Perrotto: Pirates’ Lack of Options is Alarming

PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Pirates are dangerously thin at two positions.

There are various other reasons for the Pirates being in such a predicament.

One is the Pirates playing a player out of position. Another is giving that player just five innings of Grapefruit League experience at the position. The biggest is the Pirates’ failure to build enough organizational depth to overcome injuries.

Last Wednesday, catcher Joey Bart called for a pop up in front of home plate in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Endy Rodriguez, normally a catcher, came running in from his position at first base and collided hard with Bart.

Bart gutted it out, stayed in the game, and hit the game-winning single in the bottom of the 13th inning. However, he has missed the last four games with lower back soreness, including sitting out Tuesday night when the Pirates lost 3-0 to the Washington Nationals at PNC Park.

Bart went through a full workout before the game and the Pirates are hopeful he can avoid being placed on the injured list.

Meanwhile, Rodriguez was placed on the 10-day injured list on Tuesday with a lacerated right index finger. He was injured on Monday night when he was hit on the bare hand by a pitch thrown by Paul Skenes that hit the Nationals’ James Wood on the foot and ricocheted.

The Pirates recalled reliever Chase Shugart from Triple-A Indianapolis, bolstering a thin pitching staff but leaving Henry Davis as their only healthy catcher.

Catcher Abrahan Gutierrez joined the Pirates from Indianapolis and was placed on the taxi squad.

It wasn’t long ago that the Pirates had enviable catching depth with Bart, Rodriguez, Davis, and Jason Delay. However, they were forced to ship Delay to the Atlanta Braves in a waiver trade on April 3 after designating him for assignment.

Delay might never play in an All-Star Game, but he is a serviceable No. 2 catcher when injuries strike. Baseball America does not rank Gutierrez among the Pirates’ top 30 prospects.

The first base situation is worse than the Pirates’ problems behind the plate. Rodriguez had already emerged as the primary first baseman not seeing action at the position during spring training until the last day of Grapefruit League play.

Enmanuel Valdez has started the last two games at first base and may be a fixture at the position. Valdez didn’t make the opening-day roster and was called up from Indianapolis after second baseman Nick Gonzalez sustained a non-displaced fracture of his left ankle on opening day.

Valdez, a three-year veteran, had never played first base in the major leagues until this season. He has logged seven games at the position, including six starts.

It is notable that Valdez is 5-foot-8 and doesn’t present much of a target for the rest of the infielders. He mishandled two pickoff throws in Monday night’s 10-3 victory over the Nationals, though the errors were surprisingly charged to pitcher Paul Skenes.

To be fair, losing first baseman Spencer Horwitz close to the start of spring training because of hand surgery was a blow. Horwitz is taking batting practice, but there is no timetable for when he might begin a rehabilitation assignment in the major leagues.

The fact that Valdez sits atop the Pirates’ depth chart at first base says a lot about the Pirates’ dearth of talent. And that’s inexcusable six years into a rebuilding process with seemingly no end.