How Choi can help the Pirates at the plate and at first base

Of all the areas where the 100 loss 2022 Pirates struggled, there was no greater weakness than first base.

As a team, Pirate first basemen finished last in baseball in batting average (.206), on-base percentage (.264), slugging percentage (.337), hits (119), runs scored (51) and WAR (-3.0, according to FanGraphs). Compared to other first basemen across baseball, they had just a 61 OPS+, meaning they produced almost 40% less offense than the league-average player at that position.

Talking with Ben Cherington at the GMs meetings in Las Vegas Wednesday, he told me the Pirates would have to be open-minded to "solve" the issue at first. A day later, they brought in someone who could help close that gap, sending over 2020 fourth-round pick Jack Hartman to the Rays for Ji-Man Choi.

"We want to improve," Cherington said over Zoom Friday. "We know in order to improve, we’ve got to build a deeper offensive team, a deeper lineup, hopefully get on base a little bit more. First base/DH is one area, clearly, that we had some opportunity to improve on. In our initial round of calls to teams and agents, Choi is a player who the Rays were willing to talk about. We think he fits well for us. A left-handed hitter with a history off on-base skills, good defender, good reputation as a teammate. We felt good about this as a first move. We’ll continue to look at ways to add to the offense."

Choi has been a good, albeit not eye-opening, player at first for the Rays the past five seasons. Last year, he slashed .233/.341/.388 -- good for a 114 OPS+ -- with 11 home runs and 52 RBIs over 419 plate appearances. He was worth 1.3 fWAR last year, and while that is not an outstanding number, the Pirates have only had one first baseman since 2017 top it: Josh Bell in 2019.

That's good, but what specific areas could Choi provide a boost?

The first is, obviously, on offense and getting on base. Choi posted above-average offensive results in a pitcher-friendly ballpark, even if he tapered off in the second half of the year, posting a .601 OPS in July and .450 in August. Cherington cited a right elbow injury that could have possibly impacted his results, and that Choi will undergo a minor procedure soon to resolve it.

Choi was on the injured list from April 8 to May 8 with lose bodies in that elbow.

The Pirates could certainly use more power, and seeing how Choi has never cracked 20 home runs, it would seem unlikely that he does it now in his age 32 season. However, he could provide more pop than he showed last year. Next season, the league is banning the infield shift, making it that two infielders have to be set up on the infield dirt on both sides of second base.

This could be a boost for Choi, who saw a shift in 83.9% of his plate appearances last year, according to Baseball Savant.

And as one would expect for a slower left-handed hitter, Choi did much better when he didn't face the shift. There is some small sample size in play, but Choi hit .214 with a .342 slugging percentage against the shift last year, as opposed to a .400 average and .767 slugging clip against "standard" defenses.

Teams will still shade infielders to different parts of the diamond, so this doesn't mean Choi is suddently going to become a .400 hitter. But plenty of left-handed hitters should get a boost with the shift being banned, and he could be one.

Pirate first basemen also struggled in the field last year, being worth a combined -2 Outs Above Average, according to Baseball Savant. Choi has received mixed marks defensively based on the source or evaluator, but he was also worth +2 OAA last season.

And if nothing else, he can pull off the Michael Chavis splits, which was the best defensive trait the Pirates had at first base last year.

"We’ve had him as a positive defender in our internal metrics," Cherington said. "... Based on all the public information and our own internal, if we just add ‘em all up and average ‘em, we feel good about him playing defense at first."

There is still a noticeable issue with Choi that is out of his control. He's a left-handed hitter on a very left-handed team. He's also been used mostly as a platoon, and there isn't a clear partner for him on the roster. Cherington said it was too soon to say what his role for next year will be.

So while Choi does address some noticeable problems the Pirates have at first base, he isn't a one-stop fix.

"We just want to continue to find ways to add depth to the lineup," Cherington said. "It could come from someone who could play first base or DH. It could come with players who can play elsewhere on the field. A combination really. Just trying to build a deeper lineup."