During his first season with the Yankees in 2022, the last in which he was a full-time shortstop, Isiah Kiner-Falefa remembered feeling tight, almost not himself. He wanted to live up to the expectations of the opportunity he had received and try to be a traditional shortstop. However, years later, he's realized that's not how he should've played.

Over the last few years, Kiner-Falefa has bounced around the diamond, playing in a myriad of roles in a utility role and he believes that freed him up from an athleticism standpoint.

“I was trying to be a one-dimensional shortstop and it really, I think it hurt me because I wasn’t able to use my athleticism the way I could when I was bouncing around,” said Kiner-Falefa, who went 1-for-3 today in the Pirates’ 4-3 win over the Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, Fla.

During his first year in New York, Kiner-Falefa struggled. He was decent at the plate, hitting .261/.314/.327 with a .642 OPS, four home runs and 48 RBIs in 142 games. But, it was his defense – something Kiner-Falefa takes an immense amount of pride in after winning a Gold Glove award at third base in 2020 – that was most apparent. 

Depending on where you find your advanced analytics, Kiner-Falefa was worth -3 Outs Above Average, a range-based metric of skill that shows how many outs a player has saved over his peers, that season, according to Baseball Savant. He was worth -6 OAA at shortstop during his final year with the Rangers in 2021. 

However, according to those statistics, Kiner-Falefa didn’t necessarily struggle going left or right during those years. He struggled coming in on the ball where he was worth -14 OAA in 2021 and -10 OAA in 2022 at shortstop, while he was worth positive values going both to his left and his right.

After those two seasons, Kiner-Falefa moved back into a utility role similar to what he played during the early parts of his career. He played every position but first and catcher with the Yankees in 2023 and played second base, third base and shortstop last season.

“When I went to utility, I freed myself up in a way where I haven’t been since my rookie year, like when I was younger and enjoyed the game,” Kiner-Falefa said. “So taking that approach and going back to shortstop, I felt like there’s less pressure, more fluidity on plays like charging the ball like an outfielder rather than your basic shortstop. I guess it gave me the freedom of not being your traditional shortstop and doing things a little different. When I played third base, there’s a certain type of way I like to field. When I play center field, there’s a certain way I like to field and blending that all together back at shortstop.”

Throughout this spring, rather than bouncing around, Kiner-Falefa has spent all of his time at shortstop. In the past, he would spend his time moving around the infield, working at different positions and trying to make sure he was ready to play wherever teams needed him. But, he’s also focused on a plethora of different things, including arm strength.

Kiner-Falefa has one of the weaker arms in the league, according to Baseball Savant. He ranked in the 14th percentile at 78.4 mph last season, which was the second-lowest mark in the league among shortstops with at least 100 throws from the position.

“Arm strength is a big thing and just understanding a shortstop throws a lot farther than any other position on the field,” Kiner-Falefa said. “So, just taking more of a pitcher’s approach with arm care. I think the biggest thing for me is being able to do it all year because I can play shortstop at a high level, it’s just making sure that I can be there consistently when it’s cold, when it’s hot, when there’s 15 inning games, just taking an approach of the long run and what I need to do to stay healthy and stay atop my game.”

During PiratesFest at the end of January, Derek Shelton and Ben Cherington were asked about Kiner-Falefa taking over as the full-time shortstop, despite advanced analytics saying he might not be a great fit for the position. 

Both expressed an extreme amount of confidence in Kiner-Falefa, saying their own defensive analytics show that he can be a good defensive shortstop. Shelton believes he has seen that through the spring.

“I think one of our goals coming into spring was to keep him there, so he didn't have to work on different arm angles, he didn't have to work on bouncing around,” Shelton said. “We just kept him at one spot and let him work there. I think he's been really consistent and very good so far."

However, there’s also the matter of Kiner-Falefa’s performance at the plate. After recording one of the best first halves of his career in Toronto to start the season, hitting .292/.338/.420 with a .758 OPS to go alongside seven home runs and 33 RBIs, he fell off in Pittsburgh. 

Over the Pirates’ final 50 games, Kiner-Falefa hit .240/.265/.322 with a .587 OPS. He only added one home run and 10 more RBIs and struck out 41 times – four more than he did with the Blue Jays in 33 less games. He told me he felt very “spinny” at the end of last season while recovering from a left-knee sprain that sent him to the 10-day injured list and he felt like he was overcompensating at times.

“I didn’t have a great half last year and I think we’re just trying to get me back into using my legs the right way like I did in Toronto,” said Kiner-Falefa, who is also reuniting with hitting coach Matt Hague and former teammate Daniel Vogelbach, two guys he credits for his success with the Blue Jays. “I think I had a lot of bad habits, coming back from injury, I was just trying to do too much. So, I’m just trying to get back to playing my game and that’s going to be bunting, hitting and running and that frees me up to do everything else I need to do.”

There is a lot of speculation about whether or not Kiner-Falefa can be a full-time shortstop for the Pirates this season. Defensive numbers from early in his career, and even last season where he was worth -2 OAA at shortstop, tell the story of a player who doesn't necessarily have all of the tools and range to make the plays that are needed. But, after bouncing around as a utility player, Kiner-Falefa, who was drafted as a shortstop out of high school, is ready for his full-circle moment this season.

“I’m just excited for an opportunity after New York,” Kiner-Falefa said. “I haven’t had an opportunity after New York to play there so I think this is the perfect opportunity for me and I know everybody in this clubhouse wants to put a bright light over the Pittsburgh Pirates. This place means a lot to me and means a lot to everybody in here and it’s time to win. It’s now or never, so we gotta go.”