Dodgers Outright Jack Suwinski
The Dodgers sent Jack Suwinski outright to Triple-A Oklahoma City, as first reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. The team had not previously designated Suwinski for assignment, so this drops their 40-man roster tally to 39.
Los Angeles claimed the lefty-hitting outfielder off waivers from Pittsburgh last month. They assumed his $1.25MM salary and an accompanying $1.375MM luxury tax commitment in the process. It always seemed like a depth move. Suwinski is out of minor league options and didn’t have a great chance to break camp with the two-time defending champions.
The Dodgers pay a few million dollars to get him into the organization without occupying a 40-man roster spot. Suwinski showed promise a few seasons ago but hasn’t performed well over the past two years. He hit 26 homers with a .224/.339/.454 slash line for the Pirates in 2023. He has been well below the Mendoza line with an on-base percentage under .300 in the two years since then.
Since the start of ’24, Suwinski carries a .169/.271/.297 mark across 455 plate appearances. He has gone down on strikes at a 30% clip and only combined for 12 home runs. Suwinski had a much more impressive .283/.389/.565 showing in Triple-A last year. That also came with a concerning number of strikeouts, though, and he needed to go through waivers before a team could assign him back to the minors.
Suwinski will remain in big league camp as a non-roster invitee. The Dodgers have Teoscar Hernández, Andy Pages and Kyle Tucker left to right in the outfield. Alex Call has a decent shot to win a bench job as a righty platoon bat, while Ryan Ward and Michael Siani occupy spots at the back of the 40-man roster.
Dodgers Claim Jack Suwinski
3:23PM: Suwinski’s claim has been officially announced by the Dodgers, and Enrique Hernandez was placed on the 60-day injured list in the corresponding roster move. Hernandez underwent surgery in November to repair a torn muscle in his non-throwing arm, and it was already known that the utilityman would be missing at least the first couple of months of the 2026 season.
1:24PM: The Dodgers are claiming outfielder Jack Suwinski off waivers, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Pirates designated Suwinski for assignment earlier this week to open up a 40-man roster spot for Marcell Ozuna.
The 27-year-old Suwinski has struggled mightily over the past two years, following a breakout 2023 campaign. The outfielder began last season on the big-league roster, but didn’t make it through April. He ended up tallying 59 games with the Pirates and 56 games at Triple-A. Suwinski mashed in the minors to the tune of a 150 wRC+. He managed just a 55 wRC+ in 178 MLB plate appearances.
With the Pirates adding outfielders Jhostynxon Garcia and Jake Mangum in separate trades this offseason, plus free agent signing Ryan O’Hearn potentially spending time on the grass, Suwinski was a long shot to contribute with the Pirates. The Ozuna addition locked up the DH spot, further limiting the chance for Suwinski to make the club. He’ll head to the Dodgers and look to rebuild his value in a different organization.
As good as Suwinski was in 2023, his swing-and-miss tendencies suggested the production was unsustainable. He hit 26 home runs and chipped in 13 steals in his first full season in the big leagues, but it came with a 32% strikeout rate. That was after a rookie year that saw him swat 19 home runs in 372 plate appearances while striking out at a 30.6% clip. Suwinski has walked at a strong 12.3% rate as a big leaguer, so he’s got the three true outcomes covered. He just hasn’t done enough of the home run part of the equation in recent seasons.
The Dodgers are set in the outfield with Teoscar Hernandez, Andy Pages, and Kyle Tucker locked into everyday roles. The right-handed Pages has been much better against lefties (.831 OPS) than righties (.722 OPS) in his career, so perhaps there’s a platoon opportunity there, but his glove is tough to take out of the lineup. Suwinski has put up -16 Defensive Runs Saved in his career as a center fielder, so he’s unlikely to be a fit in that role. Pushing Alex Call for the fourth outfielder gig is his best hope to make the roster.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Pirates Designate Jack Suwinski For Assignment
10:50 am: Pittsburgh has confirmed the Suwinski DFA. Ozuna will take his spot on the 40-man roster. The club has a week to either find a trade partner for Suwinski or try to pass him through waivers.
