With Spring Training’s arrival, the next few weeks will feature a number of camp battles around the league. One position that could be up for grabs before Opening Day: the second base job in Pittsburgh. The Bucs used eight players at the position a year ago. Four of them remain on the roster and could vie for time at the team’s most uncertain infield spot.
Peguero, 23, got his first extended MLB run last year. He appeared in 59 games and tallied 213 trips to the plate. Peguero didn’t produce much, hitting .237/.280/.374 with dismal strikeout and walk rates (5.2% and 31.5%, respectively). It’s not all that surprising that he had a rough go against MLB pitching. Peguero only appeared in seven Triple-A games before being called to the majors. He had spent the majority of the season’s first half at Double-A Altoona, where he turned in a .260/.333/.453 showing with 11 homers, 19 steals, and a solid 10.1% walk rate against an 18.2% strikeout percentage.
Scouting reports on Peguero have credited him with a well-rounded physical toolset but raised questions about his strike zone judgment. He showed excellent speed in his MLB time but didn’t put things together consistently on either side of the ball.
Pittsburgh selected Gonzales, a New Mexico State product, with the #7 overall pick in 2020. He has drawn plenty of walks while hitting for power in the minors but hasn’t consistently made contact. That concern carried over in his first look at MLB arms. Gonzales hit .209/.268/.348 with a 28.1% strikeout rate across his first 35 big league contests.
The 24-year-old was a lot more productive with Triple-A Indianapolis. Gonzales hit .281/.379/.507 with 14 homers in 443 plate appearances at the top minor league level. He drew free passes at a 12% clip and hit for power, but a .369 average on balls in play masks a near-27% strikeout percentage. Gonzales isn’t regarded as a great defender, so he’ll have to take a notable step forward in his pure contact skills. Baseball America ranked him the #9 prospect in the Pittsburgh system this offseason.
Last year’s team leader in playing time at second base, Bae also had a tough rookie season. He hit .231/.296/.311 in 371 plate appearances. Unlike Peguero and Gonzales, Bae had roughly average plate discipline and contact metrics. His issue was a complete lack of power. He only homered twice with 17 doubles and a pair of triples. Nearly three-fifths of his batted balls were hit on the ground.
Bae is a plus-plus runner and stole 24 bases a year ago. He’ll need to contribute more offensively if he’s to play more than a bench role. Defensive metrics gave the 24-year-old below-average marks for his work at second base. The Pirates also gave him a fair bit of center field run and could use him in a utility capacity.
Of this group, Triolo had easily the best results against MLB pitching. The Houston product put up a .298/.388/.398 line over his first 209 plate appearances. He’d need to dramatically improve his contact rate if he’s to sustain anything like that production over a full season, though. No hitter can maintain anything like the .440 batting average on balls in play that Triolo posted last year. (Freddie Freeman led qualified batters with a .370 BABIP in 2023.) In order to offset the inevitable regression from a batted ball perspective, Triolo will need to cut a strikeout rate that sat above 30%.
While he’s clearly not a finished product, Triolo isn’t without promise. He had a strong minor league track record, including a .286/.412/.432 slash in Triple-A last season. He came up as a third baseman but doesn’t have a path to playing time at his natural position thanks to Ke’Bryan Hayes. Prospect evaluators raved about his glove at the hot corner in the minors. If he can carry that to multiple infield positions, he could compete for second base reps.
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It’s likely one of that quartet will get the bulk of the second base time in 2024, although there’s some chance the mix changes before Opening Day. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey has suggested the Bucs could dangle someone from the group in talks with the Marlins about right-hander Edward Cabrera. It’s far from a guarantee that any deal with Miami will get across the finish line, but the front office is still evaluating ways to add rotation help in some capacity before Opening Day.
Beyond this group, the Bucs have two other second basemen on the 40-man roster. Prospect Tsung-Che Cheng hasn’t played above Double-A and might not factor in until 2025. Alika Williams got to the big leagues last year but likely didn’t hit well enough (.198/.270/.248) to compete for the second base job. He played exclusively shortstop last year when Oneil Cruz was injured but could handle second base defensively. Williams’ bat is very light, pointing to a likelier future as a glove-first utility type than a regular.
Speaking of Ji Hwan Bae. Remember another Braves prospect that was taken away because of John Coppolella? Kevin Maitan. He really turned into a big pile of nothing after being touted as the next 5 tool phenom.
