Pirates Back-up Back Stop in Question for 2017

The Pittsburgh Pirates locked up starting catcher Francisco Cervelli to a three-year deal earlier this season securing their starting catcher for the next three seasons. However, they have to make a decision at the back-up catcher role as to who can be reliable in 2017.

The starting catcher role is one that has been answered for the Pirates for the next couple of seasons when they inked Francisco Cervelli to a three year 31 million dollar contract extension earlier this season. However, with as physically demanding as the catching position is,The question for 2017 is who will be the guy backing up Cervelli when he needs a night off.

The Pirates essentially have three options going into 2017 with each having both good and bad elements. Chris Stewart, Elias Diaz, and Jacob Stallings are the top three candidates to help back-up Cervelli in 2017. Each catcher saw time in 2016 and produced for the team in one way or another and will look to crack the Pirates opening day roster come April.

The first option the Pirates have is veteran backstop Chris Stewart. When the Pirates signed Stewart to a two-year contract extension last off-season, it was with the notion that he would be able to back-up Pirates catchers for the next couple of seasons. However, after an injury plagued 2016 season that saw him only catch 34 games, his lowest total since 2010, Stewart will be looking to hit the comeback road in 2017.

Stewart underwent knee surgery by Dr. James Andrews at the end of the season to repair an ailing left knee that forced him on the 60-Day Disabled list ending his season. At 34 years of age knee surgery is going to be a rough thing for Stewart to come back from. The recovery time for his surgery is six to eight weeks putting Stewart at worst a return date sometime in April which puts him in the running for the main back-up catcher.

Stewart's offensive numbers have skyrocketed since he joined the Pirates prior to the 2014 season. In that season Stewart hit a career high .294 with 10 RBI as the Pirates back-up catcher. His offensive numbers dropped a little bit during the 2015 season where he hit .289 but drove in 15 RBI throughout the course of the season. Stewart is not a guy who will provide pop off the bench as he hit his first Pirates home run in three years during the 2016 season in a game against the Cincinnati Reds, but he can be a serviceable MLB player at the plate.

Stewart's calling card throughout his major league career has been defense. He has a career .989 fielding percentage behind the plate committing 19 errors in 2798.2 career innings of work. Stewart also served as the personal catcher for Gerrit Cole during his 19-8 all-star 2015 campaign. With Stewart behind the plate that season Cole went 14-4 and kept his fiery spirit in check. Stewart is a guy focused on all-business. His numbers wont jump out at you, but he does the job he is needed for and does what he can to produce for the team.

The big question with Stewart for 2017 is can he be healthy for an entire season. He will be 35 years old entering the 2017 season coming off an extensive knee surgery. Stewart has never been a full time starter at the major league level, and the Pirates hope he can continue that in 2017. Only time will tell how his knee will be able to hold up and if we will see him behind the dish for the Pirates in the 2017 season.

If Stewart is not ready to go the Pirates do have two younger options that could step in behind the plate in Elias Diaz and Jacob Stallings. Neither have much experience at the major league level and it would be a chance to get their feet wet at the major league level. The problem you run into here is that you are taking away valuable playing time to a young prospect who you are hoping to take over the role one day.

Elias Diaz only caught one game at the major league level in 2016 before himself being place on the 60-Day Disabled list ending his season. Diaz went 0 for 4 in that game and did not commit an error behind the plate. However, that is a very small sample size so lets take a look at the Triple A numbers for Diaz.

Between Double A and Triple A in 2016 Diaz hit .290 with one home run and 16 RBI in 34 games played. Diaz was picked up by the Pirates as an undrafted free agent in the 2008 season and quickly rose through the Pirates system making it as high as the number nine prospect in the Pirates organization, and many regarded him as the catcher of the future for the Pirates.

However, defense has not been Diaz's strong suit throughout his minor league career. He has a career .983 fielding percentage committing 64 errors in just over 4000 minor league innings caught.  These numbers are going to have to improve if Diaz wants to succeed in a position that is ruled by defense. He is also not too hot in the stolen base department either as he has only caught eight men in 13 chances. In a position ruled by defense, these numbers dont help Diaz's case.

The other young Pirates option is catcher Jacob Stallings. Stallings caught in five major league games this season and offensively did pretty well hitting .400 (six hits in 15 at-bats) with two RBI. Those numbers, however, are no where close to his Triple A numbers in 2016 where he hit .214 with six home runs and 28 RBI in 80 games for the Indianapolis Indians.

Stallings had one good offensive year when he hit .275 in 2015 with the Altoona Curve at the Double A level, but other than that his average has not gone above .240 in any other year. Stallings has average power numbers hitting single digit home runs each season and ok run production, but nothing that jumps off the screen.

However, where Diaz fails in defense Stallings excels. In four years in the Pirates minor league system Stallings has committed only 20 errors for a fielding percentage of .992. Stallings does a good job of blocking balls in the dirt as well as he only allowed two pass balls in over 650 innings caught last season. However, the run game is a problem with Stallings as well as he allowed 46 stolen bases in 72 chances for Triple A this season. Again if the young backstops cant stop the run, they dont have that good of a chance to overtake Stewart.

