Chance to get better in ’24 is there for the Pirates
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By John Hartsock
jhartsock@altoonamirror.com
After enduring two straight seasons of 100 losses or more, four straight losing seasons and six losing seasons in the previous seven years, the goal for the 2023 Pittsburgh Pirates was relatively modest.
Despite beginning this season as one of Major League Baseball's surprise teams and bolting out of the gate with a 20-8 record, the primary objective for this year's Pirates was to take a big step in their rebuilding process, welcome many of their top prospects to the majors and see those players gain valuable experience there.
That was accomplished, to a greater or lesser degree, and although the Pirates finished this season with a 76-86 record and in fourth place in the National League Central Division -- 16 full games behind the division champion Milwaukee Brewers -- the window of opportunity for the Pirates to achieve marked success as early as next season was cracked open.
A microcosm of the team's future plans was presented on Monday night, July 17, when the Pirates hosted the Cleveland Guardians at PNC Park.
That evening, the Pirates' lineup included six first-year players -- 2021 MLB first draft pick Henry Davis in right field, and other top prospects Endy Rodriguez catching, Nick Gonzales at second base, Liover Peguero at shortstop, Jared Triolo at third base and Quinn Priester pitching.
Both Rodriguez, 23, and Priester, 22, were making their major league debuts that night, as they became the first starting battery in MLB that was born in 2000 or later, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
"The future is here,'' Rodriguez, the third-ranked prospect in the Pirates' farm system, said after the game. "I know that we have a lot of players here with a lot of talent. I know that we're going to do something special with this team.''
Though the first-year results for the young players were varied as they all got their feet wet at the major league level, the Pirates did show substantial improvement as a team from late July on, posting a winning 33-30 record in their last 63 games.
There is still work to be done and holes to fill this offseason and next season for the Pirates, but the Bucs -- who made a 14-win improvement this season from 2022 -- will enter the 2024 campaign with very bright hopes and legitimate playoff aspirations.
The team's improvement this year was accomplished despite the absence of 6-foot-7 shortstop Oneil Cruz, who suffered a broken ankle while sliding awkwardly at home plate into Chicago White Sox catcher Seby Zavala on April 9 and was lost for the season.
Cruz supplied 17 homers and 54 RBIs in just half a season's work in 2022, and having his talented bat in the lineup for all of next season is bound to make a huge difference for the Pirates.
So will the addition of 6-5, 250-pound fireballing pitcher Paul Skenes, who the Pirates took with the first pick in the 2023 MLB draft. Skenes helped pitch LSU to the College World Series championship in June, and made two appearances with the Altoona Curve -- including his Class AA debut on Aug. 26 that drew a standing-room only single-game record 10,164 fans to Peoples Natural Gas Field.
Whenever it takes place next season, the Major League debut of Skenes, who combines a fastball that reaches 102 miles per hour with pinpoint control and a wipeout slider and curve ball, will be the most heavily anticipated for a rookie pitcher since Steven Strasburg made his first start with the Washington Nationals back in 2010.
Nucleus strong
The Pirates will enter the 2024 season with a solid nucleus around which to build. Left fielder Bryan Reynolds -- who the Bucs signed this year to a $100 million contract that extends through the 2030 season -- continued the consistency at the plate that has been his hallmark with the team, cracking 24 home runs and driving in 84 runs in 145 games played while batting .264 this past season.
Center fielder Jack Suwinski had a team-leading 26 home runs and also drove in 74 runs, but needs to cut down on his strikeout ratio, which totaled 172 in 447 plate appearances this year.
Third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes was arguably the Pirates' best hitter in the second half of the season and wound up carding a .271 batting average with 15 homers and 64 RBIs in 125 games played. Hayes accomplished that after the Pirates had signed him to a $50 million contract that extends through 2029.
Outfielder Joshua Palacios, a new addition, was one of the past season's most pleasant surprises for the Pirates, contributing 10 home runs and 40 RBIs in 91 games played.
Peguero and Davis both hit seven home runs in limited duty, and Triolo -- called up to the majors when Hayes was injured in midseason -- provided both stellar defense and offense in 54 games, with 54 hits in 181 plate appearances for a .298 average that included three homers and 21 RBIs.
Right-handed pitcher Mitch Keller continued the improvement that he showed over the final four months of 2022, earning a berth in the 2023 All-Star Game while carding a 13-9 record and 4.21 earned run average in 32 starts. Keller struck out 210 batters -- a Pirates franchise record for right-handed pitchers --- and walked just 55 in 194.1 innings pitched.
Combined with Skenes, Keller will give the Pirates two outstanding starting pitchers in 2024.
