Pittsburgh Pirates: Assessing Position Players For The Second Half

Outfielders

Jul 8, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder

(25) hits a single during the third inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Cardinals defeated Pirates 5-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The Pirates outfield has experience various forms of success. Ultimately the so called dream outfield is currently out there using speed to make sure as few hits drop as possible. Travis Snider and Josh Harrison have provided depth. Jose Tabata will be graded but Jaff Decker will not be.

Starling Marte– The first thing fans say about Marte is that he lacks plate discipline, this is true, however the walk totals are up this season and he is three away from passing last season’s total and for him that is commendable, even if last season’s mark was 25 walks. I do feel Marte was struggling but having Gregory Polanco up seems to have energized him a bit. His play has improved a little bit but largely it’s the same song and dance and I want to see improvement. Grade C

Andrew McCutchen– This one comes off as nitpicking but that is because the standard is high. Other than Mike Trout there is not a better hitter in baseball than McCutchen. He is having a more complete season in 2014 and has taken Branson’s teachings to heart. The main knock last season was that McCutchen was unable to drive the ball to the opposite field and that has been furthest from the truth this year. McCutchen is a threat to all fields now which is important. McCutchen has seen more 2-0 counts than ever before and is being pitched around but still getting the job done. My knocks are as follows. He is 15-16 in stolen bases which tells me he needs to be more aggressive on the base paths, he has game changing speed and I would love to see him use it. His routes on defense are a concern and his speed saves him or covers his tracks with usually unnecessary dives or jumps. His throwing arm also is below average but slightly improving. This is something that needs to be worked on. This Pirates team would be nowhere without McCutchen and he is once again the National League MVP but with those accolades come higher expectations. Grade A-

Gregory Polanco– You laughed when General Manager Neal Huntington said Polanco was not ready to join the Pirates. Turns out as has been the case often lately, he was right. Polanco’s start was as great as fans could have hoped, the hits were coming, the fielding was electric and then there was that home run at Miami. Polanco’s .288 June has given way to a .211 July and three hits in his last 35 at-bats. That’s not good enough from your lead-off hitter. The thing is that Polanco needs to be an effective lead-off hitter, it fits his skill set. The fielding is fine, I have no concerns about that. Grade C+

Travis Snider– Talk about a team player, he has embraced the pinch hitting role which is essentially his use to this year’s team unless you count his one pitching performance. Not much to reflect upon here, just glad to have him on the team as a pinch hitter, especially considering the team’s struggles in this department in past seasons. Grade C

Jose Tabata– It’s safe to say this experiment failed. The Pirates finally saw it and made the right decision picking Snider over him regardless of the cost. Tabata just did not have a place on the team any more which is a shame but he was out of chances. He would look uneasy in the outfield, especially with running routes and he hit the ball on the ground too much for my liking. Tabata was well liked by his teammates and he is reserved at first, but has an infectious personality. I am a bit surprised that the Pirates brought Matt Hague up instead of him prior to the All-Star Break, but that lets you know how far he has fallen. Now that he is off the 40-man roster, it’s going to be even harder to come back, but you never know. Grade C-