Reading this really hit below the belt… in a perfect world, this job should be mine after spending the past 2 decades at SS in Pitt for my entire career, riding off into the sunset at the keystone for ’24. Oh well, life happens!
Instead of Nick Gonzales, Pirates could have selected in 2020 draft Reid Detmers, Bobby Miller, Jordan Walker, PCA, Garrett Mitchell, Patrick Bailey, Jordan Westburg, Mick Abel, etc.
Hey, in all fairness, maybe Nick is the guy! I can imagine Pitt would much rather have a Bobby Miller stacking up though.
Brilliant comment.
They should have also taken Mike Trout instead of Tony Sanchez
Also Aaron Judge instead of Reese McGuire and Austin Meadows.
This post wouldn’t exist if the Pirates nailed their draft picks
You realize absolutely zero of those people have established themselves yet, right? It’s not like any of them is Bobby Witt jr
Bailey is one of the best catchers in the game but I agree it is still early on most.
Wait till you learn about Bryan Bullington
Easy to 2nd guess now, after the fact.
They chose Cole Tucker as their #1 draft pick in 2014, and he’s been waived by as many teams as Diego Castillo
They chose Keller in the second round. 1 hit 1 miss
But he is married to Vanessa Hudgens so he isn’t doing too bad in life.
From picks 14 – 32 (Tucker went 24), basically there was one successful pick. Matt Chapman (and yes he went immediately after Tucker). From 14 -41 Connor Joe has the 4th highest WAR. It was a bad draft. Not an excuse, but Tucker was the norm not the exception.
@Manny what is with you hijacking comments? Just post your own comment about Nick Gonzales.
Also Randy, I have no idea what you are talking about.
Arrrhgggghhh, a Pirate Battle
The loaser gets Keel Hauled
Having seen most of these guys play at both the major and minor league level, I’m not that high on any of them. The Pirates probably should have tried to trade a couple of them. The thing for me is pairing a poor defensive second basemen with O’Neil Cruz at SS is putting a real burden on an already uncertain pitching staff. Ke ‘Bryan Hayes might be arguably the best defensive player in the NL, but he can’t make up for a bad middle infield.
My preference for who takes the job:
-Peguero
-Triolo
-Bae
-Gonzales
I think Peguero has the highest offensive ceiling among them, but Triolo has consistently been a solid hitter throguhout the minor leagues and is significantly better defensively.
@mlb1225 – agree with your order of preference. Peguero may have the ability to hit 15+ bombs and swipe 15+ bags this year. Triolo will be the utility inf. I certainly would be all for Bae or Gonzales taking a huge step forward and beating out Peguero. May the best man win.
I agree with the order as well.
I feel like Nick Gonzalez is either the everyday guy or in AAA.
I’m curious if any of the others would go down though. Peguero is the back up SS, Triolo is back up 3rd/1b, Bae is a back up CF and base running specialist.
It seems that the final two position player battles will be Peguero vs Gonzales and Bae vs Palacios. My guess is Peguero and Bae win, for the reasons you mentioned – Bae backs up in CF and MI and Peguero backs up at SS. I wouldn’t be shocked or unhappy if the other two win those jobs, though. I want the best guys in there. Triolo is such a great infielder that the Bucs can’t afford not to keep him.
I’d flip flop the top two.
Peguero is probably the best. Joyce, with Bae or Gonzales a good backup. They need Triolo to be this decade’s Josh Harrison.
The Cabrera deal is probably dead since the Marlins shelled out $5 mil to have Tim Anderson play SS.
Besides, It doesn’t really matter which Pirate starts this year—he’s only keeping the spot warm for Termarr Johnson.
Every team misses draft picks but looking back I think Detmers and Patrick Bailey were the ones mentioned most
Gonzales has the highest ceiling of the bunch at 2nd long term but Peguero is right there but is better suited for SS.
Bae is more of a SS type as well but has shown he can play the utility middle infield and center with out looking like a fool
Triolo is in a weird spot. Hes done well enough at all levels to show that he deserves a spot but finding a spot for him is troublesome
My opinion. Watch Cruz carefully at SS. His cannon has made up for his poor defense at SS and has done better than i thought but others are better and need a spot too. Moving Cruz to corner OF and putting Peguero at SS with Gonzales at second maybe the best move IF they’re all performing.
Cruz can hang at SS because Hayes can pick up the slack defensively. Not to mention Gonzalez, Triolo, and Peguero are all skilled defensively and can help on the other side.
