Pirates Infield: Flexible Fantasy

It’s time for our Depth Chart Discussions to begin. In an effort to suss out every team, we’ve divided them into four parts (infield, outfield, bullpen, and rotation) and will begin breaking them down for you over the next few weeks. You can find them gathered here.

The Pirates have clearly learned lessons from the Rays and A’s. Those two scrappy clubs frequently contend by virtue of depth and unexpected breakouts. As a franchise, you make your own luck finding cheap talent. From the outside, it looks like they roster as many average major leaguers as possible and then hope for the best. Perhaps it looks the same from the inside.

In any case, the Pirates have enviable infield depth.

The Pirates know how to pinch a penny. So it’s no surprise to see them buy into catcher framing as a means to reduce payroll. Rather than pay to retain Russell Martin, they opted to acquire Francisco Cervelli. The former Yankee isn’t much of a hitter (.278/.348/.381), but he is known for his pitch framing. He’s improved in that regard in each of the last three seasons. He went from about league average in 2012 to one of the best in 2014. He was comparable to Miguel Montero on a per game basis.

Behind Cervelli is another pitch framer – Chris Stewart. His bat is even weaker than Cervelli’s. While Cervelli could possibly work as a second catcher in a 12 team league, Stewart can be ignored.

Pitch framing info from StatCorner.

Here’s an interesting corner of the depth chart. Failed third baseman Pedro Alvarez will likely platoon with Corey Hart. I once played against Alvarez when he was with the Bayside Yankees (a prominent amateur team), and he was the dirtiest third baseman I’ve ever witnessed. It’s funny to see him outgrow the position.

Alvarez is a power bat pure and simple. Fantasy owners should plan to use him exclusively against right-handed starters. If the Pirates are smart, they’ll force the issue. Alvarez has a career .196/.267/.321 line against fellow southpaws. He rakes righties to the tune of .247/.320/.472. It’s not blistering production, but it’ll work from a late-round power selection.

Hart has lost each of the last two seasons to knee injuries. Once upon a time, he was a reliably potent power hitter. He did his damage with the Brewers. They feature an extremely home run friendly park. PNC Park is on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. There are plenty of reasons to doubt a resurgence, but he should still hit reasonably well against lefties.

Feel free to sleep on Andrew Lambo – just file his name away for later. If he lucks into playing time, he has the raw skill set to surprise with decent power.

Walker is coming off a career season, and he’s just 29. Despite a great 2014 season in which he hit 23 home runs and batted .271/.342/.467, he remains relatively affordable. The NFBC folks are drafting him 128th overall, but I’ve seen him go even later in other formats. Most analysts expect hefty regression from the switch-hitter. Personally, I anticipate 17 to 20 home runs. The rest of his numbers should remain consistent with last season.

We have Jung-Ho Kang penciled in for some plate appearances here because Walker tends to accrue minor hurts over a season. The Pirates seem likely to give all of their starters frequent rest.

Before the acquisition of Kang, Mercer was starting to gain some hype as a fantasy target. He has decent contact ability, 10 to 15 home run pop, and he’ll even swipe a handful of bases. At any other position, you’d probably ignore a similar profile. Shortstop is a black hole, so Mercer looked like a core performer.

Now he’ll split time with Kang, who is a completely unknown quantity. If you have FanGraphs+, you can read Dan Farnsworth’s swing analysis. If you’re not a FG+ member, it’s just $6. Farnsworth is our resident swing expert. He’s also the guy who told us that J.D. Martinez would have a huge season – before spring training even began. Look for Kang to supply a low batting average with above average power as he adjusts to the majors.

Playing time could be hard to find in his first professional season. I assume either he or Josh Harrison will fill the wandering utility man role. While Harrison earned a full time look last year, he’s experienced with moving around. Not all players can easily adjust to playing different positions, so there is a chance Kang takes regular reps at third base.

We assume Harrison will earn the nod at third base after hitting .315/.347/.490 in 550 plate appearances. To me, Harrison looks like a less powerful Adam Jones with position flexibility. He may only hit 10 to 15 home runs, but he’ll also swipe 15 to 25 in full playing time. He’s an OBP sink, so he’s not an ideal top of the order hitter.

As mentioned, his experience playing multiple positions could lead to a very different deployment. The entire Pirates infield maintains an impressive level of flexibility.