Bullet point summary by AI
- The Pittsburgh Pirates are accelerating their youth movement with two top prospects now in the majors and veterans facing uncertain futures.
- Established players like Jared Triolo are seeing their roles diminish as younger talent pushes for playing time and improved performance.
- The Pirates’ decision to prioritize prospects over underperforming veterans could reshape the roster before the trade deadline.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are making moves, with top positional prospects Jhostynxon Garcia and Esmerlyn Valdez called up to the majors. Ryan O’Hearn, meanwhile, heads to the 10-day IL, while Billy Cook and Nick Yorke have been assigned to Triple-A.
This is a clear effort to get more thump in the lineup, but it’s also a testament to Pittsburgh’s elite prospect depth — and a warning shot to these slumping veterans, who won’t hold onto their roster spots forever:
C Henry Davis
Henry Davis was the No. 1 overall pick to Pittsburgh back in 2021, but now in year four in the majors, the 26-year-old is running out of time. Pittsburgh already has Endy Rodríguez making noise off the bench. He’s 4-for-12 with four walks and a 171 wRC+ in extremely limited action.
Davis is still the Pirates’ go-to behind home plate, but he’s hitting .137 with a team-worst .472 OPS. You’d hope Davis is making up his value on defense, but he’s in the sixth percentile for blocks above average (-4). He supplies decent framing and a strong arm, but Davis is not an all-world caliber backstop. At least not to the extent necessary to overlook such abysmal offensive production.
In addition to a potential bigger role for Rodríguez, Pittsburgh has 25-year-old Rafael Flores Jr., their No. 8 prospect at MLB Pipeline, knocking on the door. Flores is off to a slow start in Triple-A this season, but he made a brief cameo on the Pirates’ 26-man roster last season and could soon step into Davis’ spot if the latter does not improve.
UTL Jared Triolo
Jared Triolo came into the season as an everyday starter for the Pirates, but Konnor Griffin’s promotion ate into his at-bats. And now, Esmerlyn Valdez joins the fray, expected to command reps at first base and in the corner outfield, depending on matchup and rest patterns. And thus, Triolo’s share of the Pirates’ pie continues to shrink.
Triolo’s ability to line up just about anywhere and defend at a reasonably high level is useful, especially when he’s quick on the base paths and capable of sturdy offensive production. Unfortunately, we haven’t really seen Triolo unlock his best production at the plate. He’s currently on track for his third straight season (in a four-year career) with a sub-.700 OPS.
The metrics under the hood abysmal. Triolo isn’t generating hard contact, he’s chasing outside the zone at an alarming rate, and he tends to swing early in counts, which typically means he’s swinging at bad pitches and generating bad results. He’s running out of time with Tyler Callihan, Nick Yorke and others hoping to (re-)punch their MLB ticket.
RHP Dennis Santana
Pittsburgh has built quite the upstart rotation, but the bullpen has become a real problem. Dennis Santana stepped into the closer role last season after the David Bednar trade and thrived, with a killer slider and a few effective fastball variants that kept hitters guessing and produced a ton of soft contact. His 2.18 ERA was a new career best.
That version of Santana is nowhere to be found at the moment. He is a complete drag in high-leverage spots, with a 4.43 ERA that does not fully encapsulate the gravity of his struggles (he has a 5.66 expected ERA). This is more in line with Santana’s career arc, so last season feels like a brief, glorious flash in the pan.
The Pirates will give Santana an extended runway to try and get out of this funk, but with so much young pitching talent in Pittsburgh’s pipeline, Santana’s spot is not guaranteed forever. Isaac Mattson, Hunter Barco and Thomas Harrington are all candidates to hold down a bullpen role or a swingman-type role eventually, with Mason Montgomery angling for more late-inning opportunities on the current MLB roster.
DH Marcell Ozuna
Marcell Ozuna, with a .579 OPS and -0.6 fWAR, is far and away the worst position player on the Pirates roster at the moment. And he barely qualifies as a “position player,” as he operates exclusively in the DH spot. So his presence strips Don Kelly of valuable lineup flexibility as he attempts to mix and match certain pieces, especially with Jhostynxon Garcia and Esmerlyn Valdez freshly joining the MLB squad and in need of regular at-bats.
Ozuna signed a one-year, $12 million contract in Pittsburgh. The money is the only reason Ozuna is still on the roster and in the lineup most nights. The Pirates needed a right-handed power bat, so the signing made sense at the time. Ozuna was still productive last season in Atlanta, even if the signs of impending decline weren’t hard to miss.
He has bottomed out in Pittsburgh, however, so the Buccos need to bite the bullet and consider a change sooner than later. Cutting Ozuna would free up an everyday spot for one of Pittsburgh’s up-and-coming prospects. This probably should have happened yesterday.
More MLB news and analysis:
Add us as a preferred source on Google
