Remember when the Pirates were primed to have the best outfield in baseball? It really wasn't all that long ago although it sure seems like it.
Midway through 2014 – the Pirates' second playoff season – a 22-year old Gregory Polanco joined an ascending Starling Marte, 25, and the National League's MVP, Andrew McCutchen in his prime at 27. That trio had a ton of promise, especially with Marte and McCutchen already established.
Of course, after wild card game losses that season and again in 2015, instead of adding to a 98-win team the Pirates starting taking it apart. Still, the 3 of them looked very much to be that kind of an outfield in 2016. But in 2017 Marte and Polanco got hurt, then McCutchen was traded.
Polanco kept getting hurt and Marte was traded after the 2019 season.
That left Polanco as the last man standing. And now, instead of being part of baseball's best outfield, he is part of arguably baseball's worst and is a big reason why.
In fact, it suddenly occurred to me Sunday afternoon as Polanco was in the process of grounding into a double play after the Pirates had pulled to within one run in the 8th inning in Chicago – with the tying run at third base -that your Buccos have just one bona fide major league outfielder. Not only that, they don't even have an outfielder in their system who projects as a big leaguer; at least not until 2023 at the very earliest.
This is the list of Pirates major league outfielders - Bryan Reynolds. As Tony Kornheiser used to say (and maybe still does), "That's it; that's the list." And you could argue that even Reynolds doesn't qualify.
Reynolds was in the Rookie of the Year conversation after bursting onto the scene in 2019 (after a Marte injury). Reynolds hit .314 with an on-base percentage of .377 and a decent amount of pop – 37 doubles and 16 HRs – for an OPS of .880. Things went sideways for Reynolds in 2020 (as it did for a lot of players) so he still has plenty to prove as a big leaguer. Yet compared to everyone else on the Pittsburgh roster Reynolds is really all they have.
Polanco's major league days appear to be over. His 2019 season was derailed by a series of injuries, which normally wouldn't be a player's fault except, somehow, Polanco never learned to slide. If I'm going to give Reynolds a pass on 2020 then Polanco should get the same courtesy except he was historically bad, batting .153. Plus, he can no longer throw and can barely get a ball back to the infield. This past weekend in Chicago he couldn't even do that. After an encouraging Grapefruit League start, Polanco slumped over the final few weeks and has picked up where he left off, going 1-for-14 so far. At least he has walked 4 times.
This season's centerfielders – Anthony Alford and Dustin Fowler – are a combined 1-for-15. Both are 26 years old and both failed to break through in other, deeper, organizations – Alford with Toronto, Fowler with the Yankees then Oakland. So just three games into the season it really is too soon to judge; or is it?
Fowler has the hit – a pinch-single – after which he reached third base then failed to tag up on a long fly ball which cost the Pirates a run but not the game. Alford has walked 3 times, but was picked off first base in the opener then in the 7th inning Sunday he was doubled off first on a line drive. A team like the Pirates can ill afford mental errors but, sadly, based on what Pittsburgh fans are used to, those guys will fit right in.
Even sadder is what's behind these outfielders. Jared Oliva is one player who has risen through the system and got a few looks at the end of last season but has never played above AA. He is now 26 and working through a back injury in Bradenton so he is not even at the alternate training site.
Cole Tucker is also still in Bradenton but after a brief trial in the outfield in 2020 is once again considered a shortstop. Plus, his problem is that he hasn't shown he can hit in the majors regardless of his position.
Oneil Cruz is also still an infielder but we'll see if the Pirates move him around when the alternate site guys start playing a few games.
Travis Swaggerty is a former first round draft pick, and has a very cool name, but he has underwhelmed at every minor league level, most recently in high A in 2019. He turns 24 in August.
Hudson Head came over from San Diego as the prize in the Joe Musgrove trade and maybe he will prove to be a legitimate prospect. He's a former second round draft pick – out of high school in 2019 – so he's only played 32 games as a pro and was one of many players throughout baseball who were robbed of a minor league season in 2020. He turns 20 years old Thursday still waiting to hear where and when/if his season will begin.
Those are your Pirates outfielders, a motley crew to be sure. Then again, as was writing this and shaking my head over how bad that outfield is, I heard my colleague Joe Starkey say something that made me nod my head. Maybe Polanco is doing just what the organization needs him to do – help ensure the Bucs get the best possible draft pick!
As painful as 2021 may be, at this point it would be more painful to let Kumar Rocker or Jack Leiter get away.
