Pittsburgh Pirates: First Half Individual Grades for Bucs Hitters
By Matt Shetler
Starling Marte (.285/.339/.458/8/26)
Jun 30, 2013; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Starling Marte (6) gestures as he takes the field against the Milwaukee Brewers during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Marte came out of the gates on fire and slumped through May but seems to have picked things back up through June and early July. In his first full major league season he is a fixture at the top of the order, hitting .285 with an OPS of .797 (second on the team) and a WAR of 2.0.
In addition he is a very good left fielder and has swiped 23 bases. I would like to see the OBP number a little bit better and for him to draw a few more walks (23) but other than that Marte has been very solid. Grade: A-
Andrew McCutchen (.300/.371/.472/9/42)
Many people like to think Cutch is having a down year, but the reality is that he is having a pretty solid 2013 campaign. He can’t do what he did during June and July last year over the course of a full season.
While his home run total is down, he is hitting .300 and leads the team with an .843 OPS and a 3.3 WAR. In addition Cutch leads the Pirates in runs (tied with Marte), hits (tied with Marte), doubles, walks, average and on base percentage. That’s all while playing a very good center field and swiping 17 bags. Cutch is having another solid first half of the season. Grade: A-
Travis Snider (.228/.300/.348/3/22)
Snider has done some good things, but hasn’t done enough of them consistently. The .348 slugging percentage and .639 OPS really stick out. That’s coming from a guy who is supposed to have plus-power potential. Overall I like what Snider brings to the team, but only as a platoon guy. The Pirates still need an upgrade in right field. Grade: C-
Jose Tabata (.271/.333/.400/2/6)
It’s tough to really give Tabata a grade considering the fact that he has been on the disabled list for most of the season and has only 85 at bats on the season. But I liked what I saw from him early and hopefully he gets a chance to claim the everyday right field job. Grade: C
Brandon Inge (.202/.227/.266/1/7)
Enough talk about the INGE tangibles he brings to the team. There has to be better options at this point. I have seen enough of him for the season as he does very little for me, nor does he impact the team very much. Grade: D-
Other such as Tony Sanchez, Alex Presley, Josh Harrison has received at bats but they all get incompletes for the time being due to the small sample size.
Tomorrow I will take a look at the Pirates pitching staff and hand out first half grades for them as well.