9:28 am: The Pirates are designating outfielder Jack Suwinski for assignment, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The 27-year-old has spent parts of the last four big-league seasons with the club.
As Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette pointed out this morning, the Pirates need to clear a 40-man roster spot for the addition of Marcell Ozuna. The new DH was practicing with the team, while Suwinski was not with the rest of the position players during today’s Spring Training activities.
Suwinski broke camp with the team last season, but hit just .128 over the first three weeks of the campaign. He found himself back in Triple-A before the end of April. Suwinski was up and down between the two levels multiple times. He missed a couple of weeks with a groin strain near the end of the season, but did close the year in the big leagues. Suwinski slashed .147/.281/.253 in 59 games with the Pirates.
Pittsburgh promoted Suwinski to the MLB squad shortly into the 2022 season, and the lefty injected big power into the lineup. The outfielder wrapped up his first year in the bigs with 19 home runs in 372 plate appearances. It came with a bloated 30.6% strikeout rate, though Suwinski also walked at a double-digit clip. The 2023 campaign was Suwinski’s first look as a full-time player. He appeared in 144 games as the club’s primary center fielder. Suwinski racked up 26 home runs and 13 steals, but his strikeout rate crept over 32%.
Suwinski slipped into a part-time role in 2024. He hit .182 while splitting time between all three outfield spots. He came into last season without a defined role following Oneil Cruz‘s transition to the outfield. Suwinski smashed Triple-A pitching to the tune of a 150 wRC+, but never found his footing at the big-league level this past year.
The power/speed combo could lead a team to take a flyer on Suwinski. He still barreled the ball at a near-12% rate in 2025. Suwinski is ill-suited for center field (-16 Defensive Runs Saved for his career), though he can be a net-neutral defender in the corners.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Pirates Avoid Arbitration With Jack Suwinski, Yohan Ramirez
7:10pm: They’ve also reached an arb-avoiding deal with middle reliever Yohan Ramírez, reports Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. He’ll make $825K next season. Ramirez pitched to a 5.40 ERA in 33 1/3 innings for the Bucs this year.
6:05pm: The Pirates and outfielder Jack Suwinski have avoided arbitration, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Suwinski will make $1.25MM next year. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz had projected him for a $1.7MM salary.
Tomorrow is the non-tender deadline. Teams have until 4pm Central to decide whether or not to tender contracts to their arbitration-eligible and pre-arb players. They don’t need to agree to a salary by tomorrow but it’s the last chance for clubs to walk away from a player and pay him nothing.
It’s common for a few deals to be finalized in the lead-up to the deadline. In many cases, but not always, these “pre-tender” deals see the player agree to a salary below projections. The oversimplified version of how this happens is that teams put a “take it or leave it” offer on the table. If the player decides to “leave it”, the team will simply non-tender him. Since Suwinski has been struggling lately and will make about half a million less than projected, it’s possible that happened here.
Back in 2023, Suwinski seemed to be breaking out in the big leagues, as he hit 26 home runs that year with strong batted-ball data to back it up. His 32.2% strikeout rate was way too high but he offset that with the power and also drew walks at a 14% clip. He also lined up at all three outfield positions. His work in center was panned but he was decent in the corners.
Things have been trending down since then. He has stepped to the plate 455 times over the past two years with a dismal .169/.271/.297 line. His .220 batting average on balls in play hasn’t helped but his batted-ball data has declined. His strikeout rate has stayed high at 29.9% while his walk rate dropped to 11.2%.
Due to that rough performance, he has been optioned to the minors with some regularity. In the process, he has exhausted his option seasons and will be out of options going forward. The Bucs could have walked away this week but have apparently not totally given up on a bounceback. For what it’s worth, Suwinski has continued producing in Triple-A, with a .283/.389/.565 line and 149 wRC+ at that level in 2025.
