FIVE PITTSBURGH PIRATES PLAYERS THAT NEED TO STEP UP IN 2019

Which Pittsburgh Pirates’ players need to take a step forward in 2019 in order for the team to compete for a return to the postseason?

Entering the 2018 season expectations were low for the Pittsburgh Pirates. After trading away star players Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole, many pundits and fans alike were predicting a long season on the North Shore for the Pittsburgh Baseball Club.

To the surprise of many, however, the Pirates put together a strong season in 2018. The team was as many as nine games over .500 in May, and competed for a postseason berth into the final week of September. When the dust settled, the team had 82 victories and their fourth winning season in six years.

With the 2019 season quickly approaching, the team will be looking to build upon a strong 2018 while looking to take the next step. In order for the team to take the next step and return to the postseason for the first time since 2015, there are areas where they must improve.

Who are five players that must improve for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019 in order for them to return to the postseason?

The Pirate offense was inconsistent at best during the 2018 season. A big reason for this was a lack of power. The team finished eighth in the National League in slugging percentage (.407), 10th in ISO (.154), and 13th in home runs hit (157).

Other than Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco no one on the team hit more than 20 home runs last season, and they only had six other hitters reach double digit home runs. The team needs to find more power somewhere in 2019.

The source of this needed power could be third baseman Jung Ho Kang. After missing all of 2017 due to being unable to acquire a work visa, Kang finally returned to the United States and pro baseball in 2018. However, Kang’s woes would continue as wrist surgery cost him over two months of his season.

Following the surgery, Kang joined the team for their season ending series in Cincinnati and he went 2-for-6 at the plate. Had it not been for the wrist surgery, Kang, who had been hitting well in the minor leagues, likely would have returned to the Pirates sometime last July.

If Kang can be anywhere near the hitter he was in 2015 and 2016, then the team’s lack of power will be helped in a big way. And, luckily for the Pirates, Kang looked like this hitter in the minor leagues last season.

In 843 career plate appearances Kang owns a .274/.355/.482 slash line to go with a .361 wOBA and a wRC+ of 129. His ISO is a healthy .208, as are his 4.8% home run and 10.9% extra base hit rates.

A healthy, productive Jung Ho Kang could be a bigger boost to the Pirates offense in 2019 than any realistic offseason acquisition could have been.

To some extent putting Starling Marte on this list might be a bit unfair. When he is healthy, and not suspended, Marte is one of the best two-way players in the NL. He is a former All-Star, a multiple time Gold Glove Award winner, and last year become the Pirates’ first 20/30 player since Barry Bonds.

All of that said the Pirates need the best Marte in 2019 to return to the postseason.

Marte is now the team’s longest tenured player. Entering his eighth season with the club, the 30-year-old Marte will have a lot of his shoulders.

Since the start of the 2013 season Marte’s 20.9 fWAR ranks 15th best in the NL. This is a number that would be even higher had he not missed half of the 2017 season due to a P.E.D. related suspension. Last year, Marte bounced back from suspension with a 3.7 fWAR season.

Marte’s overall numbers in 2018 were strong. He slashed .277/.327/.460 to go with a .337 wOBA and a 113 wRC+. As you read above, he also became the first Pirate in over 25 years to hit at least 20 home runs while stealing at least 30 bases in the same season.

In order for teams to make the postseason, their best players must play at the highest level that they can. This is what the Pirates will need from Marte this season.

At last season’s non-waiver trade deadline the Pittsburgh Pirates made an unexpected splash. In a non-Pirate like move, the Bucs went all in by trading Austin Meadows, Shane Baz, and Tyler Glasnow to the Tampa Bay Rays for Chris Archer.

Last season, Archer was the big fish available on the starting pitcher market at the trade deadline. When Neal Huntington and the Pirates acquired Archer it was with an eye turned toward 2019 and beyond, not just the remainder of the 2018 season.

After a slow start to his Pirate career, Archer finished the season strong. In the month of September Archer posted a 2.70 ERA and a 3.49 FIP in five starts. In these five starts he allowed just four home runs, and he owned a 30.5% strikeout rate and a 7.6% walk rate in 30 innings pitched.

During his strong September Archer looked like the pitcher that was a multi-time All-Star in Tampa Bay. And this was something that was great to see for manager Clint Hurdle, the Pirates, and their fans.

The Pirates’ rotation has a bonafide ace in Jameson Taillon at the top. Trevor Williams and Joe Musgrove gives the team a good pair of middle of the rotation arms, and, as we’ll get to later, the fifth spot remains in flux. Archer has all the tools needed to pitch like a top of the rotation starting pitcher and he has done it before. Since the start of the 2014 season Archer is 15th in MLB in starting pitcher’s fWAR (18.4) and fifth in strikeouts (1,059).

In 2019, the Pirates need Archer to be that pitcher and to join Taillon in anchoring the team’s rotation. The Bucs will need the Archer they got in September for all six months of the 2019 season.

Okay, so, who’s on first will not be a question for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2019. It will be the switch-hitting Josh Bell. The question, however, is what will the team get from Bell?

The former top prospect debuted in 2016 with a more on-base centered approached. While he got on base at a .368 clip, he hit just three home runs and slugged .406 on his way to a .339 wOBA and a 112 wRC+.

During the 2017 campaign the power that Bell was lauded for throughout his minor league career flashed. He mashed 27 home runs which set a National League record for home runs by a rookie switch-hitter. He saw his slugging jump to .466 and his ISO to .211, however, his walk rate dropped from 13.8% to 10.6% and his strikeout rate rose 5% on his way to posting a .334 OBP, .338 wOBA, and a wRC+ of 108.

After a miserable start to his 2018 season, Bell finished with four strong months. From June 1st through the end of the season Bell slashed .267/.378/.422 to go with a 15.3% walk rate, .155 ISO, .350 wOBA, and wRC+ of 122. A strong argument can be made that Bell was the team’s best hitter in the final four months of the 2018 season.

When the dusted settled on his 2018 season, his walk rate rose back up to 13.2% leading to his OBP jumping to .357. His ISO (.150) and slugging percentage (.411) were both lower than 2017 but higher than 2016. Meanwhile, his 112 wRC+ tied his career best from 2016. He hit just 12 home runs, however.

So, what Bell will the Pirates get in 2019? Hopefully, it’s the Bell they saw during the final four months of 2018. This is Bell at his best, and the team needs him to be at his best if they’re going to compete for a postseason berth in 2019.

The Pirates have a strong top four in their starting rotation; however, the fifth spot in the rotation is a complete mystery. Due to this, someone needs to step up in the fifth and final starting rotation spot.

The offseason, obviously, is not over. Due to this, the team may add starting pitching between now and the start of the regular season. If this does not happen, then an internal option needs to step up.

It could be the newly signed Jordan Lyles. Maybe Steven Brault or Clay Holmes finally refine their control and become more consistent as starting pitchers. Nick Kingham or J.T. Brubaker could be options, too.

Whoever ends up as the team’s fifth starting pitcher, they only need to keep the seat warm until June when top prospect Mitch Keller arrives. Keller is one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball and will start the season at Triple-A. The always cost conscious Pirates will not call Keller up before the Super 2 date passes in early June, though.

Pitching wins in the game of baseball. With questions surrounding their offense, pitching will be vital for the Pirates in 2019. This makes someone stepping up and taking the final rotation spot by the horns important. The lack of a fifth starter is where the team may miss Chad Kuhl more than people anticipate.