BRADENTON, Fla. -- At some point, the Pirates are going to have to make some decisions with their group of young outfielders. It doesn't have to be right now -- spring training games have barely begun, after all -- but there is a roster crunch coming and there may be a limited amount of playing time to be won. After all, Bryan Reynolds is still on the team, Jack Suwinski made a good impression last year and Andrew McCutchen is going to get some reps there, even if he's trending to be a designated hitter.
So while there's been plenty of discussion of the second base and bullpen competitions, that outfield fight still looms at large. Cal Mitchell, Canaan Smith-Njigba, Ryan Vilade, Ji Hwan Bae, Tucupita Marcano, Connor Joe, plus non-roster players like Matt Gorski and Chavez Young all could get reps at some point this year. If they don't produce, it could also jeopardize their standing with the team.
That goes for Travis Swaggerty too. The former first-rounder got a five-game cameo in the majors last year, but spent most of the campaign in Indianapolis. It's put him in a position where 2023 very well could be a make-or-break year.
If it is now or never, he certainly has started strong. After hitting a 433-foot home run Wednesday against the Tigers, he showed off the arm Thursday with a strike to home to get Estevan Florial. That throw ended up being the highlight in the Pirates' 9-1 loss to the Yankees at LECOM Park.
The arm on Swaggy T 👀 pic.twitter.com/DZKFB7LSNn
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 2, 2023
"There’s a lot of work to do, but I feel like right now, I’m playing with a chip on my shoulder, trying to make this club and I’m doing everything I can to do that," Swaggerty said. "I just got to keep working hard every day and try to get myself better, get ready for the season and things will fall into place.”
The 2022 season gave Swaggerty plenty of time to reflect. Personally, both his wife and one-year old daughter had serious health scares. (Both are doing much better now.) Professionally, Swaggerty was still semi-limited for part of the year because of his right, non-throwing shoulder injury that cost him virtually the entirety of the 2021 season. With no games in 2020 because of COVID-19 and some soreness early in camp in 2022, he was playing catchup.
In the process, several other outfielders leapfrogged him on the depth chart, like Suwinski, who went from Class AA Altoona to the majors.
"Last year, coming off the injury, there was a lot less shot I would make the team out of camp," Swaggerty said. "Last year was all about volume. But this year, the leash is off. I’m healthy, I’m good to go. It’s just getting myself ready and if I do that, take care of my business, things will work out."
Other players got a longer look in the majors than him last year, but Swaggerty doesn't view himself as the dark horse in this competition. He knows he has the potential to be a big-leaguer, and that throw Thursday and his homer Wednesday shows that he has tools. So bring on the challenge.
“I think competition is always a good thing," Swaggerty said. "If we have that many good players, talented players competing for a job, it’s only a good thing for us to win ballgames. But my mentality going into it is I’m competing against myself. If I start looking around and looking over my shoulder , trying to see what everybody else is doing, it might make me stress, it might make me press. I’m better when I play loose. My mindset is I’m just going to do my thing every day, play the best of my ability, control what I can control and not worry about it. If I do what I need to do, then we’re fine.”
Someone from this group is going to have to stand out. The plan for this Pirates rebuild was always to add as many talented young players into the system as possible and try to develop them. Now that they are in position to finally step out of the early phases of that plan and take a step closer to becoming a competitive club, there are going to be positions where multiple players fight for one or two jobs.
To win those reps, you have to stand out.
"I think the one thing we find out with guys that come into the big leagues, especially in developmental organizations or where development is so important in organizations, you’re going to have guys that play in Triple-A that have big league time," Derek Shelton said. "I mean, it’s just something that’s going to happen. Part of the competition and pushing yourself in the big leagues is dominating a level. That’s really important.”
He's not at a level per se yet, but Swaggerty is making his case early this spring.
"I forced their hand," Swaggerty said about why he got called up the first time. "I was playing well. When I came back, I wasn't playing as well as when I got called up. I didn't really force their hand again, but I was definitely in a position to do that. So this year's all about forcing their hand. Especially this spring training. Someone in this locker room is going to have to force their hand. So in my mind, why shouldn't it be me?"
MORE FROM THE GAME
• Mitch Keller's second spring start didn't go as smoothly as the first, allowing a pair of home runs, one on a fastball to Anthony Volpe, the other on a slider Rafael Ortega.
"I thought I executed really well except for one pitch to Ortega that just leaked over the middle of the plate," Keller said. "I’ve never seen a hitter do that to my slider. I just need to get it down and away more, I guess. Other than that, I thought I was really good."
They're spring results. The fastball velocity was there, routinely hitting 97-98 mph, and the breaking pitches spun. Keller said he felt good afterwards, which with good pitch data is basically all you can take from an early spring outing.
The day's relievers mostly consisted of roster players competing for jobs. Colin Holderman allowed an unearned run and Yerry De Los Santos allowed a run on two hits and a walk. Outside of that, Wil Crowe was spotless, as was Jose Hernandez and Angel Perdomo. Tyler Chatwood allowed a grand slam in the ninth to make the score more lopsided.
• The Pirates were nearly no-hit in this one. Matt Fraizer broke up the bid with a shift-beating infield single to lead off the ninth. Drew Maggi hit a solo shot with two outs to prevent the shutout.
• It was a split-squad day Thursday. Roansy Contreras tossed two innings of one-run ball in Dunedin, Fla. against the Blue Jays, striking out three with one hit and one walk on his ledger. He was sitting 94-96 mph with his fastball throughout the game. Looking at the calendar, this is probably his last outing before going to the World Baseball Classic to pitch for the Dominican Republic team.
Connor Joe had a single and a double as the Pirates played to a 2-2 tie. They are now 1-4-1 on the season.
• Holderman hit 99.9 mph in his inning of work. He maxed out at 99.4 mph in his time in the majors last season.
He's going to be a big part of this bullpen this year. Pretty good impression out of the gate.
• I mean, just this at-bat:
Wandy Peralta striking out Tucupita Marcano in approximately 20 seconds. pic.twitter.com/XgCXwJXOdh
— Lucas (@DBITLefty) March 2, 2023
Long live the pitch clock.
