The Pirates announced Friday evening that they’ve optioned infielder Liover Peguero and lefty reliever José Hernández to Triple-A Indianapolis. After the Bucs optioned Nick Gonzales last night, that seemingly leaves Jared Triolo as the starting second baseman to begin the year.
Triolo, 26, appeared in 54 games as a rookie last season. The Houston product ran a .298/.388/.398 line with a trio of homers over his first 209 plate appearances. It’d be hard for him to maintain those results without making contact more consistently, though. Triolo punched out at a 30.1% clip, so it took an unsustainable .440 average on balls in play to keep his on-base percentage up.
It has been more of the same this spring. He has knocked a pair of homers, while 10 of the other 20 batted balls have dropped for hits. He has walked five times and struck out on 12 occasions over 39 plate appearances. The overall batting line — .353/.436/.559 — has been excellent. Even if Triolo’s batted ball results eventually take a turn, he could be a solid all-around contributor. He draws plenty of walks and should be a quality defender. Scouting reports credited him with a potential plus glove at his natural third base position. While Ke’Bryan Hayes will keep him from playing there frequently, his hands and athleticism could translate to the right side of the infield.
Peguero had a solid exhibition showing himself. The right-handed hitter turned in a .269/.345/.423 mark while striking out in just four of his 29 plate appearances. He’s a few years younger than Triolo and only appeared in seven Triple-A games before being called to the big leagues last season. Peguero struggled against MLB pitching in the second half, fanning at a 31.5% rate en route to a .237/.280/.374 slash. The Bucs evidently prefer to get him more run against Triple-A arms to start the year. Defensive specialist Alika Williams remains in camp and could secure a bench spot behind Triolo and Oneil Cruz up the middle.
It’s Liover…
A Liover not a fighter
“I’ve never heard of half of these guys and the ones I do know are way past their prime.”
This guy’s dead!
That guy was dumb. They were in the middle of their rebuilding phase and most of their top prospects were in the minors at the time.
Triolo has looked solid hitting and fielding, so not a huge surprise. Peguero being optioned is a shocker.
I see that as Williams is waiver wire fodder while they’d really like to see if Peguero can play SS or 2B every day at Indy.
Williams couldn’t hit a ball off of a T with 3 tries and should be sent back to Indy
The team was close to last in runs scored in 23, having another no hit-defensive whiz won’t help them increase their totals
Because it’s certain that the worst hitting coach in baseball isn’t going to help
Every team has a guy like Williams on their bench. They could care less about him getting AB’s in AAA. He’s a late inning replacement guy
I’m shocked he’s lasted this long.
The Pirates finally wised up and give two young players reps at AAA to see how they play there.Hernandez has pitched well and Peguero pretty decently but they both need seasoning.
Williams can serve as the defensive specialist which he is.
I doubt that Triolo can maintain his fine hitting but one never knows.He would be among the top five defensive third baseman if the best was not on his team.
It seems also that one or two of the non roster players may make the team so they will have to drop the same number from the 40 man roster.Anderson may very well be the fifth starter for now.
The 5th starter will be Falter, who gets batters out as frequently as Williams gets on base
Falter will get cut shortly!
I don’t think it’s Falter. Jared Jones may end up making the team. He’s still in camp, and Priester will probably be the #5. He’s had a solid camp as well
What makes you doubt Triolo can keep hitting? He’s done it throughout his whole career so far.
Cards-MLB teams have scouts and good pitchers that can take advantage of the weaknesses that every batter has.
As Indy Norm says Triolo is fundamentally sound so that I think that he will do a decent job hitting as a second baseman.
If Johnson is the real deal Tripoli may have to become SRod part two.
I just think that he will need to prove himself over the long haul and his lack of power will keep his OPS down.That means that he would not be a full time first baseman and may even be a full time third baseman even though he is a very fielder there.
Triolo has hit well at every level in the minors and he has surprised people at each stop. The guy is just a good ballplayer. Not flashy but with good fundamentals. During the off season comments were made that he was lucky on batted balls in play and couldn’t keep it up. Well he has done just fine with the bat in ST. The guy grows on you with solid performance.
How is Triolo not one of their 9-13 best position players?
Nevermind, misread. Disregard the prior comment.
He should be on the team . Williams should not make it. Not a good decision by front office. Another mixed message to team and fans
Every team has that late innings defensive replacement guy on their team
not every team struggles to score runs
This makes me sad, I have rooted for Liover since he was with the Missoula Osprey! I hope that he makes it back soon.
As a fan of Liover it sucks but it definitely shows they believe in his potential and just want to get him consistent ABs it’s also important to remember he next to no Triple A experience
WV-If Alika did not get bigger and stronger he will not last long.
Peguero needs better fundamentals and hopefully can learn them there.He seems to be a little lackadaisical to me.
I think that the Pirates hold him in fairly high regard and in the medium term this could clearly help him become better.
Another bum who will be a waiver claim player in 2 years when the team finally realizes he’s not good
Triolo deserved the starting 2B Job imo. Even if he bats like .260/.320/.400, his defense is going to make him almost a 3 WAR player. He’s pretty much a Gold Glover at three positions.
A+ options
Falter should be DFA’d. No 1 will claim him & he can fill out the Indianapolis AAA Roster.
Falter is out of options, and should be released but this management often makes head scratching decisions so he’ll probably stay on the roster anyway
I can understand wanting to have Williams glove on the bench, but as the only backup infielder? They should have kept Peguero and optioned Edward Oliveras. The bench looks like it’s gonna be Williams, Oliveras, Joe, Delay, and likely Billy McKinney. They would be forced to play Conner Joe at 2B or 3B in an emergency.
Oliveras hit a 3 run homer yesterday and I am no fan of Connor Joe or Williams
Falter pitched well starting with the Phillies in 2022,and BC is high on him.
He proved last year though that he is a much better long reliever.
Falter has a tendency of giving up the long ball, yesterday’s game included when he gave up 2 to Phillies’ hitters, both in the first inning
First off, I’m glad they kept Triolo. I always thought he was more of a corner infielder but the kid worked hard
I hope he keeps the position for a couple years and that Cruz settles in at short
Then Peguero and Gonzales become trade pieces as Termarr comes up the ladder and perhaps Triolo moves to first
I wanted to believe in both Peguero and Gonzales but really, all we’ve seen are sparks.
I think they have a real problem with starting pitching here. Marco looks like a BP pitcher. And Priester is again, a box of chocolates. That Falter is being mentioned is even worse.
Will be interesting to see how they promote the kids. What will be the criteria?
Peguero issue is his defense