Suwinski’s salary will be barely above the league minimum, which will be $780K next year, so it’s not a massive risk for the Bucs. If Suwinski continues to struggle, he can be cut from the roster without it being too much of a sunk cost. He would also likely clear waivers in that scenario and would stick around as non-roster depth. He is two days away from having three years of service time, which would give him the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service, he would have to forfeit his remaining salary commitments in exercising that right.
The Bucs go into 2026 with Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds projected in two outfield spots. The Bucs could add someone to take a third spot but it’s fairly open for now, with Suwinski in the mix alongside Will Robertson, Billy Cook and others.
Photo courtesy of Katie Stratman, Imagn Images
Pirates Select Matt Gorski
The Pirates announced the selection of outfielder/first baseman Matt Gorski onto the major league roster. Pittsburgh also recalled righty Mike Burrows. They optioned Jack Suwinski to Triple-A Indianapolis and placed Justin Lawrence on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation. Pittsburgh transferred lefty reliever Tim Mayza from the 15-day to the 60-day IL to create a 40-man roster spot for Gorski. Mayza is facing a weeks-long shutdown with lat and shoulder strains, so the transfer is a formality.
It’s the first major league call for the 27-year-old Gorski. A second-round pick out of Indiana in 2019, he ranked in the middle of Pittsburgh’s top 30 prospects for his first couple pro seasons. Evaluators credited Gorski with solid speed and power but questioned his pure hit tool. He posted alarming strikeout rates for a college draftee in the low minors. He nevertheless reached Triple-A by the end of 2023 and has played there for the past two years.
Gorski batted .257/.319/.522 over 113 games a year ago. He connected on 23 homers and stole 15 bases, though he was also caught nine times. Gorski struck out at a near-29% clip, so Pittsburgh decided not to add him to the 40-man and left him exposed to the Rule 5 draft. He went unselected and remained with the Bucs. He received a Spring Training invite and hit .360 with four homers in 27 trips to the plate.
The Bucs assigned Gorski back to Triple-A to begin this year. He’s out to a nice start, connecting on three homers and seven doubles while hitting .300 over 18 games. He has fanned 18 times in 73 plate appearances (23.4%) but done enough for the Pirates to see if he can improve the lineup. The Pirates are hitting .222/.304/.335 on the season. They’re in the bottom 10 in both average and on-base percentage, while only the White Sox and Royals have a lower slugging mark.
Primarily a right fielder, Gorski has experience at all three outfield spots and at first base. Oneil Cruz has center field locked down, while Bryan Reynolds is back in right after spending time at DH because of triceps discomfort. Gorski could take some at-bats from left fielder Tommy Pham, who is hitting .184/.267/.224 without a home run. Lefty-hitting utility infielder Enmanuel Valdez has been playing first base. Gorski could factor in there against lefty pitching.
Meanwhile, Burrows draws into Derek Shelton’s bullpen with Lawrence on the shelf. Pittsburgh claimed Lawrence off waivers from the Rockies early in Spring Training. The righty had pitched well in the early going, working 11 1/3 frames of one-run ball. He struck out 15 and was getting grounders at a strong 52.4% clip. It’s unclear for how long he’ll be out of action.
Alex Stumpf of MLB.com first noted that Gorski was in the clubhouse. Colin Beazley of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was first to report that Suwinski would be optioned and Burrows was being recalled.
Bryan Reynolds Expects To Be Pirates’ Right Fielder
There have been some whispers that perhaps the Pirates would move Bryan Reynolds from the outfield to first base but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards. “It sounds like I’m a right fielder,” Reynolds said today, per Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It helps to focus on that. Just focusing on that, being a right fielder.” He added that moving from left to right seemed to be “more of a permanent” transition “for now.”
Reynolds has spent his entire career in the outfield, playing all three spots, but the first base rumors started late last year. Back in September, manager Derek Shelton told Hiles that Reynolds had been talking about playing first for years and had recently got a first baseman’s glove.
The Pirates acquired Spencer Horwitz this offseason and he seemed to be slated to be the club’s regular first baseman. However, it was recently revealed that he has undergone wrist surgery and will be sidelined for six to eight weeks. That means the Bucs will need to find alternative solutions there, at least for the beginning of the season.
