Position Report Card: Right Field

Right field was another position that the Pittsburgh Pirates were a let down in 2014. You are never going to have a great deal of success when a position's playing time is split between 2 or even 3 people, yet that is what the Pirates did in this situation.

Travis Snider, Gregory Polanco, and even a little bit of Josh Harrison sprinkled in was what the Buccos right field was made up of this past season.

Snider began the season in extremly underwhelming fashion. There was even speculation that he would be designated for assignment when they were thinking about calling up Polanco, but that was not the case. Maybe that was what lit a fire under Snider, but whatever it was he actully ended up putting up some fairly respectable numbers across the board. Snider hit 13 homes runs, had 38 runs batted in, and hit at an avergae of .264 in 140 games played. He also excelled as a pinch-hitter.

Travis Snider pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates
phot courtsey of Snider's twitter account

Polanco was supposed to be a savior for the Pirates. A highly talented rookie this year with still an enermous amount of potential, but it just didn't all click for him this year. We all saw flashes of his talent, but overall he was just a little too inconsistent at the plate going on long stretches without recording a hit. Polanco ended the year with a line of 7 home runs, 33 runs batted in, and a very low .235 batting average.

Gregory Polanco
photo courtsey of pittsburghpirates.com

Combining those numbers, the 2 primary right fielders for the Bucs hit 20 homes runs and batted 71 runs, while not hitting for any kind of average. Not horrible numbers, but definitley not great by any stretch of the word. This is defintiley and area that needs improvement for continued success for the Pirates in 2015.

Overall Grade:  C+

Position Report Card: Center Field

Well this one should be easy. As any and all Pittsburgh Pirates fans know, they have one of the best not only center fielders in the game, but players in general in Andrew McCutchen.

McCutchen won the 2013 National League Most Valuable Player Award, and after finsishing 3rd in the race this past year, that gives him 3 straight top 3 finishes dating back to 2012. McCutchen's impressive numbers this year were as follows:  25 home runs, 83 runs batted in, .314 batting average, and an incredible .410 on-base percentage in a total of 146 games played.

It can be argued that Andrew McCutchen is the heart, soul, and reason that the Pittsburgh Pirates are now a respectable franchise around Major League Baseball. If not for McCutchen, I think that the Pirates would not only have not made the playoffs, but they would still be continuting to their North American Professional Sports record of 20+ consecutive losing seasons.

Along with being an incredible offensive player, McCutchen is way above average patrolling center field for the Pirates, with a gold glove award already added to his resume.

Overall Grade:  A+
 

Photo courtsey of stellcitybuzz.com

Position Report Card: Left Field

Starling Marte was not the only person to play left field for the Pittsburgh Pirates this season, but he was their primary left fielder, so we're going to focus on him for this position report card.

Starling Marte, who now has 2 full seasons under his belt for the Pirates, enjoyed his best year to date this season, having career best numbers in many offensive categories. Marte set career marks for hits (144), doubles (29), home runs (13), runs batted in (56), walks (33), batting average (.291), on-base percentage (.356), slugging percentage (.453), and OPS (.808). Marte also improved slightly in areas of his game that need some work. He decreased his strikeouts and caught stealings in 2014.

Overall, Marte's talent is still very raw. He is only 25 years old and his game is only going to keep improving. Marte has the ability to become a 30 home run and 30 stolen base kind of player in the near future. If that is indeed the case, the Buccos are going to be in great shape at one of the most important positions on the diamond.

***Overall Grade:  B

Position Report Card: First Base

Next on the list of position report cards for the Pittsburgh Pirates is the first base position, where time was split primarily between Gaby Sanchez and Ike Davis this year. For the past couple of seasons, the Pirates have played the match-up game when deciding who to run out their to first base. So this year if their opponent was throwing a left-handed pitcher, the Pirates would use Sanchez, a right-handed batter, and if they faced a right-handed pitcher, Davis would get the start, being a left-handed batter.

This worked out as well as you would think giving two guys limited reps, and never letting a single guy find his rhythm at the plate.... Not very well.

Gaby Sanchez, who has been with the Bucs for the past 2 1/2 years now, struggled this year at the plate. He hit only .229 with 7 home runs and 33 runs batted in. These are very wea numbers all around for a player that appeared in 123 games this season.

Ike Davis performed better than Sanchez, although still no where near great. Davis, who was traded over from the New York Mets this season, hit .235 with 10 home runs and 46 runs batted in. Davis had a very good eye at the plate. He worked 57 base on balls to bring his on-base percentage to a solid .343

Gaby Sanchez (left) and Ike Davis (middle)
photo cred: cityofchampionssports.com
 

It will be interesting to see if the Pirates make any additions to the first base position this off season, or if they decide to again go with the matchup game.

