Battling Bucs : First Quarter Grades

The season is roughly one quarter of the way complete. At 24-17 the Pirates are sitting in a nice position but with a lot of games in front of them. It is still early enough in the season that it still feels new but yet we have a rather large sample of data to draw on with 41 games on the books. Some players have helped the Pirates get to their current spot while others might have possibly hindered them let’s take a look back and see how the players are faring at the quarter pole.
Russell Martin
Let me start by saying man do I have some crow to eat. Martin was the Pirates big free agent splash this past offseason and while I didn’t have anything really negative to say about Martin I wasn’t a big fan of the signing as I thought the money would have been better spent on an arm. So far this season Martin has been rock solid behind the plate and has been the Pirates best offensive weapon.
Grade: A
Michael McKenry
Now I won’t eat as much crow here as I did for Martin. I never believed McKenry should be the starting catcher but rather I felt he would be a good player to have in a time share with a less expensive free agent catcher. So far this season McKenry has been a disaster as a defensive catcher but has been an asset with the bat. He is showing himself to be a good solid reserve catcher and really with Martin that is all we need him to be
Grade: C
Garrett Jones
Jones is having a typical Jones year. He has been rock solid with the bat providing some good pop and settling into the cleanup spot due to Alvarez’s struggles but his defense has once again been poor. The bright side to his defense is that according to advanced defensive metrics his poor play is almost entirely a product of his time in the OF as a 1B he has been roughly neutral meaning not giving the Pirates any value with his defense but not losing any either. As long as Hurdle keeps Jones out of the outfield he is a valuable commodity for this club.
Grade: B
Gaby Sanchez
I’ll admit I wasn’t thrilled when the Pirates gave up the competitive balance pick for Sanchez. Value wise it was fine but the added flexibility the allotted pool for that pick would have given the Pirates in this year’s draft would have been nice to hang on to. However despite my doubts Gaby has proven to be a good value for the Pirates. He is showing good plate discipline having easily the highest walk rate on the team and overall his bat has been strong. He is probably best used in his current role however as the top pinch hitter and compliment to Jones. The only knock so far has been his defense at 1^st base as it hasn’t been quite as good as advertised.
Grade: B
Neil Walker
Walker is having a typical Walker like year except the power isn’t there yet and that has been disappointing. He is hitting the ball well though as his 31.1% line drive rate is the highest on the team and sooner or later some of those line drives are going to start falling and going for extra bases. On the downside Walker missed a couple weeks due to injury and has really struggled this season against left handers. There is nothing you can do about the injury but I would like to see him improve his numbers against lefties even if it is only slightly.
Grade: C+
Clint Barmes
Once again Barmes has been a disappointment with the bat. His start to 2013 is actually slightly better than his 2012 start but with an OPS in the .500s it still isn’t good enough. The bright side is that his defense has still been solid and that lately he has been on a bit of a hot streak with a 7 game hitting streak but even with all that he still doesn’t provide much value unless he can get his offensive production up a little higher. With the dearth of shortstop talent in the league having a guy like Barmes isn’t the worst thing but obviously it could be better.
Grade: C
Jordy Mercer
Mercer hasn’t gotten a ton of playing time but in the little he has received he has been impressive. He is showing some surprising power with a team high .606 slugging percentage but so far he hasn’t shown much of an ability to take a walk with a 2.90 BB%. Despite the good power numbers his line drive rate is very low at 7.4% so he isn’t squaring up on the ball all that particularly well. Defensively speaking he has been solid in his limited chances.
Grade: I (incomplete)
John McDonald
I never understood the point of adding John McDonald to this roster. Given the right team his skill set could add some value but with a light hitting bench and a defensive first shortstop his potential impact on the Pirates seemed minimal. Not surprisingly McDonald has been awful with the bat but somewhat surprisingly his defense at shortstop has also been rather poor meaning he has brought essentially nothing to the table.
