BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates' opening day roster is still far from decided, but some of the dominoes that needed to fall between now and next week are starting to fall.
On Friday, the Pirates optioned Travis Swaggerty and Tucupita Marcano to Class AAA Indianapolis. Both entered the spring in competition for roster spots, and while Swaggerty was arguably the Pirates' best performer in games, the expected limited playing time in the outfield was just too much to overcome.
"He needs to play," Derek Shelton explained Friday. "I think right now, as good of a camp as he’s had — and he’s had a good camp — we still had some guys that are ahead of him. We didn’t see the opportunity right now for every day at-bats. With the time that he’s missed over the last two years, we feel that every day at-bats are really important for him. I think the second part of it is we’ve seen considerable development during Spring Training, and we need to give those adjustments a pathway to work."
With those moves, the Pirates are officially down to 38 players in camp. That number will be 36 soon when Kevin Plawecki officially opts out of his minor-league deal, and because utiltiyman Chris Owings was told he is not making the team.
Owings also has an opt out on his minor-league deal, but he said he would not activate it. He got the news before Saturday's 6-4 loss loss to Orioles at LECOM Park. It will be his last game officially in major-league camp, as he heads to minor-league camp Sunday to prepare to start the season in Class AAA Indianapolis.
Factor in that lefty reliever Jarlín García will start the year on the injured list -- as will right-hander Robert Stephenson, most likely -- and it means the Pirates only have a few more cuts to make before they have their 26 players for the opening day roster.
That roster will fluctuate throughout the year, and the Pirates still could potentially bring in an outsider late to fill a spot like they did last season with Andrew Knapp and Jake Marisnick. But there's something undeniably important about making the opening day roster. There are still some decisions to be made on the position player side in particular that requires a deeper examination.
THE OUTFIELD
Even though Swaggerty was optioned, it doesn't mean Canaan Smith-Njigba is automatically getting the nod.
Bryan Reynolds, Jack Suwinski and Andrew McCutchen are going to be the three primary outfielders on paper to start the year, but McCutchen's elbow is going to be monitored in the early parts of this year. If he needs to start on a throwing program to build up his arm strength, it could potentially create some more playing opportunity early for someone like Smith-Njigba.
And playing opportunity is going to be a big factor in this, as seen with Swaggerty. There wasn't anything else he really could have done to make the team. He just needs to play after missing almost all of 2020 and 2021.
"We just have to balance role on the team," Cherington told traveling media Friday. "Is there a role or how big of a role is there? Shelton and our staff do a great job of looking ahead and anticipating matchups. We can look at April and see who we’re playing and start to get a sense of how much playing time would there be for a particular type of player. We weigh that and certainly weight what has happened in the past, too. Not just spring training but what’s happened in the past where guys have been the last couple years, how much they’ve been able to play."
It sure looks like Connor Joe is going to make the opening day roster, giving the Pirates another option at the corner outfield. The preference seems to be the Pirates would prefer to have another outfielder/utilityman who can play the outfield on the roster. That could open up a spot for Ji Hwan Bae or Mark Mathias.
But don't count out Miguel Andújar. Shelton has brought up his high exit velocities this spring and the Pirates don't have much proven right-handed power on the roster outside of switch-hitters Reynolds and Carlos Santana. Andújar himself is far from proven, but he can play left field, third base and first. Defensive versatility is always a plus.
SECOND BASE
You'd be hard-pressed to say that Owings was in serious consideration for the starting job, and it was clear Marcano had fallen behind what has been a less-than-inspiring position battle, which is why he was optioned.
That leaves Bae, Mathias, Rodolfo Castro and Drew Maggi. Maggi is a really good story and the 33-year-old journeyman has had a terrific spring, batting .400 with three home runs, but he has been used almost exclusively as a late-inning replacement. Even if he is one of the last players in camp, this seems like a longshot.
That leaves Bae, Mathias and Castro. All three are defensively versatile, though Castro has yet to play the outfield. That's important, because without a clear front runner, this could just end up being a rotation to start the year and a competition throughout the campaign.
"We feel really good that we have a number of options at second base, some of whom may start the year in Triple-A and may force themselves up at some point," Cherington said. "We don’t think the competition ends on Tuesday or Thursday. It’s gonna keep going."
BACKUP CATCHER
Plaewcki's locker is cleared out, so it's between Tyler Heineman and Jason Delay, the two catchers who got the most playing time a year ago. Neither has hit well (Heineman has an .095 batting average in his 23 plate appearances and Delay a .154), but this was never going to come down to offense. It was always about who makes the pitching staff better.
"The big thing that we’ve talked about is defense," Shelton said. "We’re really focusing on the defensive component."
Heineman graded better defensively last year (5 defensive runs saved in 386 1/3 innings), but Delay also graded positively with the glove (2 DRS in 436 2/3 innings). What could make the difference is Heineman's adjustment to working from a one knee position more. That's been adopted more within the Pirates' system to help with receiving, and Heineman is working to be part of the trend.
"I’ve been doing something traditionally for 20 years of my life, so trying to figure it out," Heineman said. "I know that it’s beneficial and it’s going to help me and help us get strikes in the long run, but definitely something that is new to me and I gotta flatten the curve quickly."
Heineman graded well as a pitch framer last year --FanGraphs had him at 4.2 runs saved through receiving alone -- but a new catching technique could make the difference.
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Vince Velasquez looked sharp in his final spring training tune up, allowing just one run over 5+ innings with three hits and three walks on his ledger, striking out seven.
He pitched in to right-handers more than he has this spring, sprinkling in more changeups which help set up his four-seamer up in the zone more.
Or to put it in layman's terms, he was able to use all of his stuff effectively and efficiently. We've seen bits and pieces of that in his spring starts, but it all came together in his last outing.
"This is definitely a step in the right direction," Velasquez said. "A big, big step in the right direction, realizing that the season is right around the corner. I think I’m barely tapping into some really good stuff. I’m thrilled. I’m really excited just to be in the rotation. I’m really excited to take on any task at hand. No matter if it’s success or failure, I’m ready to learn."
• Also worth mentioning that Velasquez's four spring starts were all against the Orioles. "I guess I like this team so much," he joked.
* Mixed bag out of the bullpen. Angel Perdomo got out of a jam he inherited from Velasquez with a double-play and a strikeout, but Wil Crowe allowed four runs in the seventh before Jose Hernandez gave up a solo shot in the sixth to put the game out of reach.
The Pirates mounted an eighth inning comeback behind a two-run double by 2021 6th-round pick Mike Jarvis, but left a couple runners in scoring position.
• Time of game: 2 hours, 32 minutes. For a spring training night game, the pitch clock gets extra love.