Bae isn’t as gifted defensively, but he’s so fast that he can get in front of balls others would miss. Doesnt always field it and throw it well but at least keeps it to a single.
Yeah, Bae’s speed really plays. If he could get the ball up a little more and improve his defense at either 2B or CF enough to merit regular playing time it’d be nice. He’s fun to watch play and seems to be having fun out there.
Cruz could probably stay at SS because of the help, but if you have a better fielding SS that is hitting well you want to get him in there too which makes sense to move Cruz somewhere where his arm could play. Kind of like Davis. You have a better fielding catcher that can hit you find a place for Davis for his arm to play.
I still believe Cruz is destined for first base in the not too distant future. That huge wingspan and defensive agility could be plus, plus while preserving his gimpy ankle compered to SS or OF,
I disagree. Peguero just turned 23 and the ball jumps off his bat. There’s a high variance for him being a bust but there’s also a good chance he’s Ozzie Albies. Bae and Triolo have more value as utility players getting 3-4 starts a week. Bae is the best defensive CF on the roster currently. This battle is between Peguero and Gonzales and I’d give Peguero the upper hand.
Does it say anything about Pirates player development that Triolo looks like the most talented guy here and he’s a Houston product? Is this an indictment on Pirates player development; or just a flukey thing?
Triolo was Pirates draft pick in 2019. He played college ball at University of Houston though.
Oh I see, my bad.
University of Houston.
It’s says absolutely nothing except that you don’t know the system very well but still looking for the negative.
Hi – I’m needing to do a session on Peguero and Triolo. I have the data covered, does anyone have a link to a scouting report or reputable Pirates prospect site? What is the savvy Pitt fan perception of the two?
Thanks guys. Sorry for jumping into your thread, don’t run me through with your cutlass.
Do they all have options remaining? If so I’d go with Elvis Andrus and Donavan Solano. Covers 2B and backup for SS(Andrus) 1B(Solano) and Solano can play a little 3B if needed.
While I like both of these players, I think Ben would like to see some of the youngsters get their shot. So would I.
MLBTR
“He appeared in 59 games and tallied 213 trips to the plate. Peguero didn’t produce much, hitting .237/.280/.374 with dismal strikeout and walk rates (5.2% and 31.5%, respectively). ”
“Gonzales hit .209/.268/.348 with a 28.1% strikeout rate across his first 35 big league contests.”
“Bae also had a tough rookie season. He hit .231/.296/.311 in 371 plate appearances”
This is bad. I’m going to tell you how to make it better..
Parallelism
Provide the same info in each paragraph
You’re welcome
fil –
Add to the list – why use three-fifths when you could just say 60%. It’s a much more concise and clear why of communicating that rate.
Under Bae: “Nearly three-fifths of his batted balls were hit on the ground.”
How the hell do you pick a Nick Gonzales at #7 in the first round? Who did they think they were getting, Dustin Pedroia?
He had a god college career and hit very well in the Cape Cod league which BC and his staff value highly. Unfortunately they didn’t see his problem hitting the breaking ball. To his credit he has hit fairly well after spending some time at each minor league level. He doesn’t seem to adjust quickly to each new level, but ultimately gets it done.
At the time he was the next highest rated player(he was rated usually in the 4-6 range). There was a group of 6 considered for the top by just about all draft rating publications. One team went off script so he fell to the Pirates at seven. I am not saying it ended up being the right pick, but at the time it was not some off script / off the wall pick. Hindsite is easy, at the time it was considered the right pick. You can play this game in every baseball draft. They are much further from the majors. .
I liked Peguero in the first half of his stint here last year. Lots of fire. Some surprising power. Seemed like a much needed injection of enthusiasm into that dugout. He cooled off somewhat but you’d hope that’s natural and he’ll get a long look this spring
The slickest fielder and best hitter of the bunch is Triolo but I look at him as a corner infielder. He’s a natural 3rd baseman who is blocked by Hayes and with the signing of Tellez he’s blocked at 1st, too
I’m hoping they give him a look at 1st this spring, as even on his worst day he’s better than Joe in the field and I suspect the Tellez we saw last year will be the same guy this year
As for dangling 2nd basemen in trades, by all means dangle Gonzales or Bae
Or offer Williams, he couldn’t hit lefties even though he bats right handed
For me it’s bae he just brings another dimension to the lineup that the others don’t.
