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Williams: Starling Marte’s Suspension Delivers a Crushing Blow to the 2017 Pirates

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The top two hitters on the 2016 Pittsburgh Pirates in both wOBA and wRC+ were as follows:

1. Jung Ho Kang

2. Starling Marte

One of those two can’t leave his country after receiving a third DUI charge. The other was just suspended by MLB for 80 games and won’t be able to rejoin the team until July 18th.

That’s about as good of a summary as you will need for the Pirates’ 2017 chances moving forward.

The Pirates were already hurting offensively before today’s Marte suspension. They ranked 14th in the NL in wOBA and 13th in wRC+. Even if they had Kang on the team, they’d still be in the bottom half. The blame for this can go around. Andrew McCutchen is off to another slow start, or what is hoped to be a slow start and not a continuation on his horrible 2016 season. Josh Bell hasn’t been hitting like he did in his rookie debut. Marte also was playing below his normal levels, struggling offensively to start the season.

There was hope in all three of those cases that the offense would improve, helping to make up for the loss of Kang, and helping to make up for the slow offensive start. Losing Marte makes it even more difficult for the Pirates to put up better offensive numbers going forward, meaning it is now extremely important that McCutchen shows his career isn’t on a rapid decline, or Bell shows that he can help carry an offense in his first full MLB season.

The Pirates already had very little margin for error in making the playoffs this year. Losing arguably their best player for half a season doesn’t exactly fit within that small margin. It’s hard to see them as a contender at this point, with this suspension being a crushing blow to their chances.

Jose Osuna Over Austin Meadows

The immediate reaction after learning of the Marte news, and processing what this means for the team, was for a lot of people to start discussing Austin Meadows as a potential call-up. That didn’t happen, as the Pirates went with Jose Osuna instead.

This isn’t a big surprise. If the Pirates would have needed a replacement out of Spring Training, Osuna would have been the guy to get the call. He was one of the final cuts out of camp, and had a real shot to make the Opening Day roster. Meanwhile, Austin Meadows has less than 200 plate appearances in Triple-A, with a .202/.280/.417 line. Meadows isn’t ready, and hasn’t done anything in the last two weeks to change the plan of having Osuna as the first guy up.

Adam Frazier should get the bulk of the playing time as a starter with Marte out. Frazier has been one of the best hitters on the team in the first two weeks, and received starting time last year when outfielders went down. Osuna could get some time as well, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pirates looked to the outside for a more permanent solution, rather than just making Frazier a starter. I don’t know if that will happen right away, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens in the next few weeks.

One thing to consider is that the Pirates are currently sitting with a projected payroll of around $94 M, and that doesn’t remove whatever money the New York Mets are sending for Antonio Bastardo. The lower figure is due to Marte and Kang both being on the restricted list and removing about $5 M. Marte’s suspension will save the team $2.186 M in salary, while I currently have Kang out for the entire season until something changes with his appeals process.

The Pirates have some money to spend, and if they want to try and salvage this season, they’d have to at least consider adding someone from the outside to help out this team.

Andrew McCutchen Back in Center Field?

There was a lot of focus this spring on the Pirates moving Andrew McCutchen to right field and putting Marte in center. That was the right call, as the numbers showed. Marte has much better range and a better arm suited for the deeper field. Now that he’s out, McCutchen might be the best defensive option the Pirates have.

Gregory Polanco came up through the minors as a center fielder, and might have more range than McCutchen, but has always performed poorly reading balls hit straight at him and over his head, which happens more often in center field.

Losing Marte’s offense is one thing. Losing his defense, and the expected defensive improvements of the new outfield alignment, is another way this suspension hurts the Pirates.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pirates get flexible with their lineup now. They have Adam Frazier, Josh Harrison, Josh Bell, and Jose Osuna as guys who can play multiple positions and play the infield and outfield.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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