PITTSBURGH PIRATES

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a successful 2018 season.  This is in large part thanks to the young players on the roster. Who are the gifts that will keep on giving in 2019?

When the 2018 Major League Baseball season started, many expected the Pittsburgh Pirates to not be very good. Predictions ranged from 70-78 wins, with even the local radio station predicting a 100 loss season.  Instead, the Pittsburgh Pirates played more good baseball than not.

The team played so well that the Pittsburgh Pirates front office decided they were in the position to add at the deadline.  Neal Huntington changed the narrative on the Pittsburgh Pirates and brought in two of the biggest trade chips available in Chris Archer and Keone Kela.

Add those two players in with the team’s young core, and the Pittsburgh Pirates ended up posting a winning season with a record of 82-79. However, that is not the ultimate goal. The goal is for the team to get into the postseason and have a chance to make a run at a World Series.

Although many are still not believers in the Pittsburgh Pirates, they showed a lot of promise last season.   They have a very young core of players, and, quite frankly, should be even better in the 2019 season.  So who can the Pittsburgh Pirates rely on to keep improving next season?

The first player that should keep on giving in 2019 is Jameson Taillon.  Taillon has had one of the toughest career tracks in baseball between bouncing back from Tommy-John Surgery and then overcoming Testicular Cancer.  However, the former number two overall pick has not been deterred.

While Taillon has not developed as fast as many had hoped he would, last year he finally “broke out.”   His quality of pitches has always been there, Pittsburgh Pirates fans saw that back in 2013 when he was pitching for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic as a 21-year-old.  However, last year he really figured out how to put it all together.

The year did not start off all that great for the big Texas right-hander.  His ERA through May was north of 4.00 between the two months.  But then something changed in Taillon. Well, not so much something, but he added a new pitch, a slider.  This led to him posting ERA’s under 3.00 in three out of the four remaining months, with his July ERA being just over at 3.22.  All in all, Taillon pitched to a 3.20 ERA and a 3.7 WAR.  The best part of it all is that he just turned 27 and should be entering his true prime for the 2019 season.

NEW SECOND BASEMEN

Adam Frazier has been a super utility player for basically his whole Pittsburgh Pirates career.  The former sixth round pick out of Mississippi State made his big league début in 2016 and has filled in all over the field when needed.  While his fielding has always been suspect, one thing he has proven is his ability to just flat out hit.

Last year, Frazier had his biggest struggle of his short career, which eventually led to a demotion to Triple-A.  Through March and April, he had a batting average of .250 and an OBP of .289.  Then May did not get much better, as he hit just above the Mendoza Line at .212.  So finally, in June, the Pittsburgh Pirates sent Frazier down for maintenance.

That is when everything turned around.  Apparently, Frazier’s dad noticed that he was not holding his hands at where he has in the past.  Of course, Frazier’s dad let him know about it and the former utility player was quickly back on the Pittsburgh Pirates roster.  It could not have come at a better time, as he added a big spark to a struggling team.

Frazier ended up being pretty productive over the rest of the season.  After batting just .234 through the first two months, Frazier never batted less than .260 the rest of the way out.  This included an amazing August when he batted .338.  He finished the season with a slash line of .277/.342/.456 with 10 home runs and accumulated WAR of 1.9. He also showed improvement at second base accounting for 4.0 defensive runs saved and a 5.0 UZR/150.

Next year he will be the team’s opening day second baseman and he should be a significant improvement over the often inconsistent Josh Harrison.  While he may not be the defender Harrison was, he should be a vast improvement at the plate.

A NEW BREAKOUT CATCHER

When the Pittsburgh Pirates entered the season, Francisco Cervelli was the clear-cut starter behind the plate with Elias Diaz being the foregone conclusion as the backup.  However, Cervelli once again saw himself off the field throughout the season which led to Diaz getting a significant amount of playing time.  The former Eastern League (Double-A) batting champ took advantage of it.  Not only was Diaz a suitable backup and fill in for Cervelli, but he also showed that he very well could be a starting catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Diaz ended up having a really strong season both offensively and defensively.  Through 82 games at the plate, Diaz batted .286/.339/.452 with 10 home runs.  What was even more impressive was that Diaz only struck out 14 percent of the time showing strong plate discipline.  Meanwhile, behind the plate, he helped the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff become the strongest part of their team.  He also threw out 28 percent of attempted base stealers.

All in all, Diaz posted a WAR of 2.0 in just 82 games.  There is a chance that he will once again be in a part-time split with Francisco Cervelli next season, which could be one of the best tandems in baseball.  However, there have been a lot of rumors around Francisco Cervelli.  It is very likely that Diaz could become the team’s primary catcher next year.  If he plays anything like he did in 2018, then the Bucs will not miss a beat behind the plate.