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We’re two weeks away from spring camp opening up. Buckle up.
There shall be just a few competitions for beginning positions on the Pirates’ roster, however none extra advanced and broad open than the second-base spot. There are a handful of gamers who may declare their stake right here, or the Pirates may combine and match for a lot of the season, relying on the opposing starter.
Let’s have a look at the professionals, the cons and the chance of every second-base possibility incomes a beginning job come April.
Ji-Hwan BaePro: Bae is the quickest participant the Pirates have proper now and one of many quickest league-wide. His common home-to-first time of 4.05 seconds was the very best mark in MLB in 2023, and his 29.7 ft/second dash pace was tied for the sixteenth quickest in MLB.
Con: Bae doesn’t get on base sufficient to essentially let his pace arrange runs. He had a .296 OBP in 2023, and it was worse within the second half (.288). He additionally doesn’t present a lot of an influence menace and tends to create doubles by means of pace on gap-to-gap base hits, notching solely two homers final season and posting the sixth-lowest barrel per plate look fee (1.3%) out of 258 MLB batters.
Chance: It’s unlikely Bae will get the vast majority of the reps, as his bat doesn’t have a lot endurance. Then again, if he can construct on his expertise from final season, he may have some use as a fourth outfielder who can contribute in heart subject, given his pace.
Nick GonzalesPro: Gonzales additionally has above-average pace, so he’s a menace when he’s on base. He has hit at each degree of the Minors, batting .288 throughout three ranges in his profession. Plus, he confirmed he has a contact of energy with 14 homers in 99 video games at Triple-A regardless of being seen as a contact-over-power hitter by some evaluators.
Con: That didn’t present up in Gonzales’ first month of Main League motion. He solely hit .209, and he in flip noticed his on-base share fall off sharply to .268.
Chance: I nonetheless assume there’s hope right here for the Pirates given his observe report, however I don’t see him because the starter until he has a Kevin Newman-level spring.
Liover PegueroPro: Peguero has arguably the very best energy potential of this group. His EV50 — which is a measure of exit velocity on the highest 50% of a batter’s batted balls in play that helps filter out some clear mis-hits — is 100.2 mph. Each different candidate’s EV50 is below 100 mph, and a few by a wholesome margin. He’s additionally the second-fastest participant on the workforce behind Bae.
Con: Regardless of that, Peguero nonetheless bought on base at solely a .280 clip final season, so he was capable of try solely eight stolen bases. He additionally had a meager .374 slugging share with a good decrease .328 anticipated slugging share as a result of inconsistent contact and greater than half of his balls in play being grounders.
Chance: I see Peguero because the likeliest candidate to see a majority of reps at second base due to his power-speed combo potential.
Jared TrioloPro: Triolo had the very best debut you possibly can ask for. In 54 large league video games, his batting common (.298) and on-base share (.388) had been greater than his common and OBP within the Minor Leagues (.284 and .370, respectively). He’s additionally a Minor League Gold Glove defender at third base and may play nearly any place on the infield filth.
Con: It’s not a con but, however one should contemplate how powerful a sophomore season can go as soon as the league adjusts to your successes. And this isn’t a con, however it’s a deterrent for his enjoying time at second: The truth that Triolo carries 4 gloves due to his utility defensively makes it appear much less probably he sticks at second vs. bounces round.
Chance: I believe Triolo sees probably the most enjoying time usually of anybody right here, however his versatility might preserve him from being the “on a regular basis” second baseman.
Alika WilliamsPro: Regardless of the Pirates instructed Williams to concentrate on after he was acquired within the Robert Stephenson commerce labored instantly at Triple-A. He put up a .915 OPS with eight doubles and 7 homers in 36 video games with Indianapolis. His 28.2 ft per second dash pace is best than the typical second baseman’s velocity, and he has a good glove.
Con: It didn’t translate within the Main Leagues in his debut 2023 season, and he doesn’t strike the ball exhausting sufficient to present a lot hope that his offense shall be extra than simply common at greatest. His common exit velocity of 83.3 mph and hard-hit fee of 25.8% are very low in comparison with the MLB averages for these numbers.
Chance: I see Williams needing the strongest spring simply to get enjoying time, a lot much less the beginning job.