Grade: D
Pedro Alvarez
To date Alvarez has been awful with the bat. His .188/.237/.336 line cannot be tolerated. He has been a detriment to this team but sadly there doesn’t appear to be much of an alternative. Sitting him for a few days at this point would probably be a good idea but giving up on him this year is not something the Pirates can do yet. There is some hope for Alvarez as his 6 HR is tied for the team high, his line drive rate of 20.0% is solid and his BABIP of .228 suggests he has been unlucky but his strike out remains above 30% which is a big cause of his problems. Defensively speaking he has actually been fairly solid.
Grade: D
Brandon Inge
I never really seen the difference between what Inge brings to the table and what Josh Harrison did so I never really understood why the Pirates added him to the team but nevertheless his presence there isn’t a bad thing as he can be useful in the right role. So far this season Hurdle is using Inge in a little larger role than I would like but I’m hoping most of that has to do with the injuries suffered by Walker and Tabata. Inge has been pretty bad with the bat so far this season as Barmes is actually out hitting him but he has shown a good glove and provided the team with a spark when he came off the DL.
Grade: C-
Starling Marte
Marte has begun to cool off as of late but there is no denying that he has been excellent this season. He is showing good power and excellent speed and has just been an all around offensive force. He also hasn’t struck out as much as I was afraid he might. The only downside I can see is that his walk rate is too low but given the kind of contact he has been making I can live with that. Defensively speaking Marte has been sensational in LF but the advanced metrics really don’t like what he has done in his limited time in center.
Grade: A
Andrew McCutchen
It hasn’t been the same McCutchen we saw last year but he has still been very solid so far. McCutchen’s overall numbers seem just average but he is still displaying great plate discipline (8.9 BB%, 10.7 K%) and hitting the ball well (23.1 LD% and 38.8 FB%). I’m thinking it is just a matter of time before he catches fire. Also on the positive side his defense in center field which has been frequently criticized has been good so far this season.
Grade: B-
Travis Snider
Snider is having a bit of an interesting season so far. The power potential we all know is in him hasn’t been there but he has done an excellent job adjusting to his role as a number two hitter. By all means Snider is off to a great start but it just isn’t the kind of great start we all hoped and envisioned he would have. He has been a very valuable hitter though and we cannot take anything away from that. His defense though has been a little shaky in right field so hopefully that gets straightened out.
Grade: B
Jose Tabata
The highly criticized Jose Tabata is off to a very solid start of his own. He has been the hitting the ball really well and between him and Travis Snider the Pirates are getting very good production out of right field. Tabata is displaying his great on base skills despite the fact his walk rate is a little lower than what it usually is when he is doing well. In the field Tabata has been about neutral with his glove. It has been an interesting competition between him and Snider for playing time in RF and that should continue going forward.
Grade: B
A.J. Burnett
What can one say about Burnett? He has been nothing short of excellent since he joined the Pirates. This season he has easily been the Pirates best starting pitcher and he has ramped up his strikeouts. I would like to see Burnett go a little deeper into games but he has been improving on that lately and with how he has been pitching it is really difficult to even be critical of that. The advanced numbers suggest he has been every bit as good if not better than what his regular numbers say.
Grade: A
Wandy Rodriguez
Rodriguez hasn’t been dominating hitters like Burnett but he has been very solid. He is doing an excellent job limiting the amount of free passes he allows but his strike outs are a little lower than I would like to see them. The numbers suggest he has probably been a bit lucky so far but Rodriguez knows how to pitch and I think that should help him avoid too big of a regression going forward.
Grade: B-
Jeff Locke
There is a segment of Pirates fans that were a little disappointed when Jeff Locke made the rotation out of Spring Training but I wasn’t one of them. I felt Locke had earned a chance to show what he could do at the major league level. So far he has shown himself to be a decent starter and somewhere who can hold down a back of the rotation job. His overall numbers show him to be having a very good season but even more so than Wandy he has been lucky. The strike outs aren’t there like we want to see them and the walks are a touch too high and these are both areas Locke will need to improve on going forward in order to avoid a big regression.
Grade: B-
James McDonald
Call it what you will good JMac and bad JMac, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but the point is we saw both JMacs this season but unfortunately more often than not it was bad JMac on the mound. When he pitched this season something just didn’t look right with McDonald and now he is on the DL hopefully getting whatever it was straightened out. He has undoubtedly been a disappointment this season but I am holding out hope he can come back and contribute some time this season
Grade: D
Jonathan Sanchez
Yikes! Let’s just pretend he was never here … OK?
