Pirates GM Ben Cherington Discusses Suwinski, Davis, Tellez

Pirates GM Ben Cherington spoke to reporters (together with Noah Hines of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) not too long ago in regards to the struggles just a few key gamers have confronted on offense this season in Pittsburgh, together with recently-optioned outfielder Jack Suwinski. Regardless of the membership’s choice to choice the 25-year-old earlier this week, Cherington made clear that the membership believes in his expertise.

“Jack is actually essential to us,” Cherington mentioned, as relayed by Hines. “..Clearly consider that the most effective model of our group in 2024 has Jack on it, doing the issues that we all know he’s able to doing. We tried to present that as a lot time as we might to get on observe.”

That point to work issues out got here within the type of 157 plate appearances within the majors with Pittsburgh this season, the place Suwinski slashed a brutal .174/.268/.297 regardless of being only one yr faraway from a breakout season the place he posted a 112 wRC+ in 144 video games because the membership’s common heart fielder. That upside is definitely tantalizing, however Cherington indicated that the membership’s choice to choice him comes from a perception that Suwinski will want “constant” at-bats each day that they will’t afford to him on the massive league stage.

With veteran franchise face Andrew McCutchen put in at DH and Bryan Reynolds taking one nook spot day by day, that left simply two spots within the outfield for a mixture of Suwinski, Michael A. Taylor, Edward Olivares, and Connor Joe. Olivares and Joe have each hit pretty nicely thus far within the season, whereas Taylor is each not optionable and in addition a superb defender in heart discipline. Even with that outfield logjam complicating issues, Cherington nonetheless indicated that the membership hopes that he’ll have the ability to present sufficient to return to the majors sooner or later this yr, though he made clear that there’s “no assure” as to when or if he’ll be again within the majors this yr.

Suwinski isn’t the one potential core piece that the Pirates optioned to the minors this month, because the membership additionally optioned catcher Henry Davis simply after the calendar flipped to Could. Davis, 24, was the primary general decide within the 2021 draft and made his debut final season however struggled on the plate whereas working virtually solely as an outfielder. Accidents to the membership’s catching corps this offseason spurred Pittsburgh to return Davis to his native place behind the plate, the place he appeared to be under common however serviceable with the glove. That may be nicely worthwhile if Davis was a stud on offense, however he hit simply .162/.280/.206 in 23 video games previous to his demotion.

Happily, Davis has caught hearth within the weeks since then at Triple-A with an otherworldly .315/.456/.741 slash line in 15 video games. That sturdy scorching stretch earned Davis appreciable reward from Cherington, who acknowledged that the teenager has been “working exhausting” since being optioned and that the membership is seeing “progress” each in his on-field outcomes and within the particular objectives the membership set out for him when he was demoted. If Davis can attain the ceiling that made him a consensus top-50 prospect within the sport a few years in the past, that may be an enormous enhance to a Pirates membership that has struggled to a 24-28 begin this season regardless of successful 11 of their first 16 video games this yr.

Not each struggling participant will be optioned to the minor leagues, after all, and that features first baseman Rowdy Tellez. The 29-year-old slugger signed a one-year deal in Pittsburgh coming off a down season in Milwaukee final yr and has appeared even worse via 45 video games with the Pirates this season, hitting a nightmarish .175/.242/.225 that’s a whopping 64% under the league common hitter by way of wRC+.

Despite his struggles, it doesn’t seem that the membership doesn’t plan on giving up on Tellez any time quickly, and Cherington confirmed as a lot in feedback to reporters. Whereas the GM acknowledged that the membership isn’t “seeing the outcomes we hoped to see” out of Tellez thus far, he additionally made clear that Tellez is wholesome and that the underlying expertise that prompted the Pirates to focus on him, together with his bat velocity and robust energy potential, don’t appear to have modified.

Even because the membership intends to stay with Tellez in the interim, that doesn’t imply they haven’t begun to lean much less closely on him. Tellez remains to be a semi-regular fixture within the membership’s lineup with appearances in 15 of the membership’s 21 video games this month, however Joe has begun to see rising enjoying time at first base on account of a powerful .273/.344/.460 slash line in 45 video games this season. Ought to the Pirates determine to maneuver on from Tellez sooner or later, non-roster veteran Jake Lamb might function a possible left-handed complement to Joe at first base. The 33-year-old is presently enjoying for the Pirates on a minor league deal of their system with a .341/.428/.500 slash line in 37 video games and had some success within the majors as not too long ago as 2022.