I’ve woken up the last two mornings to news that a catcher has signed elsewhere. First it was Elias Diaz going to Colorado, and today it’s Robinson Chirinos going to the Rangers.
The Pirates are in a tough situation at catcher this year and moving forward. They’ve got Luke Maile and Jacob Stallings as their MLB options. There are no starting catching options in the system, including the two in the majors.
I could see Diaz having better offensive results in Colorado. He showed potential in 2018 as a two-way catcher with both offense and defense, but didn’t show either of those in 2019. He hasn’t been the most consistent player throughout his career. The tools have been there for success on both sides of the ball, but that hasn’t always translated to the stat line.
Chirinos was the best available option on the open market, which isn’t saying a lot. Neither Diaz nor Chirinos would have been the answer for the Pirates. At best, you’ve got someone good for the next few years.
The Pirates still need that. But they also need a catcher for the long-term. Because of this need, any catcher with any kind of promise is an upgrade for them. We’ll see if they continue to add any more upgrades to the position this offseason. With the very few options starting to decline, that task will become more difficult going forward.
SONG OF THE DAY
DAILY QUIZ
THIS DATE IN PIRATES HISTORY
By John Dreker
Five former Pittsburgh Pirates born on this date:
Gene Freese, infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1955-58 and 1964-65. Gene was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pirates prior to the 1953 season. He hit .300 that year in the lower levels, then moved up to Double-A in 1954, where he hit .332 with 16 homers in 145 games. That earned him an Opening Day spot for the 1955 Pirates. He played just over half of his games at third base that rookie season and the rest at second base, hitting .253 with 14 homers and 69 runs scored in 134 games. Gene started off slow in 1956, hitting .209 through July 4th when he was sent back to the minors. He returned in late September for six games, going 2-for-11 at the plate. In 1957, he was on the bench to start the year, but by late May he was in the lineup regularly, mostly at third base. He hit a career high .283 in 114 games.
Despite that solid season, he started the next year on the bench, starting just one game through the first two months when the Pirates traded him along with Johnny O’Brien for Dick Schofield, who was featured here yesterday. Freese played for four different teams before the Pirates purchased him from the Reds in November 1963. He played 99 games and hit .225 with 40 RBIs in 1964. He saw limited action for the 1965 Pirates, getting into 43 games before he was sold to the Chicago White Sox. He finished his career in 1966, hitting .254 with 115 homers and 432 RBIs in 1,115 games.
John Gilbert, shortstop for the 1890 Pittsburgh Alleghenys. His story of how he entered the baseball encyclopedia is an interesting one. The 1890 Alleghenys were an extremely bad team, going 23-113. They were also bad enough to give two brothers, John and Harry Gilbert, a chance to be a double play combo for one day in the majors, despite the fact they were both playing for a semi-pro team at the time with no prior big league experience. On June 23rd, the Alleghenys had a scheduled doubleheader in Philadelphia and a new double play combo, Harry at second base and John at shortstop. John Gilbert went 0-for-8 at the plate, but fielded both games cleanly while his younger brother Harry collected two singles in his eight at-bats and also played the field flawlessly. The Pirates won the second game that day, which was the only day in the majors for the Gilbert brothers. They are the first set of siblings to play together in Pittsburgh Pirates history.
Walker Cooper, catcher for the 1954 Pirates. He was already a 39-year-old veteran of 14 seasons when the Pirates signed him as a free agent in February of 1954. Cooper was a top catcher of his era, an eight time all-star who had finished in the top ten in the NL in batting average three times and four times he finished among the league leaders in slugging percentage. He had also received MVP votes in four different seasons including 1943 when he finished second in the voting. While with the Cardinals in the early 1940’s he was not only the catcher for his brother Mort , who had three straight 20 win seasons, but the pair started the 1942 and 1943 all-star games for the NL. By the time the Pirates got Cooper he was past his prime, having hit .235 and .219 in the previous two seasons (he was a .285 career hitter). He lasted just 14 games for Pittsburgh, pinch-hitting in 12 of those games. He was put on waivers in May and the Cubs picked him up. He played well for them in a limited role, hitting .310 in 158 at-bats. He played three more seasons before retiring. One of the more under-appreciated catchers of all-time, Cooper received as many as 14.4% of the votes needed for Hall of Fame induction, last appearing on the ballot in 1977.
Brian Boehringer, relief pitcher for the Pirates from 2002-04. He pitched 167.1 innings over 153 games putting together a 10-9, 4.36 record with one save. His best season for the Pirates came in 2002 when he had a 3.39 ERA in 70 games. Boehringer was a fourth round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 1991 and played seven seasons in the majors before joining the Pirates. After leaving Pittsburgh via free agency following the 2004 season, he signed with the Yankees. Boehringer pitched 356 games in the majors, going 26-32, 4.36 in 534.2 innings.
Marv Rickert, outfielder for the 1950 Pirates. The Pirates purchased his contract from the Braves in December 1949. In 17 games, mostly as a pinch-hitter, he went 3-for-20 with four RBIs. He played in the field just three times with the Pirates, all in right field, and only once as a starter. On May 29th of that 1950 season, the Pirates sold him to the Chicago White Sox, where he finished his major league career later that season. Rickert played two more years in the minors before retiring from pro ball. He spent parts of six seasons in the majors and missed all of 1943-45 serving in the Coast Guard during WWII. Rickert hit .247 over 402 games in the majors.