Despite Reynolds having an interest in the position, it’s understandable that the Bucs don’t want to put him there right now, as it would just further thin out an outfield that already has some questions. Center field is going to be manned by former shortstop Oneil Cruz, who only has 195 innings of experience at his new position. It seems like the favorite for left field is Tommy Pham, who is about to turn 37 years and has has an up-and-down career of late.
Moving Reynolds in to take first would leave a hole on the grass to be filled by a clump of guys including Joshua Palacios, Adam Frazier, Jack Suwinski and Ji Hwan Bae. Next to Cruz and Pham, that doesn’t have the making of a strong group.
Moving from left to right is somewhat notable for Reynolds, as right field is the outfield position he’s played the least. He was primarily a center fielder earlier in his career before moving to left field in the past two years. He does have 398 innings in right, though that’s far less than the 3,062 1/3 frames he’s logged in left.
Metrics are divided on his work in left, as he has four Defensive Runs Saved but -12 Outs Above Average. His sample of work in right is a pretty small sample and tough to draw conclusions from, though he has 75th percentile arm strength and right field is smaller at PNC Park, so perhaps it’s a good move for him.
The Bucs will still have to figure out what to do at first base until Horwitz is back. Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review recently took a look at some of the options, mentioning Jared Triolo, Darick Hall, Matt Gorski, Malcom Nuñez and Suwinski as possibilities.
Triolo just won a Gold Glove for the utility position in the National League last year, spending time at all four infield positions and right field. The larger question would be his bat, since he has a line of .242/.325/.341 in his big league career so far. Hall isn’t on the roster and has minimal big league experience but a big .253/.342/.458 line in his Triple-A career. Gorski isn’t on the roster either and hasn’t made it to the show yet but he had a nice line of .257/.319/.522 in Triple-A last year. Nuñez also has no major league experience and isn’t on the roster. He’s also coming off a poor .250/.310/.365 showing in Triple-A last year.
Suwinski has only played the outfield in his career but there’s potential upside with his bat. Over 2022 and 2023, he hit 45 homers for the Bucs and drew walks at a 12.8% clip. His 31.6% strikeout rate was a problem but the power and on-base abilities made him a productive hitter. Unfortunately, he had a dismal 2024, slashing just .182/.264/.324 and struggling in the minors as well. The first base opening provides a path for him to earn back some playing time but his bat will obviously have to rebound for that to be a realistic possibility. Per Gorman, the Bucs haven’t approached him about playing first but Shelton isn’t opposed to the idea, while Suwinski is open to the switch in order to improve his versatility.
Pirates Announce Several Roster Moves
The Pirates announced a series of roster moves today. They recalled catcher Henry Davis, outfielder Jack Suwinski and infielder Liover Peguero from Triple-A Indianapolis. They also selected the contract of right-handed reliever Ben Heller from Indy. In one corresponding move, they placed infielder/outfielder Ji Hwan Bae on the 10-day injured list with a right wrist sprain, retroactive to June 3. Outfielder Michael A. Taylor went on the paternity list, opening another roster spot, while left-hander Jose Hernandez was optioned to Triple-A and catcher Grant Koch was designated for assignment.
Additionally, the club reinstated catcher Jason Delay from the 60-day IL and optioned him to Triple-A. To open a 40-man spot for him, left-hander Marco Gonzales was transferred to the 60-day IL.
The news on Davis was reported on the weekend. Manager Derek Shelton was on 93.7 The Fan earlier today, as relayed by Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and revealed the news about Suwinski, Peguero, Bae and Taylor.
Davis, the No. 1 overall pick from the 2021 draft, returns to the majors after spending a bit more than a month in Triple-A. He’d gotten out to not only a rough start in 2024 (.162/.280/.206 in 83 plate appearances) but to his overall big league career. The former Louisville star also struggled through 255 plate appearances last season in his debut campaign and carries a disappointing .201/.297/.319 slash to this point in the majors.