So, the Pirates have a choice to make going into 2017. Go with the ailing veteran catcher trying to come back from knee surgery or go with an inexperienced catcher who is trying to make it at the major league level. The Pirates have minimal holes to fill in 2017 and this is one they can fill from within. Only time will tell who the Pirates use in the back-up role, but whoever is slotted there will be trying to help lead the Pirates back to the playoffs in 2017.

Marte/Diaz Power Pirates Past Tigers in 9-5 Spring Training Win

Starling Marte and Elias Diaz each homered in the Pirates 9-5 spring training win over the Detroit Tigers at McKechnie Field in Bradenton Florida.

With the wind blowing out at McKechnie Field in Bradenton Florida, the ball was jumping off the bat and going over the wall. The Pirates and Tigers combined for five home runs on the afternoon in the Pirates 9-5 victory. Today was also the spring training debut for Gerrit Cole, who was dealing with some rib discomfort earlier in the spring.

For Cole, the big factor in today's game was testing that rib and seeing how it felt in game action. Looking at the numbers for Cole does not tell the whole story of the game today. Cole threw 2.0 innings giving up two runs on two hits and striking out one batter. Cole's outing would have been very good if it was not for two bad pitches.

The first batter of the game Anthony Gose started out the game taking a 1-2 pitch from Cole over the wall for the first run of the game. The ball was a routine fly out on any other day, but the wind helped the ball get over the wall. His second mistake came later when former Pirate Casey McGehee crushed a Cole fastball over the wall in left-center field.

Other than those two pitches, Cole had a pretty good outing. He located the ball where he wanted for the most part and was throwing in the mid to low 90's all afternoon. For Cole, this game was a chance to get back into the swing of things facing live batters. While not the opening day starter, Cole will be ready to go for his first start of the season shortly after that. He is looked upon to lead the pitching staff and build off of his successful 2015 season.

Non-roster invitee Jim Fuller was next and he threw a perfect 1-2-3 third inning retiring the side quickly and efficiently. Tony Watson followed and got a little roughed up in his one inning of work. He gave up two runs on three hits while striking out two batters. The big blow to Watson was a two-run home run by Steven Moya. Watson has had a good spring in limited work and will be just fine by the start of the season.

Rob Scahill was next and threw 2.0 innings giving up one run on two hits while walking one and striking out one. Scahill is looking for a spot in the middle of the Pirates bullpen to help bridge the gap between starters and the back-end of the bullpen. For Scahill, it has been an up and down spring with some good outings, like today, and some bad outings, For Scahill it will be a tough battle but he has a shot at making the Pirates 2016 bullpen.

Three non-roster invitees finished out the game as AJ Schugel, Guido Knudson, and Kelvin Marte threw three scoreless innings to end the game. The three pitchers combined to only give up three hits in the last three innings of work and were able to hold the Tigers minor league hitters at bay.

Overall, the pitching staff did pretty well today despite giving up five runs. The wind didnt help matters on the mound, but besides a couple of bad pitches, the Pirates pitchers were effective today. They got the work they needed to get done finished and kept the Pirates in the ball game when it counted later in the game.

The true story of the day however was the offense. The Pirates scored 4 of their nine runs via the long ball today and showed the ability to hit with runners on base. many times we saw batters moving runners over or getting that timely extra base hit right when the Pirates needed it. This will be key as the season goes on with the decrease in power numbers. Small ball will be the strategy the Pirates have to work with in order to succeed in 2016.

The big performer on the day was Starling Marte. He went 2 for 3 on the afternoon with three RBI and a run scored. The big hit for Marte came in the third inning when he hit a three run home run off Tigers starter Matt Boyd that gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead scoring Jordy Mercer and Andrew McCutchen. Marte would add a single later in the day to complete his afternoon.

That four run third inning really helped the Pirates establish themselves in the game. Up to that point the Pirates only had one hit, a lead off single by Josh Harrison, and they looked pretty down at the plate. Then, with one out, Harrison hit his second double of the day which was followed by a bloop single by Mercer putting runners at first and third with one out. Then McCutchen produced an RBI single that put the Pirates on the board. Then Marte hit the big three-run home run to conclude the inning.

Elias Diaz also had a good day as he went 2 for 4 with a two-run home run and 3 RBI on the day. His home run came in the eighth inning and scored Dan Gamache. It gave the Pirates the insurance runs they needed and put them ahead for good making the score 8-5. Diaz's bat has been coming around this spring as he is currently hitting .471 in grapefruit league action. He will start the year as the everyday catcher down in Triple A Indianapolis so he can grow and continue to develop.

Today was a good day for the Pirates offense as they broke out and scored nine runs on the day. It is a good sign for things to come. I was especially excited to see the long ball coming into play with the home runs from Marte and Diaz. While power will not be the forte of the 2016 Pirates, it is always nice to see it when it helps the Pirates win a big ball game.

Up next the Pirates will travel to JetBlue Park to take on the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox will send right-hander Joe Kelly to the mound. Kelly is currently 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA in spring training in two games pitched. The Pirates will counter with right-hander Ryan Vogelsong, who is currently 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in five innings pitched. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.