Pirates' Alexander Canario finds swing with increased playing time under Don Kelly

One notable development for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Don Kelly era has been Alexander Canario’s emergence as an everyday player.

Canario, 25, was traded to Pittsburgh from the New York Mets in late March, and over the next few weeks, he failed to make much of an impression.

In former manager Derek Shelton’s defense, Canario’s .074 batting average in April didn’t exactly merit an increase in playing time.

But since Kelly took over May 8, Canario has started to discover his swing, leading to more opportunities.

With a .333 batting average (21 for 63) in 18 games with Kelly as manager, Canario has made the most of those chances.

“I’ve been feeling really good,” Canario told TribLive through Pirates coach and translator Stephen Morales. “The adjustments I’ve made at the plate and with my work have been working. It feels very good right now.

“It definitely helps to be in the lineup more often. It’s just a product of working hard in the cage with the hitting group, and I think that’s the key to keeping myself in the lineup: just hard work and trying to stay out there.”

After the Pirates’ series win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, Canario had appeared in 18 of the 19 games managed by Kelly.

On the year, Canario is slashing .241/.299/.370 with three home runs, three doubles, a triple and seven RBIs.

The decision to play Canario more may have been made easier by the continued struggles of Tommy Pham, who also primarily plays left field.

Pham owned a .182 batting average at the start of May before hitting .297 this month.

Still, Kelly opted to give an extended opportunity to Canario, and the Montecristi, Dominican Republic, native has responded by slashing .296/.345/.432 in May.

“I think it was a byproduct of a lot of different things, but it’s worked out that he’s gotten some opportunity and he’s ran with it,” Kelly said. “Credit goes to him for the work he’s putting in and how he’s been able to capitalize on that. He’s putting it together on the field, which has been really good.”

Before joining the Pirates, Canario spent parts of two seasons with the Chicago Cubs before being designated for assignment in February.

After spending spring training with the Mets, with whom he batted .306 over 17 games, he was designated for assignment again at the end of March, leading to the Pirates trading for him days later.

Coming up through the minor leagues, Canario showcased major power potential.

In 2024, he clubbed 18 homers with 13 doubles and 47 RBIs over 64 games with the Triple-A Iowa Cubs.

Two seasons prior, he split time at three levels, but collectively, between Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A, he put together a 37-homer campaign in 125 games.

“I consider myself a power hitter, for sure,” Canario said. “It’s just a matter of, I have to show it up here at the big-league level. I’ve done it in the minors. But yeah, I feel like I can hit the ball very hard.”

As Canario aims to find a way to translate his power from the minors, an unfortunate tendency of his, striking out, has followed him to the big leagues.

In 519 career minor-league contests, Canario owned a 30% strikeout rate.

Last year in 15 games with the Cubs, though he batted .280, Canario struck out 11 times in 25 at-bats (44%).

Through 34 games with the Pirates, Canario’s strikeout rate is 31.4%.

Defensively, Canario has added value by being able to play all three outfield positions.

The majority of his starts (15) have come in left field, but he also has made six starts in center and six in right, recording one error in 249 innings.

On Tuesday night in Phoenix, he made two solid plays in center field, tracking down a seventh-inning liner off the bat of Josh Naylor and another from Pavin Smith in the same inning.

What a catch by Alexander Canario in CF pic.twitter.com/WhCgxzv3gz

— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) May 28, 2025

“We see the power in (batting practice), but to see it translate into the game has been really impressive,” Kelly said. “Also, his defensive work has gotten better out there in the outfield, too, playing some center and some left. To see him moving around and making plays that he’s been able to make has been good.”

Over the last month, few Pirates players have been swinging the bat as well as Canario, who ranks first in batting average (.293), hits (24) and OPS (.793) and second in on-base percentage (.341) since April 26.

As he aims to keep performing in a manner that will keep him in the nightly lineup, Canario is grateful for the opportunity.

“Since the day I got traded, I knew the Pirates had a lot of confidence in me and the confidence has been there since Day 1 when I got here,” Canario said. “It’s just a matter of trusting the process, looking for opportunities and taking advantage of them.”