Pirates by position: Spring training could see competition at center in a crowded outfield

The Pittsburgh Pirates are poised to begin spring training with six outfielders on their 40-man roster — along with several other possibilities — and two names already penciled into the starting lineup.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton shared in late September that Jack Suwinski had joined 2021 All-Star Bryan Reynolds in earning a starting job in the outfield. After all, Suwinski led the team in home runs (26) and OPS (.793) and ranked second to Reynolds in RBIs (74) and slugging (.454) and to Andrew McCutchen in on-base percentage (.339).

“Jack has established himself — I’m not sure which of the places he’s gonna play out there, but he’s established himself in the outfield,” Shelton said, noting a strong September that saw Suwinski slash .289/.359/.489 with nine extra-base hits and 18 RBIs. “So I think he’s solidified himself in one of those outfield spots.”

That leaves the same question as last spring: Who will play center?

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It was in Grapefruit League play last year that Suwinski made the switch to center field, where his minus-10 defensive runs saved were tied for second-worst in the majors.

Suwinski said at PiratesFest last month that he “honestly felt really comfortable” in center but added it was an adjustment to learn batters’ tendencies while familiarizing himself with the nuances of playing the position in the majors, especially at spacious PNC Park.

“I think a part of that is the guys on both sides of me,” Suwinski said. “We were able to communicate well and just have a pretty good game plan going into it, like how we want to communicate with each other, how the wall is gonna play, how we think the crowd is going to be, things like that.”

“I think something to get better is knowing my space, like as I have more room on my right at PNC than on my left. If I can steal a step in one direction or not, depending on the hitter, who’s pitching, things like that. I’d say just like getting those factors a little bit to try and get a little step ahead.”

Suwinski said he expects to play all three outfield spots, which opens the likelihood of competition in center. The Pirates took advantage of second baseman Ji Hwan Bae’s speed by playing him there in 62 games (33 starts), frequently in late-inning defensive switches. Reynolds also started 13 games in center and Joshua Palacios four.

Shelton liked the flexibility of being able to move Bae to center, Suwinski to right and Connor Joe to first base. Henry Davis started 49 games in right but will come to camp with the catchers now that Endy Rodriguez is out for the season after elbow surgery.

“It’s a great problem to have because then we can mix and match, and the fact that we can mix and match during the games, with Connor being able to play first and Henry being able to catch, and Bae being able to play second,” Shelton said. “That versatility, especially late in games, I think is really important.”

That didn’t stop the Pirates from adding some competition to a crowded outfield. They acquired Edward Olivares from the Kansas City Royals and Billy McKinney from the New York Yankees and signed Gilberto Celestino to a minor-league contract as a non-roster invite.

Where Pirates general manager Ben Cherington warned that Olivares isn’t a household name, he played for Toronto when Cherington was with the Blue Jays, so there’s some familiarity. The 27-year-old Venezuelan, a right-handed hitter, batted .263/.317/.452 with 23 doubles, 12 homers and 36 RBIs in 107 games for the Royals last year.

“He’s produced at a pretty solid level offensively,” Cherington said. “In fact, some of the underlying numbers that we look at suggest that he may have even been a little better in 2023 than the surface-level numbers suggest. We think this is a bonafide major-league hitter who has a chance to deepen our lineup.”

Olivares has played all three outfield spots but primarily in the corners, with only 18 career games in center. He started 47 games in left field for the Royals last year, playing three in right, two in center and 42 as DH.

“If he could play center at a good enough level, which he has in the past — he hasn’t had the opportunity to do that the last couple years — but if he could do that, probably even strengthens the opportunity that he might have for us,” Cherington said. “Obviously, we expect Suwinski to be out there, but we haven’t really had that right-handed complement in center field. … We like the hitter. We like the athlete.”

The 29-year-old McKinney, who has played for six teams in as many seasons in the majors, batted .227/.320/.406 with six homers and 14 RBIs in 48 games for the Yankees last season.

McKinney is expected to compete with Palacios, who hit 10 homers in 91 games, for outfield depth and lefty at-bats. Both can play all three outfield spots, but McKinney has the advantage of also playing first base.

“It was a little bit of a strange-looking deal, but we had pursued him earlier in the offseason and he ended up re-signing (a minor league contract) with the Yankees,” Cherington said. “This opportunity came up, and it felt like it made sense, so he’ll be right in that mix in spring training.”

Celestino, who turns 25 on Tuesday, is the dark horse. He batted .238/.313/.302 with 12 doubles and 24 RBIs while playing 90 games in center (68 starts) for the Minnesota Twins in 2022. He had surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb last March and played 55 games for Triple-A St. Paul before being designated for assignment in October.

One player who isn’t likely to be in the competition for an outfield spot is Andrew McCutchen, who is returning from a partial tear in his left Achilles tendon and likely will serve as DH again.

“Our conversation with Andrew has really been that he’s gonna tell us and answer that question for us as we get into spring training,” Cherington said. “We don’t want to put any limitation on it right now. If it makes sense for him and the team to play some outfield, we certainly want to keep that possibility open.”