Checking out the Altoona Curve’s lineup late in the season, there were more than a handful of intriguing outfielders. Matt Fraizer was the Class High-A East League MVP before being promoted, joining a group that already had Canaan Smith-Njigba, Cal Mitchell and Jack Suwinski, all of whom had strong seasons and established themselves as prospects.
Will we see most of that Curve outfield in the majors one day?
“I hope so,” Mitchell said with a smile during an end of season Zoom call. “If I was making the decisions [we would].”
Some of those players could very well wind up in the majors in 2022, adding some much-needed new blood to an outfield group that is two players short.
Bryan Reynolds was everything the Pirates could have asked of him this season. He started in the All-Star game, hit .302 with 24 homers and a .912 OPS, was worth 6 WAR and proved that he could handle center field at the major league level. He anchored the outfield, which is why there have been so many cries to extend him.
The players who played on either side of him rotated all season. Ben Gamel was picked off the waiver wire in May, and depending on how you value his defense, was either a pleasant surprise (1.4 WAR by FanGraphs’ measure) or just a fill-in (0.1 WAR according to Baseball Reference). His .750 OPS and hustle were definitely pluses, though.
There were no questions Yoshi Tsutsugo’s defense – it was just flat out bad – but his eight home runs and .882 OPS over the final month and a half of the season definitely eased that blow. If he returns, he'll certainly be a first baseman or designated hitter primarily. Anthony Alford came into spring training as the presumed center fielder but was designated for assignment in April. After tearing up Class AAA Indianapolis, he earned a second chance with the Pirates and finished strong, posting a .276/.353/.500 slash line in September.
Those were just the players who eventually worked out, though. Plenty of players cycled through those other spots with pretty terrible results. Gregory Polanco, Phillip Evans, Ka’ai Tom, Troy Stokes Jr., Jared Oliva, Hunter Owen and Dustin Fowler all produced terrible results.
Going by Baseball Reference’s WAR, Reynolds was worth six wins this season. Every other Pirate player who received most of their defensive innings in the outfield combined for -2.3 WAR. If it wasn’t for Reynolds, this would have been the worst outfield in baseball.
Of that second batch of listed outfielders, Evans and Oliva were the only two of that bunch not to be designated for assignment or released, and both will very likely be non-tendered next month instead.
Instead, those spots are going to go to outfielders with Indianapolis. But how many of those players are going to be added?
The Pirates have four outfield prospects in Class AAA who will need to either be added to the 40-man roster next month or be exposed to the Rule 5 draft: Mitchell, Smith-Njigba and Suwinski and Travis Swaggerty. Leaving a player off of the roster does not guarantee a team will lose them, but as far as Rule 5 risks go, taking a Class AAA outfielder is one of the safer bets you can make. You almost have to assume you’ll lose the player and hope you’re wrong.
Of those four, the only one that is guaranteed to be added is Swaggerty. The 2018 first-round pick is the team’s No. 14 prospect, according to Baseball America, and impressed at the alternate site this April, with general manager Ben Cherington calling him their most consistent hitter there. Had it not been for a dislocated right shoulder in May, Swaggerty almost certainly would have been called up at some point this season. He’s expected to make a full recovery with his non-throwing shoulder and be a full participant at spring training. A midseason promotion seems fairly guaranteed for next year.
After that, all three of the other outfielders have perks, but Smith-Njigba is the only one to crack the top 30 prospect list at No. 29
Smith-Njigba came over from the Yankees in the Jameson Taillon trade this past offseason and is currently in Arizona taking part in the Fall League. A strong showing there would go a long way for him. He has some impressive raw power, but it translated to just six home runs over 66 games in Altoona but made up for it with an impressive 16.9% walk rate, .398 on-base percentage and stealing 13 bases with just one caught stealing. He is going to have to stick at a corner defensively, but he has offensive upside.
Mitchell was drafted in the second round in 2017, and has posted consistently good, but never outstanding results at each stop of his career. There isn’t a particular weakness in his game, but the trade off is he doesn’t have a tool that stands out, either. Still, the Pirates love his mental makeup and how he approaches the game, and at 22, there is still room for potential development.
After failing to get much traction in his first five years of pro ball, Suwinski broke out in a big way in 2021, posting a .262/.383/.485 slash line with 19 home runs between the Padres’ and Pirates’ Class AA affiliates. One analyst said that Suwinski’s results this year were the best for any Pirate prospect, going based off level, age and peripherals. Baseball America listed him as a fast riser. He makes good swing decisions and has some pop in his bat, but is prone to whiffs on pitches in the zone.
Take your pick on which players to add, because it doesn’t seem likely they’ll all make the cut.
Yes, the Pirates could potentially add all four outfielders to the roster, but that seems unpractical and unlikely. The Pirates are facing a roster crunch this winter, needing to add many top prospects or risk losing them. Does it make sense to make 10% of your roster outfielders with no major league experience? The Pirates could also still add to that outfield mix via trade or free agency, which would also take a spot.
The Pirates need outfield reinforcements and are guaranteed to get at least some from the minors. Ideally, those prospects will push each other while trying to get that chance.
“They’re special,” Smith-Njigba said about that outfield group. “We’re all competing and making each other better, and it’s fun. It’s fun being around great talent and a great group of guys.”
