During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Anthony Alford to pitcher Miguel Yajure.

Player: Colin Moran

Position: First base

Throws: Right

Bats: Left

Age: 29

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 225 pounds

2021 MLB statistics: Moran batted .258/.334/.390 with 12 doubles, 10 home runs and 50 RBIs in 99 games.

Contract: After earning $2.8 million in 2020, Moran enters his second year of arbitration in 2022.

Acquired: From the Houston Astros, along with Joe Musgrove, Michael Feliz and Jason Martin, for Gerrit Cole in January 2018.

This past season: After making the transition from one corner of the infield to the other and splitting designated hitter duties with Josh Bell in 2020, Moran was ready to become the Pirates’ everyday first baseman.

Spending two months on the injured list foiled those plans.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton was impressed with Moran’s pitch selection, calling it “selectively aggressive” after his fast start in April, when Moran batted .276/.340/.483 with six doubles, four home runs (all in the first 16 games) with 17 RBIs.

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 18, 2021

“He’s really doing a nice job of swinging at the right pitches, and where I really think it highlights is there’s times that there’s balls in the zone that he does not offer at,” Shelton said. “That may sound weird, but when a pitcher executes a pitcher’s pitch, he’s expecting a hitter to take a swing at it and get weak contact. Right now, Colin is not expanding even inside the strike zone to swing at pitchers’ pitches. When guys are doing that, they have really effective at-bats, and that’s the thing that’s really standing out with Colin right now.”

What stood out with Moran in May was a left groin strain that kept him out for 24 games and required a rehab assignment at Triple-A Indianapolis. That caused complications at first base, where Todd Frazier failed, Will Craig committed one of the biggest blunders by chasing Javier Baez back down the first base line and the Pirates resorted to moving Erik Gonzalez there for four games.

Moran was back for only a few weeks when he was hit on the left hand by a pitch from Colorado’s Kyle Freeland, and a pisform fracture of the left wrist sidelined Moran until Aug. 6.

Where Moran was selectively aggressive early, his hits didn’t pack the same punch after the injuries. Per Statcast, his barrel rate dipped from 13.4% to 8.1% and his hard-hit rate plummeted from 47.2% to 37.2%. Even Moran admitted his season had been a “grind.”

“It’s definitely frustrating when you go through it,” Moran said. “You try to look forward to whenever I was coming back or since there’s still season available, trying to make the most of it. It stinks to miss the time I have, but I just try to not dwell on it too much. Just try to focus on moving forward and keep working.”

After hitting four home runs in his first 16 games, Moran didn’t hit another until a two-homer game against the Cardinals on Aug. 12. Moran was batting .171 against left-handers before hitting two off St. Louis southpaws, sending Wade LeBlanc’s 1-1 cutter 423 feet over the Clemente Wall for a three-run bomb in the first inning and hitting a solo shot off Andrew Miller in the fourth inning of a 7-6 loss.

“It was good to square up some baseballs,” Moran said. “I feel like my timing is coming along pretty quickly, but, obviously, it feels good when you put it together.”

Although he benefited from hitting in the cleanup spot behind All-Star Bryan Reynolds, Moran didn’t get much support behind him. The Pirates rotated a dozen players through the five-hole, with Jacob Stallings faring the best by batting .245/.328/.325 with seven doubles, two homers and 24 RBIs in 46 games. Gonzalez batted .210 with two homers and 10 RBIs in 21 games and Gregory Polanco hit .190 with five doubles and five RBIs in 19 games in that spot.

If Moran had a positive takeaway, it’s that he provided a slight defensive upgrade at first base over Bell. Where Moran accounted for a minus-4 defensive runs saved, he had a .992 fielding percentage, committed five errors in 84 games and turned 56 double plays. Bell, who committed four errors in 35 games in 2020 but was minus-1 DRS in 2020, was minus-6 in DRS in 2019 and minus-8 in 2018.

“I’ve kinda gotten more comfortable the more I’ve been over there,” Moran said. “I think the familiarity with it this year definitely has helped, just kind of experience. It’s another corner from third. You think it’s not too different, but there are definitely a lot of differences. So trying to learn the nuances has been fun. I think I’ve gained some good experience over there and kind of understood the little things a little better.”

The future: Moran didn’t provide the pop the Pirates were counting on from the cleanup spot, and injuries cost him two months of the season. On top of that, he’s still considered a subpar defender at first base.

Entering his second year of arbitration, Moran is projected to make $4 million next season. The Pirates, however, don’t have a replacement at the ready. They parted ways with John Nogowski, Will Craig and Erik Gonzalez. Although the Pirates have shown interest in re-signing free agent Yoshi Tsutsugo, he’s better suited for a DH role. And power-hitting first base prospect Mason Martin could use another year in the minors.

Moran could be trade bait at the deadline for a contender looking for a lefty bat with some pop. Until then, he is the Pirates’ best option, so they have to hope for a bounce-back year.

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)