Jung Ho Kang may provide safeguard against slow start

Jung Ho Kang is clearly ahead of schedule in his rehab from injury. What would his presence on Opening Day mean for the Pittsburgh Pirates?

“Baseball in shorts” has unofficially arrived for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and Jung Ho Kang looks much better than anyone anticipated at this point in his recovery.

For proof, simply check out these videos posted by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Rob Biertempfel:

#pirates Kang took grounders, made throws to 1b this morning pic.twitter.com/zGI32M7tM1

— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) February 15, 2016

#pirates Kang ramps it up pic.twitter.com/64hWPIjZJh

— RobBiertempfel (@RobBiertempfel) February 15, 2016

Now would be a perfect time to insert a huge caveat, so let’s do that right now.

It is not even spring training yet, technically.

Now that that’s over with…

It would be hard for Pirates fans not to be excited with Kang’s progress. As was noted in multiple outlets, the normal time table for a return for Kang was pegged at six-to-eight months. If you do the math, that projected to anywhere from a mid-March to late-May return to the diamond.

The fact that Kang is taking grounders – and taking them well – is a clear-cut sign that Kang is ahead of schedule. The jury is still out, and it may take several weeks of actual spring training combined with some game action, before a true timetable can be agreed upon. One thing that is easily agreed upon, however, is that Kang’s presence to start the season may give the Pirates something they have not had to start the season in recent years: good protection behind Andrew McCutchen.

The Pirates have gone a combined 37-38 in the April months each of the past three seasons. Their slow starts the previous two years conspired to keep them out of the NL Central Division championship picture. In the case of 2014, their 10-16 record had them scratching and clawing to salvage a Wild Card spot.

In each of those years, a capable cleanup hitter might have helped immensely. 2013 saw Gaby Sanchez take cuts at the slot. In 2014, Pedro Alvarez was used there for much of April before giving way to more consistent options. Last year saw a rotating door at the slot, with Starling Marte, Neil Walker, and Alvarez each taking hacks there.

The stats will show that Kang did most of his damage out of the five-spot in the order, as the table below will show:

With that being said, I’m not sure that it matters where Kang bats in the lineup so much as when. With a healthy Kang on board, the Pirates offense could hit the season at full strength with proven major league hitters at most – if not all – of the spots in the lineup. The effects could be trans-formative.

McCutchen could get better pitches to hit, helping an admittedly slow starter ramp up more quickly.

Marte would benefit as well, perhaps drawing more free passes, which I believe will be key to his taking a step forward.

Josh Harrison, Francisco Cervelli, and even Jordy Mercer can benefit from presumably batting behind Kang as well.

If he can be ready by Opening Day, the Pittsburgh Pirates lineup from first through seventh has a chance to help safeguard against what is traditionally a slow offensive month for the club.

In a tightly competitive National League, a better start would be very welcomed.

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