***Overall Grade:  C-

Position Report Card: Second Base

Neil Walker at his alma malter, Pine Richland
photo cred: pinerichland.org

Every Pittsburgh Pirate fan knows who the team's starting 2nd baseman is. It is Neil Walker the Pittsburgh Kid out of Pine Richland high school, and up until this year being the "Pittsburgh Kid" was probably the best part of his game, but not anymore.

Although he battled injuries for a part of the 2014 season, Walker enjoyed his best season of his career both offensively and defensively. If it wasn't for getting hurt, Walker would have been an All-Star selection this season. Walker hit a solid .271 with an impressive 23 home runs and 76 runs batted in. Along with the great offensive output, Walker made only 5 errors in a whopping 630 chances, giving him a .992 fielding percentage. Walker also showed a great improvement with his range this year, surprising us as fans time-after-time with some great game changing plays.

photo cred:  espn.com

Walker definitely surprised me with his great 2014 season, and as a Pittsburgh Pirates fan and Pittsburgh native, I am really looking forward to seeing what he can do as an encore in 2015. I wouldn't be surprised if we see Walker representing the National League at 2nd base next year at the Mid-Summer Classic.

***Overall Grade:  B+

Position Report Card: Shortstop

The next position that will be examined in the post-season position report cards for the Pittsburgh Pirates will be shortstop. Shortstop is one of the most crucial positions in all of baseball, and the Pirates have been  pretty weak here in the recent past.

This year's shortstop was primarily Oklahoma St. product, Jordy Mercer, with a little bit of Clint Barmes mixed in as well. Mercer provided the offense from the position, while Barmes' main role was as a defensive specialist. Although most casual baseball fans probably couldn't tell you who Jordy Mercer or Clint Barmes is, they did a fine enough job this year for the Bucs.

After a very shaky first couple of months of the season for Mercer where he was batting in the .100's, he figured it out and became of of the most productive National League shortstops over the rest of the year. Mercer ended the year hitting .255 with 12 home runs and 55 runs batted in. Mercer was also extremely durable, playing in 149 of 162 total games this past year. Mercer has room to improve defensively in 2015 though, he committed 11 errors this year giving him a .982 fielding percentage.

Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop, Jordy Mercer
photo cred:  baseballnewssource.com

Clint Barmes played in only 48 games in 2014, his lowest total since his 2007 campaign in Colorado. His numbers were not great either. He batted .245 with 0 home runs and just 7 runs batted in. His fielding percentage was not normal of Barmes either. He fielded at just a .975%. Barmes is a free agent this off season, don't look for the Pirates to re-sign him.

Clint Barmes
photo cred:  zimbio.com

So if you throw out a month or two worth of at-bats for Mercer, the offensive numbers produced by Pirates shortstops this season would be pretty good, unfortunately that's not how it works. So below average numbers at the plate and shaky defense do not help this grade.

***Overall Grade:  C

Position Report Card: Third Base

The Pittsburgh Pirates had one of the more interesting 3rd base situations in all of baseball in 2014, but in the end it worked out better than anyone could have imagined.

Pedro Alvarez, a 2013 All-Star selection, National League home run leader, and 2014 starting 3rd baseman not only lost his job to Josh Harrison in 2014, but we may have seen him play his last inning in a Pirate uniform. From an offensive standpoint the numbers were not terrible. Alvarez hit .231 with 18 home runs and 56 runs batted in, in 122 games. The problem was in the field. Alvarez has always been a below average 3rd baseman defensively, but this year was the worst to date. The Pirates even tried moving him to 1st base because Alvarez got to the point where he was no longer able to make an accurate throw across the diamond to 1st base. Alvarez averaged about an error every 4 games, finishing the year with 25 errors in 99 games played at 3rd base.

So if Alvarez had such a dissapointing 2014 season, how the the Pirates manage to make their way to the postseason for a 2nd consecutive year? The answer to that question is Josh Harrison. Harrison was arguably the best story of the year in all of baseball. He basically came out tof nowhere and became an All-Star right in front of our eyes. Harrison has been with the Pirates for 4 years now, but before 2014 he never played in more than 104 games and his primary role was as a utility player, fillling in for players who needed a day off or to provide a spark. Harrison is an NL MVP candidate, finishing the year 2nd in the NL batting race with a .315 average, 13 home runs, 52 runs batted in, and 18 stolen bases. Not to mention Harrison was very solid defensively at 3rd base. He had 3 errors in 72 games at the hot corner for a .984 fielding percentage. Harrison found a home at 3rd base with Alvarez's struggles, but Harrison also played left and right field, shortstop, and 2nd base. Without Harrison's career year, the Pirates would not have had a successful season like they did.

It may not have been the way that they drew it up, but the Pirates couldn't have asked for better numbers from a 3rd baseman than what Harrison provided them with. It will be interesting to see if he can have a repeat performance in 2015, but regardless he deserves a shot to do so with the Pirates at 3rd base next year.

***Overall Grade:  A+