Three Pittsburgh Pirates primed for second half surges

Freese-ing out the strikeout

David Freese‘s services were acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates for the low-low cost of $3 million dollars.

By the time this season is over, that deal may go down as one of the best in team history.

Freese has been solid throughout the year, posting the third highest bWAR on the team at 1.9. He has shown excellent flexibility by taking up first base with just two errors in 181 chances. If one was to try to find a chink in Freese’s armor, they could point to his strikeout rate. Freese has 77 strikeouts on the year – second only to Andrew McCutchen – for a 26.8 percent rate.

Though the strikeouts don’t necessarily hinder Freese’s production, his second half prospects are very bright. Chiefly due to improvement across the board in key strikeout metrics, his run production has increased dramatically over the last 14 days.

I chose these metrics to illustrate Freese’s uptick due to how they work together. While Freese has never been a maven for free passes, his walk rate jumps to above-average simply by swinging at less junk out of the zone (o-swing) and missing less (swinging strike). Throw in a modest improvement in overall strikeout percentage, and the result is a higher WAR total in the past two weeks than for the entire month of June.

If Freese can continue to hone in on better pitches to hit and stay ahead in counts, as he has been trending towards over the two weeks prior to the break, this Pittsburgh Pirates offense can truly hum. And he would be apt to do so, as he struggles to get back into the at-bat when pitchers are ahead.

We conclude with someone who has transformed from a DFA candidate into an essential piece.

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