Of course, that’s a small sample of just 338 plate appearances — far too limited a data set to make any broad-reaching conclusions about Davis’ long-term outlook. He looked reinvigorated during his short time in Indianapolis, utterly laying waste to International League pitching. In 101 turns at the dish, Davis recorded an outrageous .296/.436/.642 batting line with seven home runs and seven doubles.
Davis has long been viewed as a bat-first catching prospect, which admittedly makes his early struggles at the plate concerning but also creates some optimism that he’ll eventually turn a corner in the batter’s box. The Pirates’ hope is that this brief Indy reset will be a catalyst for just such a turnaround. And with Joey Bart now joining fellow catcher Endy Rodriguez on the injured list, Davis should have a clear opportunity to prove he can carry some of those gains over to the MLB level.
Suwinski will return after just a week in the minors. He was optioned last week after struggling to a brutal .174/.268/.297 slash to begin what he hoped would be a strong follow-up to last year’s 26-homer breakout. His rate stats were better in Indianapolis, as he hit .250/.276/.429 with a homer and a triple in his seven-game sample, but Suwinski also fanned in 13 of his 29 plate appearances (44.8%). That’s not the type of progress for which he and the team were hoping, but Bae’s injury created an outfield need and forced the team’s hand.
Heller, 32, has pitched in parts of five major league seasons and has a 3.06 ERA in 50 big league innings, albeit with a below-average 20.9% strikeout rate and a hefty 11.8% walk rate. Metrics like FIP and SIERA both peg him north of 5.00. He’s benefited from some decent fortune on balls in play (.261 BABIP) and a sky-high 89% strand rate that’s about 17 percentage points higher than average.
That said, Heller has also posted genuinely intriguing numbers in Indianapolis this year — none more so than his enormous 43% strikeout rate. Through 18 1/3 frames, he’s yielded a 4.91 ERA, but most of the damage against him came in one stretch of four straight appearances in which he allowed runs. He’s since rattled off 5 2/3 shutout frames, fanning 10 opponents along the way against four walks. Command is still an issue for Heller, but his 10.1% walk rate in Triple-A is a bit better than his big league standards.
Koch was only just called to the majors for his big league debut when Bart landed on the injured list. The 27-year-old former fifth-rounder appeared in three games but did not collect a hit in eight trips to the plate. He’s a .236/.295/.362 hitter in parts of two Triple-A seasons. The Pirates will have a week to trade Koch, attempt to pass him through outright waivers, or release him.
Delay played a prominent role with the Pirates over the past couple seasons and hit .251/.319/.347 in 187 plate appearances last year. That’s respectable production for a backup catcher, but Delay is generally considered just that — a backup option behind the dish — whereas Davis is the potential future if not at catcher then perhaps at first base or in right field. The Pirates understandably want to give Davis as many opportunities as possible, and he’ll now slide back into the primary catcher role with veteran Yasmani Grandal backing him up.
As for Gonzales, his move to the 60-day IL was largely procedural. The team needed a 40-man spot to reinstate Delay, and Gonzales has been on the 15-day IL since April 14. He’ll be eligible to return later this month, but he’s yet to begin throwing. He’s out with a strained left forearm muscle and may not be back until the season’s second half at this rate.
Pirates GM Ben Cherington Discusses Suwinski, Davis, Tellez
Pirates GM Ben Cherington spoke to reporters (including Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) recently about the struggles a few key players have faced on offense this season in Pittsburgh, including recently-optioned outfielder Jack Suwinski. Despite the club’s decision to option the 25-year-old earlier this week, Cherington made clear that the club believes in his talent.
“Jack is really important to us,” Cherington said, as relayed by Hiles. “..Clearly believe that the best version of our team in 2024 has Jack on it, doing the things that we know he’s capable of doing. We tried to give that as much time as we could to get on track.”
That time to work things out came in the form of 157 plate appearances in the majors with Pittsburgh this season, where Suwinski slashed a brutal .174/.268/.297 despite being just one year removed from a breakout season where he posted a 112 wRC+ in 144 games as the club’s regular center fielder. That upside is certainly tantalizing, but Cherington indicated that the club’s decision to option him comes from a belief that Suwinski will need “consistent” at-bats on a daily basis that they can’t afford to him at the big league level.
