Another home-grown player on a roster of (cheap) home-grown players, Newman finished the season with a 2.4 fWAR, and showed decent speed by nabbing 16 stolen bases (though catchers nailed him a further eight times). In addition to Bell and Reynolds, rookie shortstop Kevin Newman broke out in 2019. 300+ batting average unlikely this season (enter ‘Regression Monster’). Unlike Bell, Reynolds’ batting average was inflated by a monstrous. 288.Īnother potential bright-spot is 25-year-old Bryan Reynolds, who led Pirates position players in fWAR in 2019, and again will man left field. Beyond a change in the baseball, there’s little reason to think he’ll seriously regress, as his average and OBP are aligned with what he had shown previously, and his BABIP ended a modest.

Last season home-grown first baseman Josh Bell cranked 37 home runs and 37 doubles en route to a 135 wRC+. While the Jays have exciting 20-somethings across their lineup, including multiple players with prospect pedigree and high-ceilings, the Pirates have replacement-level stop-gap players that will likely look overmatched and underprepared, particularly early in the season. The Pirates are one of the youngest clubs in baseball entering into 2020, but they lack the star power, excitement, and upside of a young team like the Blue Jays. The disastrous second half ultimately led to regime change, as ownership canned both General Neal Huntington and manager Clint Hurdle this offseason. 342 winning percentage), and ended up with the second-worst record in the NL, at 69-93. In the second half of the season, Pittsburgh went 25-48 (a.

At the All Star break, they were only 2 ½ games out of first place, then reality hit.

Last season the Pirates held their own in the first half, where they hovered around. Pittsburgh finished in third place in 2016, in fourth place in 20, and hit rock-bottom, finishing in last place in 2019. Since then, it’s been a slow-and-steady decline straight to the bottom of the National League Central. Although it seems like eons ago, the Pirates made the playoffs three consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2015.

Pirates roster