It is not a secret that the Pirates don’t have a great outfield at the moment. Bryan Reynolds is the lone bright spot. They’ve tried several different methods to fill in the gaps. They tried to go with some former top prospects in hopes that they’d finally put it together (Alford, Fowler). They’ve plugged in players who primarily played infield for their entire careers (Difo, Evans). They’ve hoped that Polanco would finally get it together. They’ve claimed guys off waivers (Tom, Gamel). Nothing has worked particularly well. So how do they fix this? Where is the help going to come from? The farm system is pretty thin when it comes to outfield prospects. Sure, they have guys, but very few profile as more than just average big leaguers at this point in their development. That could change.
Travis Swaggerty is the best prospect who is close to playing in the Majors. Swaggerty skipped AA and went straight to Indy to start 2021. Swaggerty has the athleticism to be a serviceable outfielder. If his bat can be consistent, he could be a potential All-Star. So far, he is hitting .267 with 1 HR.
Jared Oliva would be in Pittsburgh already this season if it weren’t for an oblique issue that landed him on the IL. Look for him to be promoted when he is healthy and plays a little at AAA.
Chris Sharpe is an interesting guy to keep an eye on. His power numbers increased after a midseason promotion to Altoona in 2019, but so did his strikeout totals. If he can get the strikeouts down in AAA, he could see himself in Pittsburgh.
Indianapolis also has a bunch of guys who have seen time in Pittsburgh, but limited success. Guys like Anthony Alford, Dustin Fowler, and Kevin Kramer are there. Might we see them again in Pittsburgh, anything is possible.
The rest of the system has some potential, but they are still pretty raw. Altoona has Cal Mitchell and Canaan Smith-Njigba. Greensboro has Matt Gorski, Lolo Sanchez, Matt Frazier, and Jack Herman. Bradenton has Hudson Head, Sammy Siani, and Sergio Campana. All these guys are working on things and aren’t viable options this season or maybe next. The duo in Altoona are the closest to being ready for the big leagues. This year will be a big step for them in AA. In the distant future, guys like Solomon Maguire and Shalin Polanco could be very good.
In GM Ben Cherington’s short time with the Pirates, he has demonstrated that he is looking for high ceiling guys who are still early in their development. That’s a good plan. Outfield might be a position, along with catcher, that he may be targeting when other teams call about acquiring some of the Pirates players for their team’s playoff run. He may want to consider looking into someone who could be closer to big league ready, but has plenty of team control. That way Bryan Reynolds won’t be out there on his own for the next season or two. DJ Peters from the Dodgers or Josh Palacios from Toronto might be the type of guys to target if teams inquire about a reliever. This will give more potential quality to the outfield. Like we’ve seen this year, you can never have too much depth at any position.
For now, we’ll hope that Ka’ai Tom continues to walk at high rate and maybe Troy Stokes Jr. can get on a roll. Maybe Polanco will get things going for a few weeks. Who knows? It is definitely an area to focus on when trades start happening.
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