With veteran franchise face Andrew McCutchen installed at DH and Bryan Reynolds taking one corner spot every day, that left just two spots in the outfield for a combination of Suwinski, Michael A. Taylor, Edward Olivares, and Connor Joe. Olivares and Joe have both hit fairly well to this point in the season, while Taylor is both not optionable and also an excellent defender in center field. Even with that outfield logjam complicating matters, Cherington still indicated that the club hopes that he’ll be able to show enough to return to the majors at some point this year, although he made clear that there is “no guarantee” as to when or if he’ll be back in the majors this year.
Suwinski isn’t the only potential core piece that the Pirates optioned to the minors this month, as the club also optioned catcher Henry Davis just after the calendar flipped to May. Davis, 24, was the first overall pick in the 2021 draft and made his debut last season but struggled at the plate while working almost exclusively as an outfielder. Injuries to the club’s catching corps this offseason spurred Pittsburgh to return Davis to his native position behind the plate, where he looked to be below average but serviceable with the glove. That would be well worthwhile if Davis was a stud on offense, but he hit just .162/.280/.206 in 23 games prior to his demotion.
Fortunately, Davis has caught fire in the weeks since then at Triple-A with an otherworldly .315/.456/.741 slash line in 15 games. That strong hot stretch earned Davis considerable praise from Cherington, who acknowledged that the youngster has been “working hard” since being optioned and that the club is seeing “progress” both in his on-field results and in the specific goals the club set out for him when he was demoted. If Davis can reach the ceiling that made him a consensus top-50 prospect in the sport a couple of years ago, that would be a huge boost to a Pirates club that has struggled to a 24-28 start this season despite winning 11 of their first 16 games this year.
Not every struggling player can be optioned to the minor leagues, of course, and that includes first baseman Rowdy Tellez. The 29-year-old slugger signed a one-year deal in Pittsburgh coming off a down season in Milwaukee last year and has looked even worse through 45 games with the Pirates this season, hitting a nightmarish .175/.242/.225 that’s a whopping 64% below the league average hitter in terms of wRC+.
In spite of his struggles, it doesn’t appear that the club doesn’t plan on giving up on Tellez any time soon, and Cherington confirmed as much in comments to reporters. While the GM acknowledged that the club isn’t “seeing the outcomes we hoped to see” out of Tellez to this point, he also made clear that Tellez is healthy and that the underlying skills that prompted the Pirates to target him, including his bat speed and strong power potential, don’t seem to have changed.
Even as the club intends to stick with Tellez for the time being, that doesn’t mean they haven’t begun to lean less heavily on him. Tellez is still a semi-regular fixture in the club’s lineup with appearances in 15 of the club’s 21 games this month, but Joe has begun to see increasing playing time at first base as a result of a strong .273/.344/.460 slash line in 45 games this season. Should the Pirates decide to move on from Tellez at some point, non-roster veteran Jake Lamb could serve as a potential left-handed complement to Joe at first base. The 33-year-old is currently playing for the Pirates on a minor league deal in their system with a .341/.428/.500 slash line in 37 games and had some success in the majors as recently as 2022.
Pirates Option Jack Suwinski
The Pirates announced Thursday that they’ve optioned struggling outfielder Jack Suwinski to Triple-A Indianapolis. Left-hander Jose Hernandez has been recalled from Indy in his place.
It’s a notable turn of events for the Pirates and Suwinski, who looked to have emerged as a potential core piece for the Bucs just last season. Suwinski mashed his way into an everyday outfield role, clubbing 26 home runs and drawing plenty of walks en route to a .224/.339/.454 slash (112 wRC+). Everything’s gone in the wrong direction for the slugger this season, however. In his first 157 trips to the plate, Suwinski has posted an anemic .174/.268/.297 batting line.
