Perrotto: Projecting the Pirates’ Opening-Day Roster (+)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are now closer to opening day than they are removed from the start of spring training.
In camp since Feb. 15, the Pirates open the season on March 30 against the Reds in Cincinnati. With a little more than three weeks to go, it’s a fun – though perhaps pointless – exercise to project the Pirates’ opening-day roster.
We’ll start under the assumption that the Pirates will open the season with an even split of 13 position players and 13 pitchers.
Seven members of the starting lineup are set with catcher Austin Hedges, first baseman Ji-Man Choi, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, shortstop Oneil Cruz, left fielder Bryan Reynolds, right fielder Andrew McCutchen and designated hitter Carlos Santana.
It might be premature to put in ink that Jack Suwinski will be the opening-day center fielder. I believe he will.
The lone question in the starting lineup is at second base with Rodolfo Castro and rookie Ji-Hwan Bae battling for the job. Regardless of who wins the competition, look for the loser to also make the team as the utility infielder.
That leaves three more bench spots open and one will be the backup catcher. I would be shocked if the experienced Kevin Plawecki doesn’t beat out holdovers Tyler Heineman and Jason Delay.
The last two bench jobs would go to some combination of first baseman/outfielder Connor Joe, infielder/outfielders Drew Maggi, Tucupita Marcano and Chris Owings and outfielders Miguel Andujar, Cal Mitchell, Canaan Smith-Njigba, Travis Swaggerty and Ryan Vilade.
Joe has a leg up as a right-handed hitter who can spell the left-handed hitting Suwinski against lefty pitching. In those games, Reynolds could slide back to center field and Joe could play left.
A case can be made for any of the other six players to make the roster. My money is on Mitchell, who is swinging the bat well so far in Grapefruit League play after showing flashes last season as a rookie.
On the pitching side, I’m putting the idea of a six-man rotation to rest. The Pirates will roll with these five to start the season: left-hander Rich Hill and right-handers Mitch Keller, Roansy Contreras, JT Brubaker and Vince Velasquez.
Right-handers Luis Ortiz and Johan Oviedo will get more developmental time at Triple-A Indianapolis.
Closer David Bednar is one of four relief pitchers who will be in Cincinnati on opening day along with fellow right-handers Wil Crowe, Duane Underwood Jr. and Chase De Jong.
Left-hander Jarlin Garcia and right-hander Robert Stephenson are likely to start the season on the injured list with arm problems. Thus, four spots would need to be filled in the bullpen.
Contending for those jobs are left-handers Jose Hernandez, Angel Perdomo, Caleb Smith, Daniel Zamora and Rob Zastryzny along with right-handers Tyler Chatwood, Yerry De Los Santos, Colin Holderman, Dauri Moreta, Yohan Ramirez and Colin Selby.
Hernandez is a Rule 5 Draft pick from the Dodgers and the Pirates must keep him on the major-league roster all season or offer him back to Los Angeles. The Pirates will certainly want to hang on to a lefty who throws 100 mph.
The Pirates will also want an experienced left-hander in the bullpen and Caleb Smith can fill that role. He seems recovered from the elbow problems that hampered him at times last season with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The final two spots will go to De Los Santos and Holderman. Both showed promise in the second half of last season as rookies before landing on the IL.
Of course, the roster will invariably look different on May 30 than on March 30 because of moves necessitated by injuries and poor performances.
Nevertheless, it’s a fun exercise to project the opening day roster. It’s a rite of spring.
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