In our daily Wake-Up Call, we get you ready for the day with a complete look at all things Pittsburgh Pirates.
With pitchers and catchers reporting in about a month, our wake up calls will focus on something a little different this week. For every day, we will take a look at how the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation, bullpen and position players compare to each of last year’s five postseason teams from the National League. We will also determine which team has the advantage in each area.
This morning, we take a look at how the Bucs compare to one of the two NL Wild Card participants, the New York Mets.
Rotation
When it comes to this category, not many teams can top the Mets. With pitchers such as Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Steven Matz, the Mets have one of the best rotations in all of baseball. Bartolo Colon was also in the mix last year, but with him going to the Atlanta Braves, the Mets will have to find another fifth starter.
The Pirates also have questions surrounding their starting rotation. Aside from Gerrit Cole, Jameson Taillon and Ivan Nova, the fourth and fifth spots in their rotation will be up for grabs once spring training begins. It’s safe to say the Bucs have an abundance of youth that will be vying for those two spots.
The Mets get the advantage in this category as they have less questions surrounding their rotation of young, established stars.
Bullpen
The Mets haven’t done much to bolster their bullpen up to this point in the offseason. Not that they really needed to. Last season, the Mets pen, led by NL saves leader Jeurys Familia, sported a 3.53 ERA as a unit, good for sixth in the majors. A big addition to the bullpen could be from within as Zack Wheeler, who has battled injuries since his last MLB appearance in 2014, could serve in a relief role in 2017.
The Pirates bullpen currently has a similar look to the one they finished 2016 with. Tony Watson, Felipe Rivero, Juan Nicasio and Jared Hughes are amongst the relief options expected to return in 2017. The Pirates also added 29-year old Daniel Hudson to the mix. The Bucs pen sported a 3.57 ERA in 2016, good for 11th in MLB.
With Familia and Addison Reed anchoring the Mets bullpen and Tony Watson and Felipe Rivero anchoring the Bucs unit of relievers, both bullpens are relatively stellar. I think Hudson could make a big difference for the Pirates in 2017, so I’ll give them the edge in this category.
Position Players
In the final category, we compare the Pirates position players to the Mets. Both teams have star outfield units as the Pirates have Starling Marte, Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco, and the Mets have an outfield consisting of Yoenis Cespedes, Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce. Though the Mets have the advantage as far as experience amongst their outfielders, the Pirates outfield unit is one of the best in baseball.
The Pirates potential infield will look impressive in 2017 as well with Jung Ho Kang at third base, Jordy Mercer at shortstop, Josh Harrison at second base, Josh Bell at first base and Francisco Cervelli at catcher. David Freese, John Jaso, Chris Stewart and Adam Frazier are amongst the bench options as well.
The Mets infield includes David Wright at third base, Asdrubel Cabrera at shortstop, former Pirate Neil Walker at second base and Lucas Duda at first base. Wilmer Flores, Michael Conforto, Juan Lagares and Jose Reyes are a few of the bench options.
Though both teams have impressive units of position players, I’d say the edge goes to the Pirates. They have arguably the best outfield in baseball and I think their infield and bench has more of an upside than the Mets.
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