The decline at the plate hasn’t followed the typical pattern. Suwinski has actually greatly improved on last year’s problematic 32.2% strikeout rate, punching out in a more palatable (albeit still higher-than-average) 25.5% of his plate appearances. He’s making contact at a much higher rate both on pitches within the strike zone (88% in ’24, 81.3% in ’23) and off the plate (60.2% in ’24, 52.7% in ’23).
Counter-intuitive as it may seem, that improved plate coverage has resulted in some ugly trends that have tamped down his production. For starters, Suwinski is swinging more in general. His 28.9% chase rate is lower than average but still up considerably from last year’s excellent 22% mark. That’s likely contributed to a dip in walk rate, which sat at a huge 14% a year ago but is down to 11.5% in 2023 (still about three percentage points north of average). It seems there’s been a conscious effort to be more assertive at the plate. Only eight qualified hitters swung less often than Suwinski in 2023, but this year there are 79 qualified bats swinging less often.
Suwinski’s more aggressive approach hasn’t generated quality contact, however. His ground-ball rate has spiked from 27.9% all the way to 44.4%. His line-drive rate is down two percentage points, while his fly-ball rate has plummeted by 14.2% percentage points (from 53.6% to 39.4%). He’s no longer elevating the ball at a strong rate, and when he does make contact, it’s been weaker in nature. He’s lost 2.4 mph off his average exit velocity and seen his hard-hit rate fall from 43.4% to 36.4%. After barreling up 15.7% of his batted balls last year (as measured by Statcast), he’s at just 6.1% in 2024.
Whether the more aggressive approach was intended to take advantage of Suwinski’s clearly plus power, to improve his batting average, some combination of the two or perhaps has simply been borne of frustration at his slow start, the results aren’t there. He’ll head to Indianapolis for now in an effort to get back on track and hopefully recapture some of the form that made him the Bucs’ top power threat just last season.
From a service time vantage point, the demotion won’t alter Suwinski’s path to free agency. He entered the season with 1.118 years of MLB service, meaning he only needed 54 days on the active roster or injured list to reach two years of service and remain on pace for free agency following the 2028 season. He reached that number earlier this week, so even in the unlikely event that he stays in the minors all year, he’d still have stayed on his prior free-agent trajectory. It’s at least possible this could cost him Super Two designation, as he’d have been on the Super Two bubble with 2.118 years of service this coming offseason, but he could remain on that bubble if his optional assignment is short enough. He’ll have to spend at least 10 days in the minors, unless he’s recalled sooner as a replacement for someone who’s being placed on the injured list.
With Suwinski no longer in the outfield fold, the Pirates figure to use a rotation of Bryan Reynolds, Michael A. Taylor, Ji Hwan Bae, Connor Joe and Edward Olivares. Taylor and Bae are likeliest to see time in center. Reynolds has split his time between the two corners this season but will be on the lineup on a near everyday basis. Olivares and Joe can rotate through the free corner spot, with Joe also an option at first base and either a candidate to stand in as the designated hitter (should Andrew McCutchen need a day off).
Pirates Could Pursue More Contract Extensions
The Pirates’ extension of Bryan Reynolds — seven years and $100MM on top of his current $6.75MM salary — put an end to a long-running saga of trade rumors swirling around the All-Star outfielder. It’s the first nine-figure contract in franchise history and the second long-term deal with a hopeful core player of the past 14 months; Pittsburgh also signed third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes to an eight-year, $70MM deal prior to the 2022 season. Speaking at yesterday’s press conference to announce the Reynolds extension, Pirates owner Bob Nutting suggested that he hopes to work out long-term deals with additional core players (link via Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review).
Nutting noted that “to a great degree, we’re just getting started,” going on to call Reynolds’ new contract “a huge step forward for the franchise” before adding that he’s “confident we’ll have future steps as we go forward.” Pirates fans, in particular, will want to check out Gorman’s full piece for comments not only from Nutting but also from Reynolds himself and from general manager Ben Cherington.
