Catcher Endy Rodriguez, starting pitcher Quinn Priester and infielder short stop Liover Peguero are the latest young Bucs to join the Major League club.
They join outfielder/yet-to-be-a-catcher-in-the-Majors Henry Davis and second baseman Nick Gonzales.
That’s five players. Throw in the injured infielder Oneil Cruz, third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes (currently in the IL with back issues) and outfielder Bryan Reynolds and outfielder Jack Suwinski, that is your team of the future for better or worse…hopefully better.
Excluding pitching, this is the team that General Manager Ben Cherington has been building since the end of 2019.
It’s an exciting time for Pirates fans but it’s also a big nerve-racking.
This is supposed to be the team that takes the Pirates to the postseason again after a brief oasis of success from 2013-2015.
This is the team that Cherington and the Pirates have invested in. If they succeed great! But if they fail, it’s going to be an even longer wait for Pirates fans for any postseason success.
If they have to rebuild again, that means Cherington is out and a new GM has to rebuild the system again. That means another 5 to likely 10 more years of losing.
Three playoff years in 40 seasons would be difficult for Pirates to swallow. It’s also been over 40 years since they won a series in the playoffs, the 1979 World Series.
Hopefully this group of young players gels and we see some success, but if you’re a Pirates fan, you know how hard it can be to stay optimistic.