If the pirates had Bae bunt on every at bat, I think he would win a batting title.
I completely agree, @jabgdn, but watching him trying to bunt last year was questionable to say the least
In fact it doesn’t seem like any of the Bucs know how to put a bunt down
Player development is to blame
I believe the Korean league does the bunting championships. What a fascinating watch that was. In all seriousness with bae though I like what he bring as a super utility guy that you can easily plug and play in center and that’s not always easy for a team to do.
Player development is not to blame. Absolutely NO ONE at any level teaches anyone how to bunt, let alone what game situations are prime to lay one down.
Coaches at the youth level are not interested in anything but winning, so you’ll see kids learning to exploit the rules at various levels as opposed to actually learning sound fundamentals. An example would be the 10U level where everyone steals on every pitch, knowing that the catcher doesn’t have the arm to throw guys out, or if he does, the middle infielders don’t bother to cover the base or catch the throw. Having any kind of honed skills and baseball intelligence means nothing without unteachable skills like speed or height.
It’s not limited to the Pirates, I’ve seen mistakes such as throwing to the wrong base, total inability to drop a bunt, or failing to cover a base or back a throw up.
It’s asking a lot of a professional coaching staff to teach things players should have learned in coach pitch leagues (7-8 years old). I’ve seen those guys in action (at the college level), they often focus on fine tuning things with the expectation that players are already fundamentally sound. That clearly isn’t the case, and the Pirates should probably get ahead of the curve in hammering out fundamentals in rookie leagues, even if it costs them a bunch of games.
As a Blue Jay fan, I’d love to line up in trade with Pittsburgh. The Jays need a right handed hitting fourth OF and you have both Olivares and Joe on your bench. The Jays have too many utility players with 2B as their primary position. But I don’t know that Santiago Espinal or Ernie Clement are upgrades on this internal mix. Maybe a bit more floor given the results so far for those guys, but not clearly better. Espinal was an all star in ’22, but had a rough season on both sides of the ball last year. I don’t see how defense can go away that quickly. He was moving really stiffly last year. He had an IL placement because of hamstring inflammation but it was brief so I don’t know if that’s the reason for it. Still Espinal is liked better than the names in this article by most projection systems.
Maybe something like Joe for Espinal and an upside bullpen arm like Nate Pearson (post hype high velo guy) or Zach Pop (power sinker/slider ground ball profile)? What else is Pittsburgh in the market for?
Gonzales, Triolo, Bae, Peguero in that order. Based on minor league performance at A+ and above. Bae could be CF option if they don’t acquire CFer.
I really don’t care which one of these players hits in 2024, but hope one of them can put up a 3 WAR season at 2b.
I really like Peggy but it’s clear he needs to get more seasoning at triple A unless he shows drastic improvement but the tools and flashes are still there to be a well above average second baseman
I’m not sold on Bae. He seemed to run into a lot of outs last year. I like Triolo defensively, if he’s versatile enough to transition.
Signing MA Taylor would mean Bae could start the season at Indy and get some confidence back with his hitting and base stealing while learning to play CF everyday.
Hope springs eternal!
Bae didn’t exactly field second base very well either. Often times he was out of position, his range horrible and despite his speed, had difficulty getting to the ball
I noticed how bad his defense was watching him in Altoona a couple of years ago. His footwork isn’t great (almost outright bad), which he could compensate for with his speed at lower levels. Hayes almost never gets “eaten up” by a hop, he is so practiced at reading grounders that he’s almost always fielding in a prime position to catch and throw the ball.
At this point, I’d venture to say that Triolo could be more easily taught to be the CF backup, and already is 100 times the fielder at 2B as Bae. I just don’t think Bae puts in the same kind of work at understanding how pitch + swing factors into how to attack a batted ball as guys like Triolo and Hayes.
I don’t really much of a path for Gonzales to make this team, given his lack of position flexibility. He would have to be head-and-shoulders better than any of the other candidates. If you ranked these guys 1-4 at things like range, power potential, etc., Nick isn’t the top guy at any of those things.
There are cases for each of the other guys, with Peggy and Triolo having the strongest ones to be the starter. I’d personally sacrifice a little power for the contact skills and defense that Triolo would provide, but I understand why the team would lean toward keeping him as a utility guy. That being the case, Peggy has the inside track. If he’s injured for a long stretch in the spring, Gonzales would probably get the nod over Bae – I don’t think that a Bae-Triolo platoon would be a good plan long term.