Coming out of the All Star break, the Pirates are pretty much where we expected – 22 games under .500 and firmly entrenched in last place in the NL Central. The surprise is that they are 9 games ahead of the awful Arizona Diamondbacks so they’re a long shot to have the number one overall draft choice in 2022.
Unless … they play much worse over the final 72 games.
Could they? Perhaps!
Here are some fearless predictions for various Pirates – and soon-to-be ex-Pirates – over the rest of the season.
Adam Frazier He will be traded but not right away. Expect GM Ben Cherington to be patient up until the July 30th deadline, hoping to create a bidding war for MLB’s hit leader. The Pirates will get a decent return but it will not be White Sox 1B/OF Andrew Vaughn.
Tyler Anderson Some think hope that the Bucs can package him with Frazier to get Vaughn but that won’t happen.
Still Anderson will accomplish what the Pirates got him for – they’ll flip him to a contender for a mid-level prospect.
Richard Rodriguez May not bring the return it appeared he might when he was practically unhittable through his first 19 appearances, but Rodriguez should still be valuable to a contender with a shakier bullpen. He will fetch a slightly higher end, but very young, player in return
David Bednar With Rodriguez gone, will inherit save opportunities (assuming there are any) with some growing pains early on but look for Bednar to embrace the role and be the closer heading into 2022.
Bryan Reynolds His career year will continue; will finish with over 25 HRs, around 90 RBIs, his OPS will continue to hover around .900. Center field is his for at least the next 4 seasons.
Ke’Bryan Hayes He was just starting to heat up before the break so he will raise his current .262 average into the .280 range by season’s end, will finish with double digit HRs and will make at least 2 or 3 more defensive plays that will lead MLB highlights.
Colin Moran Will return from the injured list, settle into a nice little groove, hit a few home runs then suffer another unlucky, freaky injury. His expression will never change.
Kevin Newman Will finally start to hit; not like Spring Training .700 but more in line with what he should be which is .280-.300. But we will still wonder if he is a legit major leaguer.
Jacob Stallings Will finally win a gold glove.
John Nogowski Will not continue to hit .500 but will hit well enough to retain folk hero status.
If the Pirates were playing well enough to have a folk hero.
Ben Gamel If nothing else, it appears the Bucs finally found a bonafide 4th outfielder who can actually hit over .150.
Rodolfo Castro At 22, it would be nice to see him get some run at second base once Frazier is traded.
JT Brubaker Will continue to demonstrate the proper big league mindset but with occasional bouts of inconsistency.
Mitch Keller Will make 2 more starts at Indy then return to Pittsburgh. After early struggles, he will finally show top-of-the-rotation stuff his final 2 or 3 starts. Then we’ll do it all again next season.
Max Kranick Will start one of the games any time the Bucs have a doubleheader.
Donnie Kelly Despite the Pirates’ poor record, after the season he will interview for at least one managerial job. He won’t get it but he will be a major league manager by 2024.