On the one hand, it’s fairly common for owners and baseball operations leaders to offer up what’s essentially boilerplate executive-speak about wanting to extend core players on a young club. On the other, Nutting has kept a notoriously tight budget and small payroll for the Pirates. The extensions for Hayes and especially for Reynolds mark a definitive change in course for the club, and with fresh off guaranteeing his top player an additional $100MM in guaranteed money, Nutting’s words perhaps carry a bit of extra credence.
If the Bucs do plan to explore — or already have explored — long-term pacts with additional players, there are a handful of logical candidates for such a deal. In the rotation, right-handers Roansy Contreras and Mitch Keller both increasingly look like solid building blocks, though they’re at very different stages of their careers. The 23-year-old Contreras doesn’t yet have a full season of Major League service time, putting his earning power on an extension considerably south of Keller. The Reds just locked up righty Hunter Greene, who was controllable for five more seasons, on a six-year, $53MM contract. Contreras is even further removed from free agency and would presumably come with a lower price tag.
Keller, meanwhile, is earning $2.4375MM in 2023 with just two more seasons of club control remaining beyond the current campaign. The 2014 second-rounder ranked as one of the game’s top pitching prospects prior to his debut in 2019, and while it’s taken some time for him to get there, Keller has begun to solidify himself as a quality starter.
Dating back to last May, when he added a sinker to his repertoire and began to rely less heavily on his four-seamer, the 27-year-old sports a 3.28 ERA with a 21.9% strikeout rate, 8.6% strikeout rate and 48.1% ground-ball rate in 159 1/3 innings. That includes an impressive six-inning, two-run, 10-strikeout performance against the Dodgers today. If he were to continue at this pace, he’d have a strong case in extension talks. For some context, Keller will be in the same service class following the 2023 season that Kyle Freeland (five years, $64.5MM) and Pablo Lopez (four years, $73.5MM) were when they signed their own extensions. The Bucs could try to pursue something sooner, but regardless, much of Keller’s breakout looks sustainable.
Elsewhere on the roster, closer David Bednar is a local product who’s emerged as a fan favorite and as one of the game’s better relievers. Since coming over from the Padres as part of the return for Joe Musgrove, he’s pitched to a 2.26 ERA with a 32.6% strikeout rate, 7.3% walk rate, 30 saves and 17 holds. His 2023 campaign has been particularly impressive, as Bednar has yielded just one run in 12 innings with a 15-to-1 K/BB ratio.
That said, relievers are notoriously volatile on a year-to-year basis, and Bednar is already 28 years old. The Pirates control him through his age-31 season and might find some risk in locking him into an extension that would effectively be buying his age-32 campaign and perhaps a season or two thereafter.
In the lineup, the Pirates have some interesting candidates. Shortstop Oneil Cruz is currently out while recovering from a fractured ankle but has displayed some of the most tantalizing tools in all of baseball when healthy. His development is still a work in progress, particularly with regard to his approach at the plate, but few players can match his combination of power, speed and athleticism. Meanwhile, outfielder Jack Suwinski has quickly become a Statcast darling, with eye-popping exit velocity, barrel rates and sprint speed. Both young hitters are controllable through the 2028 season at present.
The Bucs have plenty of young talent beyond that grouping — some of it yet to debut in the Majors. Catchers Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis are among the most highly regarded in the sport at their position. Right-handers Luis Ortiz and Quinn Priester are both considered potential rotation pieces in the long term. Infielder Nick Gonzales just hit the minor league injured list with a shoulder strain today but is in Triple-A and could potentially make his debut later this year if the issue proves minor.
Broadly speaking, the Pirates have a deep and talented system, with plenty of interesting long-term pieces already on the roster and also on the cusp of debuting while biding their time in the upper minors. There’s always risk for a low-payroll club like this to lock players up so early, as the margin for error is thinner than with a deep-pocketed rival. That said, hitting a home run on an early extension can also be key in allowing teams in this payroll sphere to spend a bit more in free agency, if their core players are locked in at affordable rates. Only time will tell whether Nutting’s comments were merely lip service or the beginning of a welcome trend for Bucs fans, but regardless of which is true, the organization’s future looks increasingly bright.