Righty Johan Oviedo could be another. Acquired in a 2022 trade with St. Louis, Oviedo showed flashes of brilliance this season while posting a 9-14 record in 32 starts, with 158 strikeouts in 177.2 innings.
Right-hander David Bednar, who joined Keller in the 2023 All-Star Game, was a shutdown closer again for the Pirates, logging 39 saves that tied him for the NL lead in that category with Camilo Doval of the San Francisco Giants.
The signing of one of the franchise's most popular players, Andrew McCutchen, to a one-year deal for $5 million this season, proved to be a great public relations move for the Pirates.
Along with providing veteran clubhouse leadership, McCutchen -- who turns 37 on Tuesday -- appeared in 112 games, mostly as a designated hitter, and batted .256 with 12 home runs and 43 RBIs.
McCutchen, who won the NL Most Valuable Player award with the Pirates in 2013 and collected his 2000th big league hit this year, suffered a partial tear in his Achilles tendon on Labor Day, shutting him down for the season with 299 career home runs.
But odds are that the Pirates will bring back McCutchen, if only on another one-year deal, for a 2024 season that could be very special for both himself and the team.
Biggest needs
The Pirates have plenty of pitchers with potential, but potential only gets a player so far. Aside from Keller and Oviedo, no other starting pitcher showed any consistency at the big-league level this past season.
Priester showed that he still has development to accomplish as a major-league pitcher, and highly-touted righty Roansy Contreras took a step back in both confidence and performance this year and was demoted to Class AAA Indianapolis in midseason.
Luis Ortiz, Osvaldo Bido, Andre Jackson and Bailey Falter -- who was picked up in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies this summer for infielder Rodolfo Castro -- are all unknown quantities for the Pirates, who used the openers format in at least a dozen games this year, piggy-backing several pitchers for a couple of innings in starts.
Right-hander Jared Jones and lefty Anthony Solomento are highly-touted big-league starting pitching prospects, but neither has yet to pitch a major-league inning for the Pirates. Righty J.T. Brubaker missed this entire season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and although he will return in 2024, he is a question mark.
It's probably mandatory for the Pirates to sign two quality veteran starting pitchers this offseason. Among the top names currently floating about in free agency are left-handers Jordan Montgomery and right-handers Jack Flaherty, Frankie Montas, Luis Severino, Michael Lorenzen, Sonny Gray and Alex Cobb.
A few of them, especially Gray, will come with what is probably a prohibitive price tag, but the Pirates need a couple seasoned starting pitchers with an established record of recent consistency.
Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinksi, Dauri Moreta, Thomas Hatch and Ryan Borucki provided adequate mid-to-late inning relief, but the Pirates should and will pick up another bullpen arm or two this offseason.
First base is also a big question mark. The Pirates acquired both veterans Carlos Santana and Ji-man Choi to address that position before this past season, but moved both before the trade deadline. Connor Joe, who hit 11 home runs this season, got a lot of starts at first base down the stretch, but he may or may not be returning.
The names of Davis and Triolo have both been bandied about as in-house options at first base, but the plan is still for Davis to become a regular catcher -- his natural position -- after he played mostly in right field in 2023.
There is prospect Malcolm Nunez at Class AAA Indianapolis, but he may not be major-league ready in 2024.
Top free agents who could fill the first base position for the Pirates are veterans Garrett Cooper and C.J. Cron, if the Bucs elect to go that route.
It's a position, like third base and catcher, from which high batting power productivity is strongly preferred, if not expected.
With the return of Cruz, the second base position will also be up for grabs between Gonzales, Peguero and veteran JiHwan Bae. None, however, has stepped forward yet as the top candidate, so the Bucs may be looking for outside help there as well.
Shelton extended
Derek Shelton got very little to work with when he took over as the Pirates' manager during the pandemic-shortened season in 2020. Following a 19-40 season that year, Shelton's Bucs lost 101 games in 2021 and 100 in 2022.
Nonetheless, with the team staying the course on its rebuilding plan under veteran general manager Ben Cherington, Shelton was signed to a contract extension this year that runs through the 2024 season.
But he has received his share of public criticism, and his batting coach, Andy Haines, has received even more. Pitching coach Oscar Marin has also been under the microscope.
The 2024 season will be a big one for the Pirates, but it figures to be an even bigger one for their field management team.
Reading between the lines, continued improvement -- certainly a winning record and probably a berth in the NL playoffs -- will very likely be required next season for Shelton and his coaches to stay at the controls of the Pirates' ship in 2025.
John Hartsock can reached at jhartsock@altoonamirror.com.