Super-utility man Josh VanMeter ready, willing to play every position for Pirates this season

Josh VanMeter’s dream would be to report to the ballpark knowing which position he will play before the lineup is even posted, but he has adjusted to life as the Pittsburgh Pirates’ superutility player.

VanMeter has stretched the definition of his job description by playing five positions this season. That includes the two most demanding for a position player — pitcher and catcher — and for which he had no previous experience in his four major league seasons.

The new goal for VanMeter is to play every position in one season, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since Andrew Romine played all nine in one game for the Detroit Tigers on Sept. 30, 2017, per Elias Sports Bureau. Romine is one of five players in MLB history to play all nine positions in one game. Bert Campaneris was the first, doing so Sept. 8, 1965, as a publicity stunt to draw fans for the Oakland A’s.

VanMeter has appeared in 38 games at second base, 12 at first base, three as a relief pitcher and has made cameos at catcher and right field this season. He needs to make appearances at shortstop, third base, left field and center field to complete the defensive cycle for the season.

“It would be cool if it happened,” VanMeter said. “The thing everyone talks about is playing all nine in one game. That would be cool, but it typically means the team is out of it, so, hopefully, that doesn’t happen. I think it would be cool to play all nine in a year.”

VanMeter could have a proponent in Pirates bench coach Don Kelly, who played all nine positions in his nine-year major league career. After VanMeter completed the catching and pitching parts in May, Pirates manager Derek Shelton contemplated whether he would ever consider attempting to use someone at all nine positions in one game.

“Ooh, wow,” Shelton said. “That would have to be like a last-day-of-the-season thing. You know who would really push me on that? Donnie Kelly. But I don’t think that’s going to happen.”

VanMeter has played every position but center field and shortstop in his career, a strange twist given he primarily played shortstop until reaching the higher levels of the minor leagues, and he considers center to be the easiest of the three outfield positions to play.

“Playing in the middle of the diamond is the most natural because of the spin of the ball and the angles you take,” VanMeter said. “It is kind of funny how it’s worked out, that the two I haven’t played — I don’t think the term ‘easy’ is the right word — are more natural to me. Life plays funny games with you, I guess.”

Where Shelton doesn’t have a problem playing VanMeter anywhere out of necessity, the Pirates manager said he has too much respect for the game to do it as a gimmick.

“I think my reservations would be playing him in the outfield, just because he hasn’t been out there in so long,” Shelton said, noting VanMeter played left field only once in Arizona and hasn’t played center in the majors. “That would be the thing that probably would make me most uncomfortable. If we were ever going to do that, I mean, unless it was injury-based or ejection-based, which we saw him having to catch, I would never do it without a guy being prepared for it or us walking through some work out there. I think it’s unfair to the player.”

VanMeter knows his defensive versatility is not only his calling card but perhaps the only thing keeping him from getting designated for assignment again, especially given he’s hitting .182 (27 for 148) with four doubles, two triples, three home runs and 12 RBIs in 55 games since being acquired from Arizona on March 31 after being DFA by the Diamondbacks.

The nine-position odyssey started when Shelton dubbed VanMeter the emergency catcher when starter Roberto Perez took a foul ball off his left leg early in the season. Pirates third base coach Mike Rabelo, a former major league catcher, provided a quick tutorial for Van Meter on the basics of playing the position and calling pitches.

It went from a playful possibility to a necessary move May 7 at Cincinnati, when backup catcher Andrew Knapp was ejected from the dugout for criticizing a call by home plate umpire Will Little and Perez suffered a season-ending torn hamstring while rounding second in the first game of a doubleheader at Great American Ball Park.

“Catching was fun,” VanMeter said. “It sucked for a couple days after. I was pretty sore, after being in a squat for so long. I always joke with ‘Rabs’: ‘Teach me how to catch. It could buy me a few more years in the league, being a backup catcher.’ … I give Rabs a bunch of crap all the time that my catching score still isn’t the worst in the league.”

VanMeter still hasn’t played shortstop, third base, left field or center for the Pirates this season, but he isn’t about to start lobbying to play new positions, nor is he is in a position to tell the Pirates he doesn’t want to play somewhere.

“There’s not one (position) that I would be like, ‘Nah, I definitely don’t want to play there again,’ ” VanMeter said. “Versatility is really big in this game nowadays, and I think the ability to show that is a really good thing. When I was younger, I would get a lot of anxiety about bouncing all around, but now it’s just part of what I do. I’m comfortable doing it. Any way I can help the team win I’m down for.”

That includes pitching, even though VanMeter has allowed 13 runs on 15 hits (including five home runs) and two walks in three outings, blowout losses to the St. Louis Cardinals (18-4 on May 22), Milwaukee Brewers (19-2 on July 1) and the New York Yankees (16-0 on July 6).

VanMeter would prefer not to face the heart of the Yankees’ order again after giving up six runs on eight hits, including a grand slam by Aaron Hicks followed by a 385-foot blast by Giancarlo Stanton.

But VanMeter would love nothing more than a shot at shortstop, his natural position, and a chance to play every position by the end of the season.

“I haven’t talked with (Shelton) about it but I think that my versatility speaks for itself,” VanMeter said. “I’d like to play short more than center, but I just kind of keep my head down and do my thing. Wherever they need me, I feel like I can go just about anywhere now.”