MLB season preview: Can the Pirates keep pace in the NL Central?

Editor’s Note: With the arrival of baseball season we’re previewing each MLB team, from worst to best. We’ll look at their key offseason moves, projected lineup, best and worst possible outcomes plus examine the team’s fantasy implications with the help of friends from Roto Arcade. Our daily series continues with No. 11: The Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pittsburgh Pirates are expected to win now. That’s a pretty positive development following an unthinkable stretch of 20 straight losing seasons that ended in 2013. Unfortunately, the urgency to capitalize on that success and turn it into something greater simply hasn’t been there, and that’s why Pittsburgh will struggle to keep up in a tough NL Central.

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(AP) The Pirates have one of baseball’s true cornerstones in Andrew McCutchen. They also have some excellent talent sprinkled around him in Gregory Polanco, Starling Marte and Gerrit Cole. They’re going to be good. Perhaps even really good. But until they show a willingness to really go for it, they are destined to be stuck between the losing that once defined them, and missed opportunity, which could define them moving forward.

With the Chicago Cubs seemingly set for the next decade and the St. Louis Cardinals always finding ways to stay relevant, the Pirates really could have used an aggressive offseason like the one Arizona just completed. Now they’ll have to hope what they have can collectively lift them up.

Key additions: Jon Niese, John Jaso, David Freese

Key subtractions: Neil Walker, J.A. Happ

The Pirates’ offseason strategy of picking up cheap, but useful, options continued once again. None of the club’s add are particularly overwhelming, but all have experienced success in the majors. The Pirates have shown an ability to get the most out of their free agents lately, so it’s possible the team has identified Niese, Jaso and Freese as its latest reclamation projects. Losing Walker and Happ will hurt, but the former was getting expensive and the latter priced himself out of the club’s plans after an electric second half. (Chris Cwik)

Gregory Polanco: It seems like Polanco has been around forever, but he’s still just 24 years old. Prior to his major-league debut, Polanco was considered one of the best outfield prospects in the minors.

Things haven’t gone his way in the big leagues just yet. He showed modest improvement during his second year, hitting .256/.320/.381 over 593 at-bats. For what it’s worth, he was better in the second half, slashing .276/.324/.425, with six of his nine home runs. It’s far too early to give up on Polanco just yet, and it’s possible his second half growth could indicate he’s made some strides. (Cwik)

Lineup:
1. John Jaso, 1B (.286/.380/.459, 23 R, 5 HR, 22 RBI)
2. Gregory Polanco, OF (.256/.320/.381, 83 R, 9 HR, 52 RBI, 27 SB)
3. Andrew McCutchen, OF (.292/.401/.488, 91 R, 23 HR, 96 RBI, 11 SB)
4. Starling Marte, OF (.287/.337/.444, 84 R, 19 HR, 81 RBI, 30 SB)
5. Josh Harrison, 2B (.287/.327/.390, 57 R, 4 HR, 28 RBI)
6. David Freese, 3B (.257/.323/.420, 53 R, 14 HR, 56 RBI)
7. Francisco Cervelli, C (.295/.370/.401, 56 R, 7 HR, 43 RBI)
8. Jordy Mercer, SS (.244/.293/.320, 34 R, 3 HR, 34 RBI)

Rotation:
1. Gerrit Cole (19-8, 2.60 ERA, 208 IP, 202 K)
2. Francisco Liriano (12-7, 3.38 ERA, 186.2 IP, 205 K)
3. Jon Niese (9-10, 4.13 ERA, 176.2 IP, 113 K)
4. Jeff Locke (8-11, 4.49 ERA, 168.1 IP, 129 K)
5. Ryan Vogelsong (9-11, 4.67 ERA, 135 IP, 108 K)

Compiled by Kyle Ringo

The good news is the Pirates are still pretty good. The bad news is that the Cardinals are still really good and the Cubs look like the best team in baseball, at least on paper. That means Pittsburgh’s path to a division championship will be blocked, and a fourth straight wild card appearance doesn’t look promising either with the Mets, Nationals, Dodgers and Giants all contending. A winning record is likely, but a postseason berth will be difficult. (Mark Townsend)

The Pirates will be competitive, but they seem doomed to finish somewhere between the NL’s top contenders and the ever-growing group of rebuilding teams. A couple key injuries could knock them under .500, but they’ll finish no lower than third in the NL Central. (Townsend)

Who’s on first? Yeah, there’s a pileup of uninteresting vets at first base in Pittsburgh. John Jaso figures to get the most at-bats in a platoon that should also involve Michael Morse and/or David Freese. Not much to see here, I’m afraid. Jaso no longer carries catcher-eligibility, which limits his fantasy utility. He’s a guy with respectable on-base skills (.380 OBP in 2015), but little power. He’s just a placeholder for prospect Josh Bell, arriving soon.

[Elsewhere: 10 guys I won’t be drafting this season in fantasy baseball]

When will we see Tyler Glasnow? Oh, man. Not soon enough. Glasnow will open the season in the minors, but let’s hope he arrives in the first wave of call-ups. He was terrific across three minor league levels last season, posting a 2.39 ERA and 1.10 WHIP over 109.1 innings, striking out 136 batters. Glasnow is one of the few minor league arms who can be reasonably stashed by fantasy owners in almost any format. When he forces his way into the Bucs’ rotation, he’ll be a terrific source of Ks. (Andy Behrens)

Andrew McCutchen is a star for the Pirates in center field and is a great follow for all of us on Twitter. @TheCutch22 knows how to use a funny GIF, meme or emoji to enhance a strong tweet. In the offseason he also posted a couple hilarious videos of himself playing multiple roles imitating real life scenarios. McCutchen has good perspective on life in general, which is a big part of why he received the Roberto Clemente award in 2015. His tweets allow an insight into that side of him. (Israel Fehr)

When you trying to think of an inspirational quote for your followers but you got nothing…😂😩 pic.twitter.com/MXpG6jFqST

— andrew mccutchen (@TheCUTCH22) March 19, 2016

Aside from the always fan-friendly Andrew McCutchen, the best reason to root for Pittsburgh is PNC Park. It is hands down one of baseball’s most visually appealing ballparks. It’s always a fun atmosphere there too when games matter, especially come October. That energy combined with the ballpark’s unique layout and beautiful views should make it a destination for all baseball fans. (Mark Townsend)