participant, however do not rely him out as a possible second-base lock.
The Pirates have given out a pair of long-term extensions to Hayes and Bryan Reynolds in current seasons, which has supplied some sense of stability to the roster. How in regards to the rotation? The following most fascinating extension candidate in my thoughts is Mitch Keller, who was an All-Star in 2023 and threw a career-best 194 1/3 innings.
It is no easy matter for GM Ben Cherington to think about. Keller’s profession started with a 6.02 ERA over his first three seasons. He averaged fewer than 5 innings a begin and had a 1.732 WHIP. And even in his profession 12 months final season, when he had a private greatest 2.9 bWAR, he had a 5.59 ERA after the All-Star break throughout 13 begins.
It has been an upward trajectory for the previous second-round Draft choose, however are the Pirates snug with the place he is at to think about a long-term extension? Keller is a free agent after the 2025 season, so this 12 months will likely be crucial to answering that query.
Let’s be sincere: That is the decision all of us have for the Pirates, and it will be dumb to not have on an inventory of 2024 objectives. The Bucs jumped from 61 wins in 2021 and 62 wins in ‘22 all the way in which to 76 wins in ‘23. That also left them 10 video games beneath .500, however a 14-win leap is nice progress.
The following step will likely be even more durable. Going from 76 wins to the 84 wins that Arizona amassed to earn the final NL Wild Card spot won’t sound like quite a bit, however it usually means beating the groups that may have outspent you, have extra expertise or be playoff examined already. We noticed the Pirates present they’ll put up the battle within the first month of final season, and we noticed them annoy the life out of the Reds and Cubs within the ultimate month.
Attending to that model of baseball and shaking off the extended midseason woes will get the Pirates to the place they consider they are often and the followers are clamoring for them to be.
