The Pirates will attempt to convert veteran outfielder JB Shuck into a two-way player, director of player development Larry Broadway told Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. Shuck will begin honing his pitching skills at Triple-A Indianapolis, where he has been playing since the Pirates outrighted him May 8.
The journeyman Shuck, 31, cracked Pittsburgh’s injury-plagued outfield entering the season after signing a minor league pact during the winter. However, as has been the case throughout his career, he didn’t provide much at the plate. The lefty-swinging Shuck, a lifetime .243/.296/.314 hitter in 1,289 major league plate appearances, batted .213/.339/.255 in 57 PA before the Pirates removed him from their 40-man roster.
Although Shuck’s hasn’t established himself as an offensive asset since debuting in the majors with the Astros in 2011, the Pirates aren’t abandoning hope that he’ll be able to help them down the line. Broadway explained to Biertempfel that the Pirates’ goal is for Shuck to emerge as a two-way contributor in the majors, not just the minors. Shuck’s on board with Pittsburgh’s outside-the-box thinking, telling Biertempfel he’s “all for trying it” if it’s for the betterment of his career. He also thinks “more two-way guys” could become “a new trend,” thanks in part to a rule that will enable teams to designate “two-way players” effective next year. But Shuck will first have to total 20 appearances with at least three PA as a position player (he’s at 10 right now) and 20 innings as a pitcher to become eligible for the two-way designation in 2020.
Contributing as a pitcher isn’t foreign to Shuck, who was a two-way player in high school and college. As an Ohio State Buckeye, Shuck amassed 223 innings of 3.87 ERA ball. The southpaw has since totaled a pair of mop-up appearances in the majors, including a scoreless, one-hit, one-walk frame in a blowout loss to the Diamondbacks earlier this season.
He should focus on doing 1 thing well first
He’s been playing for about 8 years… He’s not gonna get much better as a position player
How does getting a player not good enough to be on your roster designated a “two way player in order to add him to the roster help you in any way? The two way rule will help Ohtani and probably Michael Lorenzen and that is about it.
Unless a team that is out of it gets smart and uses all their pitchers in September games in order to qualify. You could probably get the entire pitching staff qualified as “two way players” in just a week’s worth of games along with a few 9th inning appearances in the OF along the way.
They “have to total 20 appearances with at least three PA as a position player” to qualify as a two-way player, so just sticking them in the outfield in the 9th won’t do it unless all those games go 16 innings or so and you let them bat that whole time.
60 at bats? Am I reading that right?
No
Is it 20 appearances as a position player with at least 3 PAs per appearance or 3 PAs total as a position player? If it is the latter, which I was thinking about,my argument makes sense. If it is the former, then yes it would be more difficult and even less likely to impact anyone other than Ohtani or Lorenzen.
i checked the older article.
it’s the following:
player has to start 20 games at any position other than pitcher (dh counts as a position in this case), and in each of those 20 games, has to get at least 3 plate appearances (so if he starts, plays 5 innings, only bats twice, doesn’t count. but if he bats 3 times, it does)..
so a guy coming in relief to pitch the 7th, then shifting to right field for the rest of a game that goes 16 innings would not count as 1 of the 20, even if he bats 5 times (but he could kill 2 birds with one stone if he started a game in right, batted 3 times, then came into pitch in the 8th, getting the last 3-6 outs, depending on situation)
Thanks!
I think it would had help a guy named Michael Roth a few years ago. He was a pitcher and 1st baseman.
aw shucks
His real name is Jack Shuck. Did you know Jack Shuck?
Good luck Shuck!
Good OPS for a pitcher!
Connor, is there going to be a roster limit per team on 2 way players next year? I can’t remember that detail from the original announcement. Thanks!
jorge78
No. There will be a limit on the number of pitchers. If a club has a player who meets the 2 way player criteria this season or next they can add another pitcher to the 25 man. That is the advantage of having a 2 way
mlb.com/news/two-way-player-rule-explanation
Seems like the Rangers have abandoned the experiment with Davidson already. He hasn’t pitched in one game yet for AAA.
So he can be a pitcher, and a position player that hits like a pitcher? I’m not sure the Pirates have thought this through very far…
No no, its the Pirates they have thought it through. With the number of arms they have already used Shuck could be a starter by seasons end
Why is there a limit on 2-way players? I really want to see a team try 26 2-way guys just to see what happens.
Great, A two-way player who doesn’t do either way well.
Isn’t this what the Rays are doing in Durham?
With Cronenworth?
For their next trick, can the Bucs try turning Steven Brault into a pitcher? Because I don’t know what he keeps doing when he goes to the mound, but it isn’t pitching.
He and Neverauskas should never pitch for the Pirates again. If another tean wants to give them a chance, all the power to them. But those two have been consistently awful pitchers in Pittsburgh.
love watching Shuck play always seems at 110%. …
but… as a whole he wasnt very good at the plate.
seemed okay in the field… and in the few pitches i seen thim throw didnt seem the worst until he ran out of gas (didnt take long)
im so glad the league killed off what could have been their next fad by implementing those stupid new rules.
That’s another question
DarkSide830. Why would
the league want to stop
this? Could they be concerned with players health?
One thing everyone keeps forgetting…..MLB will be limiting the # of pitchers allowed on the 25 man in 2020….that is the reason for the 2 way player rule.
This explains it better…………
mlb.com/news/two-way-player-rule-explanation
His real name is Jack Shuck. Did you know Jack Shuck
He should try to be one a one-way player first.
I mean, the Pirates relief pitching can’t get much worse. Plus with all the injuries, the Bucs could use a live arm. Can’t be much worse than Clay Holmes.
Outside of Vasquez and Crick. Jack Shuck was the most effective pitcher out of the pen this year.
He goes both ways?
I can see how you’re transitioning there
Really cool to see my old pal pitching again, but what I don’t understand because they say he can’t hit well when your not playing as much it’s hard to get a rythem look at when he been an everyday player in aaa his batting avg have been in the high .300 every season and has made it excellent catches as well. Growing up with JB he not a home run batter he is a put the ball in play and make things happen with his feet. Best of luck pitching JB whole town of galion and fellow teams mates are on your side keep doing what your doing.
JB Shucks real name is Jack Schuck.
Can one know Jack Shuck about both pitching and hitting?
Neverauskas Jack Shuck?
this is stupid