Spring Training Preview: Fully healthy, Gerrit Cole and Francisco Cervelli should return to 2015 form
Associated Press
Pirates starting pitcher Gerrit Cole sits in the dugout during the bottom of the fifth inning in a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners in Pittsburgh on July 27. Cole threw a three-hitter in the Pirates鈥� 10-1 win.
Matt Slocum/The AP File
Pirates catcher Francisco Cervelli in action against the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 12, 2016, in Philadelphia.
Benny Sieu/The AP File
Pirates infielder Josh Harrison takes batting practice before a baseball game against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 29, 2016, in Milwaukee.
Associated Press
Pirates鈥� Adam Frazier, right, celebrates with teammate Chris Stewart (19) after both scored on a three-run double by Pirates鈥� David Freese off Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw in the second inning of a baseball game in Pittsburgh on June 26.
Associated Press
Andrew McCutchen walks to center field against the Milwaukee Brewers in a game this season.
The Pirates haven鈥檛 had a busy off-season in terms of adding players from outside the 2016 roster. Infielder Phil Gosselin, who is expected to compete for a bench spot, right-handed pitcher Pat Light, who could contend in the bullpen, along with right-handed reliever Daniel Hudson are the most notable players that will join the team for the first time in Bradenton.
That doesn鈥檛 mean the Pirates aren鈥檛 expecting improvements on their 78-83 record in 2016 that kept them 25 games behind the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central. The Pirates have several players that performed at a level below their career average or are expected to raise their play to a higher level in 2017.
Gerrit Cole 鈥� RHP
Cole, the Pirates鈥� first-round draft pick in 2011, is expected to be the anchor of the team蘑菇视频 rotation in 2017. At 24, he had the best season of his career in 2015, posting a 2.60 ERA in 208 innings and winning 19 of his 32 starts.
But things didn鈥檛 go nearly as well for Cole in 2016. He was hampered by a series of frustrating injuries that held him to just 21 starts and 116 innings pitched. Even when he was on the mound, he didn鈥檛 perform at the same level he蘑菇视频 been accustomed to, posting a career-worst 3.88 ERA.
Cole certainly has the talent to turn things around, and that process will start with a clean start to spring training. Last year, Cole suffered a rib injury in January that hampered him throughout training camp and didn鈥檛 let him adequately prepare for the season.
Francisco Cervelli 鈥� C
Cervelli is another player that was plagued by injuries in 2016. He broke his hamate bone midseason, which not only cost him playing time, but is an injury that can have an affect on a hitter蘑菇视频 performance throughout the season.
One of the things that a hamate injury can hurt is a player蘑菇视频 power; Cervelli had just one home run after knocking in seven the year before. It wasn鈥檛 just the absence of round-trippers, either, as Cervelli蘑菇视频 overall slugging percentage fell 79 points from .401 to .322.
The seven home runs from 2015 may end up being an aberration, as he蘑菇视频 never had more than four in any other season. But the .322 slugging percentage was a career low. His average over nine MLB seasons is .374, and it should be safe to expect him to return to that level.
Josh Harrison 鈥� 2B
When the Pirates decided to move on from longtime starter Neil Walker and insert former utility man Harrison into the starting lineup at second base, the hope was that some positional certainty on defense could help Harrison regain the form that had made him an all-star in 2014.
Instead, Harrison had another so-so season, posting a .283 batting average while hitting just four home runs. The Pirates should expect a higher level of production from a starting infielder, and Harrison蘑菇视频 positional flexibility could open the door for the team to seek another option going forward. He is owed $17.5 million for the 2017 and 鈥�18 seasons and his contract contains club options for 2019 and 2020.
Adam Frazier 鈥� Utility
As a rookie in 2016, Frazier proved that he can hit. The 5-foot-10 utility player started his MLB career with a .301 batting average, and while he doesn鈥檛 provide prodigious power, his speed allowed him to collect eight doubles and a triple. He also showed the ability to take a walk and pinch hit.
But the issue going forward will be if Frazier can play the field at any of his six positions at a high enough level to be anything other than a bench player. Frazier started his career at shortshop, but pretty much played everywhere else around the diamond last season instead. He had eight total errors and three at second base 鈥� the position he profiles most easily to play.
Frazier doesn鈥檛 have a lot of experience playing anywhere other than shortstop, so it will be interesting to see where he spends the bulk of his playing time in spring training.
Andrew McCutchen 鈥� RF
The Pirates鈥� all-everything center fielder had a rough year all around last season, and he鈥檒l come into 2017 with a new position, as he鈥檒l be moved to right field as part of the new outfield alignment.
But McCutchen should expect to see some improvement in his offensive numbers from a year ago. He posted career lows in batting average and walks while striking out a career-high 143 times.
McCutchen dealt with a thumb issue in 2016, which may have hurt his swing-and-miss numbers, but the power remained, as McCutchen nailed 24 round-trippers. As he moves to the less-athletic right field, it蘑菇视频 possible that McCutchen could focus even more on the power part of his game and make up some of the ground he lost a year ago.