The Pittsburgh Pirates escaped Spring Training without any major injuries. But if they get bit by the injury bug in 2017, can they again rely on depth?
The Pittsburgh Pirates finalized their 25-man roster yesterday, and there were no real surprises.
The real question now becomes, can the Pirates rely on those that were relegated to the minors to serve as depth in case of injury or ineffectiveness?
The 40-Man And Position Players
As things stand at the time of this writing, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 40-Man roster stands at 37, allowing for three more players to be added. We’ll speculate on those in just a bit, but first we’ll take a look at the names currently placed there.
Coming off of a hot spring, 1B/OF Jose Osuna leads the way for position players, joined by catcher Elias Diaz, INF Gift Ngoepe and INF Max Moroff.
Having someone with Osuna’s flexibility on the cusp of the majors would have been a net positive even if he did not hit so well this spring. But, he did, and any doubt among Pirates evaluators as to Osuna’s ability at the plate should have long since floated away on a whispering wind.
Ngoepe can play second and short. He showed that his glove is major league ready, and also took strides at the plate. However, the club may look to Moroff first should the team need help at second base specifically.
INF Chris Bostick can play three positions, and has hit well at the high minors for his career. However, if the Pittsburgh Pirates Need him, they are in deeper trouble.
The 40-Man and Pitchers
Once again, pitching depth in the minors will be on display for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
To be certain, the group will not come near the historic highs of what the Indianapolis Indians’ rotation did last season. Led by Jameson Taillon, Tyler Glasnow and others, the Indy pitching corps was a force.
[perfectpullquote align=”right” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]The real question now becomes, can the Pirates rely on those that were relegated to the minors to serve as depth in case of injury or ineffectiveness?[/perfectpullquote]That is not to say that there won’t be talented arms in the Pirates’ stockpile. Nick Kingham did everything the team wanted to see him do in his first spring training since returning from injury. Steven Brault, fresh off of a hard-fought battle for the fifth rotation spot, is a very capable left handed option. Many are high on Clay Holmes despite a so-so year in Double-A Altoona in 2016. Despite what many think of him, Drew Hutchison is capable of giving the team innings at the least and a good fifth Major League starter at best.
Bullpen arms are well-stocked also, with A.J. Schugel leading the way. Schugel had a difficult spring at times, but has major league experience. Dvoydas Neverauskas struck out 8.7 hitters per nine across both Triple-A and Double-A last season. Pat Light‘s fastball velocity was enough to turn the Pittsburgh Pirates heads and there are certainly worse things than having a hard-throwing righty on hand in the minors should the need arise.
Who Else?
As we said above, the Pittsburgh Pirates will need to add a few names to fill out their 40-man roster. Those decisions will come sooner rather than later, and it is difficult to speculate who will get the tab. Many will wonder if Austin Meadows will find his way to the 40-man this year, and it is a reasonable expectation to think that he will.
It just will not be at the beginning of the season. Many forget that Meadows saw just 145 plate appearances at Triple-A last season. That may have solely been a function of a mid-season hamstring injury that slowed him down, but the team will need him to rack up more before they can consider him a depth option.
The reverse might be true for Kevin Newman. The 23 year old made the most out of his non-roster invitation to the big club’s spring sessions, and performed so well – slashing .288/.361/.378 – in just 268 plate appearances that general manager Neal Huntington and director of minor league ops Larry Broadway may feel that starting him at Double-A would be a wasted opportunity. Newman’s profile as a hitter could help him translate well to the big leagues sooner than most.
So, can the Pittsburgh Pirates rely on these options?
In a word, yes. In a few more words, yes but not to the degree that they relied upon their depth last season. Having the ability to call up Josh Bell and Jameson Taillon as primary depth options comes around only once every so often. There is simply not that type of player in the upper-minors right now for the Pittsburgh Pirates. And that is not a bad thing.
And of course this is without even mentioning Glasnow, Brault, Trevor Williams and Adam Frazier. All major league capable, and perhaps even more in most cases.
This year’s crop of depth lands more on the capable end of the spectrum, but all can easily serve as very competent depth options.
Photo Credit – Flickr Creative Commons
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