After Hearing From Ex-Teammate Gerrit Cole, Isiah Kiner-Falefa Excited to Join Pirates

It’s always nice to have a familiar face to welcome you to a new opportunity.

But for Isiah Kiner-Falefa, the first person who helped ease his transition to the Pittsburgh Pirates after he was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays wasn’t anyone in his new clubhouse. 

Before he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays this past offseason, Kiner-Falefa spent two seasons wearing pinstripes for the New York Yankees from 2022-23.

One of his teammates with the Yankees? Former Pirates pitcher Gerrit Cole. 

“Gerrit Cole was the first person to reach out to me and he had nothing but great things to say about this organization,” Kiner-Falefa said prior to making his team debut on Saturday. “I wasn’t really expecting him to reach out but he reached out and was like, ‘You’re gonna love it there. That stadium is beautiful. The people are awesome. Good front office.’ … I didn’t really know much when I got traded, so just hearing that was huge for me.’

Kiner-Falefa kicked off his tenure with the Pirates on Saturday and manned second base. It’s the position where he’s expected to see most of his time initially, according to manager Derek Shelton. The Pirates had an opening at second after Nick Gonzales was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left groin strain. 

Even though he will seemingly be the primary second baseman, at least in the short-term, Kiner-Falefa is capable of playing all around the diamond. He’s played every position other than first base and even won a Gold Glove at third base while with the Texas Rangers in 2020. 

His ability to bounce around different positions is a big reason why the Pirates acquired him.

“I think his versatility is huge…” Shelton said. “His versatility is important just because of the fact that he’s played all three (infield positions), he’s played in the outfield and unless something weird happens in a game, which we’ve had happen this year, he’ll be in the middle of the diamond.”

While the versatility is certainly a luxury for Shelton, the Pirates added a player who was having a breakout offensive season prior to landing on the injured list with a knee sprain in early July.

In 82 games with Toronto prior to getting hurt, Kiner-Falefa hit .292 with a .758 OPS and 17 extra-base hits including seven home runs. Through the first six seasons of his career, Kiner-Falefa carried a career slash of just .261/.314/.346.

“I think I’m just trying to drive the ball this year,” he said on what’s been the difference for him this season. “My whole career, I’ve been a flare guy, hit the ball in the four-hole. Never really thought of myself as really a hitter. I was just trying to steal bases and get on base, do the little things.

“Bo Bichette went down this year and I was like, ‘Vladdy (Guerrero) needs some help.’ So I decided to change the approach a little bit and help the team score runs and it started to work. So I just stuck with it and now we’re here.”

Kiner-Falefa joins the Pirates in the midst of a playoff chase. Pittsburgh is right in the thick of the National League wild card race and hoping to clinch a postseason berth for the first time since 2015. 

Entering Sunday’s action, the Pirates are 2.5 games out of a wild card spot and are still hanging around in the National League Central in third place and six game behind the division-leading Milwaukee Brewers. 

It’s an ideal situation for Kiner-Falefa to return to after a month-long stay on the injured list and bouncing around a few minor-league cities on his rehab assignment.

“It’s been crazy,” he said on what the last few days have been like. “Just excited to be back in the big leagues with a great organization. Ready to help the team win.”