Good problem to have
Reynolds, Polanco try to bounce back as newcomers vie for jobs
The Pirates have plenty of options in the outifeld entering the season.
BRADENTON, Fla. — Bryan Reynolds and Gregory Polanco took turns answering questions via Zoom, the two outfielders explaining why and how they think they’re going to bounce back in 2021.
After failing to hit .300 for the first time in a full season since … well, nobody really knows, Reynolds said he was more than willing to chalk last season up as an aberration, fix his timing and start mashing again. Polanco, meanwhile, has taken strides to make more regular contact, a move that’s probably long overdue.
Those things happening would represent a welcome development for the Pirates, who have plenty of unanswered questions in the outfield, starting with who’s likely to be their opening day center fielder.
Manager Derek Shelton described his center field situation as an “open competition” between Brian Goodwin, Anthony Alford and, perhaps, a few others. Looking back, he might have teased the acquisition of Dustin Fowler from the A’s for cash considerations when asked how he would describe what he saw in center.
“I think we feel very comfortable with the guys that we have in that competition,” Shelton said, initially talking about Alford and Goodwin. “There could be other people who bounce into that later in camp.”
It’s unlikely that Fowler will play center field — Shelton actually said he’d get his first look at the corner spots, once he arrives in camp — but it’s not like that gives the Pirates any sort of certainty.
Alford has been limited in his throwing due to lingering throwing issues with his fractured right arm last September. Director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said that Alford was struggling with both velocity and confidence.
Goodwin, meanwhile, appears to be the de facto starter at this point. Unless, of course, the Pirates wanted to play Jared Oliva in left and shift Reynolds to center, which is possible.
That might make some sense, especially since Reynolds has fared fine in center, but they’re also expecting a lot out of Oliva. The Pirates would be jumping a player with six games of MLB experience — who has not yet played in Class AAA — over a veteran in Goodwin who has more than 1,100 big league plate appearances and two years ago had 17 home runs and 29 doubles for the Angels.
All things being (relatively) equal, you take Goodwin there and let Oliva prove himself in the minors every single time.
Fowler offers the real wild card here. He was a Baseball America top 100 guy before the 2018 season and hit .341 in 55 games at Class AAA that season, earning 69 games of big league time. In 2019, Fowler had a career-high 25 home runs at the same level, though he was never promoted.
The A’s designated Fowler for assignment earlier this week when they signed pitcher Trevor Rosenthal and had to clear space on their 40-man roster. However, Shelton said Fowler had some traits the Pirates found appealing, and they decided to take a chance.
“Opportunity to add an outfielder into the group,” Shelton said of why they acquired Fowler for cash. “Guy who hasn’t played in the big leagues the last couple of years, but we really see some signs of some things that we think are very positive. I’m interested to get eyes on him.
“I know him a little bit just from watching him when he was a prospect with the Yankees. I would expect him to play both corners. We may drift him into center a little bit. I haven’t talked to him yet, so I’ll have to talk to him about his comfort level. But we need outfield depth, and to be able to acquire him was good for us.”
The Fowler deal is actually an interesting litmus test for Cherington and his new operation. The GM has talked a lot about needing to help players get better at the upper levels of the minors or even after they’ve played major league games.
This absolutely screams that. At one point, Fowler was an effective player. The Pirates need to bring that out again.
But beyond that, things get really hairy. Canaan Smith-Njigba, Cal Mitchell and 2018 first-round draft pick Travis Swaggerty have been fun to watch — they’re part of the young group making an impression on Shelton and Pirates management — but they’ve also not yet been above High-A.
The only other reliable options on the depth chart at this point would be Troy Stokes Jr. and Fowler. Stokes Jr. has not yet spent time with the major league group during team fielding drills, while Fowler’s last and only substantive action came in 2018.
If Alford can’t field, one of the two will have to make the big club, unless the Pirates feel comfortable shifting Cole Tucker back to that spot. (With Adam Frazier still on the team, it is possible that Kevin Newman or Erik Gonzalez wins the starting shortstop job, and the Pirates are looking for something to do with Tucker.)
It’s also an unfortunate situation for Alford, who seemingly had a path to playing time earlier this offseason, then found himself competing with Goodwin. Now, he’s literally a onearmed man in a job-winning contest.
All the while, Pirates center fielders combined to produce a .561 OPS in 2020, which was the worst such mark in the National League and something they need to fix.
So while it certainly makes sense to focus on the battle at shortstop, do not lose sight of what’s happening in the outfield, where the Pirates need someone here to have a strong spring and secure a starting role.