Grade: F
Jeanmar Gomez
Gomez has pitched well so far but the Pirates are getting lucky with him. He isn’t someone you want to keep in your rotation for too long and the Pirates would be best served getting him out of there before he seriously hurts them. The one thing Gomez is doing very well is getting ground balls and that coupled with his ability to go multiple innings make him useful long reliever but not a starter. I think the funniest thing with Gomez right now is that his LOB% (strand rate) as a starter is currently 100%. His ERA is 1.93 as a starter solely because he has allowed 1.93 HR/9.
Grade: C+
Francisco Liriano
It is difficult to read too much into two starts but Liriano has been impressive so far. In order to keep things going fairly well this season the Pirates are probably going to need Liriano to continue pitching well and join Burnett and Rodriguez at the top of the rotation. Liriano is getting a fair number of strike outs which is good and his walk rate hasn’t been outrageous but he isn’t getting ground balls at the frequency he is used to and it would be a plus if he could start going just a little deeper into games.
Grade: I (incomplete)
Jason Grilli
Do I really need to say anything here? Grilli has been simply amazing as the closer. His strike out rate is sky high and he has been nearly perfect on the mound.
Grade: A
Mark Melancon
Basically everything I said about Grilli applies here. Melancon’s strike out rate isn’t quite as impressive as Grilli’s but it is still good and his walk rate is minuscule. He has quite simply been phenomenal.
Grade: A
Tony Watson
Watson has been rather poor so far this season although I contend some of that is from poor usage of him rather than poor pitching by him. He has done a much better job avoiding allowing walks this season and the numbers seem to suggest he is due for an improvement. So far this season Watson has been the weak link in the bullpen but honestly if a guy like him is the weak link thing are going very very well.
Grade: D
Justin Wilson
Wilson has been great in a relief role. His walk rate is too high but he is offsetting that by not allowing many hits. Overall he is due for some regression but even so he has the look of a very good high leverage multiple inning reliever essentially slotting right into the role Brad Lincoln occupied last season.
Grade: B+
Vin Mazzaro
Mazzaro has been really effective out of the bullpen. He isn’t striking out many hitters but he isn’t walking may either and is inducing a lot of ground balls which more than makes up for the lack of strike outs. Overall Mazzaro hasn’t been the best pitcher out of the bullpen for the Pirates but as a 6^th or 7^th reliever he is certainly getting the job done.
Grade: B-
Jared Hughes
Hughes is a lot like Watson except from the right side. He isn’t a pitcher you want at the back of your bullpen but he has the skill set to be a solid middle reliever but unfortunately at times players like him are going to struggle and that is exactly what happened to Hughes this season. Hughes had a rough start to the season and now finds himself in AAA. He is pitching well there and will probably be back up some time this season to provide some bullpen depth.
Grade: D
Bryan Morris
Morris essentially replaced Hughes on the roster and while he is getting good results with his 2.84 ERA the rest of his numbers suggests he really hasn’t been that much better. Morris isn’t getting many strike outs and is walking a ton but is inducing a lot of ground balls (which outside of Grilli and Watson is a theme for Pirates relievers so far). Morris has the makings of a solid reliever but still has some work to do to get there.
Grade: C-
Jose Contreras
Contreras has only pitched in 4 games and in those games he has been hit around pretty good but his numbers suggests a lot of that is bad luck. He has a 4.50 ERA but his xFIP is a good looking 2.86. Contreras is doing everything you want to be doing, inducing ground balls, getting strike outs and limiting free passes so I think he’ll be fine going forward.
Grade: I (incomplete)
Others
There are a few players here I haven’t mentioned. Phillip Irwin and Chris Leroux have also pitched for the Pirates this season and Alex Presley and Josh Harrison have both been up in the majors for a short time in a bench role. Overall these players had minimal impact on the first quarter of the season. Leroux was bad in his few chances and is now out of the organization but the other three can and very well might been seen from again. Also special mention to Duke Welker who spent 3 days with the team but didn’t get to play.
Grade: I (incomplete)