Amidst the current string of bad play, one player who has stood out for the Pittsburgh Pirates is Isiah Kiner-Falefa. General manager Ben Cherington acquired him from the Toronto Blue Jays during a busy day of trade deadline deals. Kiner-Falefa, 29, is in the first year of a two-year, $15 million contract, after which he becomes a free agent.
Unfortunately, since his arrival from a brief rehab assignment, the Bucs are 1-10. It’s reminiscent of the 2011 season when the Pirates acquired Ryan Ludwick and Derrek Lee at the deadline to bolster a contending team. They promptly lost the next seven home games, four to the Chicago Cubs and three to the San Diego Padres, and fell out of the race. Similarly, no matter how Cherington sugarcoats it, the 2024 Pirates have fallen out of the National League Wild Card race. Once again, the Padres played a key role, sweeping two three-game series.
Pirates Should Keep Kiner-Falefa Past Current Contract
Cherington should strongly consider offering Kiner-Falefa a contract extension for a reasonable period of years. The following will seem strange in light of the Pirates’ current 10-game losing streak. However, one thing has become clear in the 11 games he’s played for the Pirates, admittedly a small sample size. Kiner-Falefa is a winning ballplayer.
Not One Content to Lose
This was evident on Tuesday in San Diego. In the seventh inning, Kiner-Falefa single-handedly tried to will the Pirates to victory. With the Padres ahead, 2-0, Kiner-Falefa led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch from Jason Adam. In doing so, he stuck out his left elbow ever so slightly. He took a beating on social media for what was deemed a cheap, shameless maneuver. Hey, his job there was to get on base any way he could. Kiner-Falefa works for the Pirates, not for a bunch of social media geeks with nothing better to do.
Oh that’s tough pic.twitter.com/avTjZZzkte
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 14, 2024
Kiner-Falefa then stole second base, and with one out, stole third base, too. Unfortunately, he was stranded there as the next two Pirates batters struck out. But he demonstrated that he wasn’t about to stand on first base and watch his team lose. He tried to make something happen, a trait lacking in many of the Pirates’ players.
Batting leadoff for the Pirates on Wednesday, Kiner-Falefa began the game by again getting hit by a pitch. He turned his body and didn’t make an effort to evade an inside pitch from Martín Pérez. Once again, he knew his role, and that was to get on base. Later, in the ninth inning with the Pirates down, 8-1, he came up with the bases loaded and one out. After fouling off the first pitch from Adrian Morejon, he dropped an RBI single down the right-field line. In the end, it meant nothing. But it meant everything. Kiner-Falefa showed he wasn’t going to give away an at-bat when down, another characteristic found wanting in the 2024 Pirates.
Doing His Job
With the Blue Jays in 2024, Kiner-Falefa slashed a career-best .292/.338/.420 before he was picked up by the Pirates. In his 11 games with Pittsburgh, he’s 11-for-46 with two doubles, two triples, and three RBI. That translates to a .239 average. That’s not surprising. A regression to the mean, as the stat geeks put it, was as possible as the continuation of his hot hitting. But his Pirates numbers include four two-hit games. There was a big two-out, two-run triple against the Arizona Diamondbacks to give the Bucs a 4-0 lead on August 4 in a game they shouldn’t have lost but did.
With the Pirates and Padres tied on August 7, he led off the bottom of the ninth with a single. Unfortunately, his team stranded him at third base with one out. In the bottom of the 10th, he stole second base with two outs when he represented the tying run. This time, Yasmani Grandal struck out and Pittsburgh went on to lose that one as well.
You get the picture. He’ll be proactive rather than settle for a loss. He’s doing his part, but his teammates aren’t doing theirs. So far as a Pirate, he’s registering a -0.9 WPA, which is supposed to be a measure of how the individual performs in the clutch. In Kiner-Falefa’s case, it’s a deceiving statistic. How much win probability can one add on a rotten team?
Playing second base and shortstop for the Pirates, Kiner-Falefa has fielded extremely well, too. In the major leagues, he’s played every position except first base, which he could probably play as well.
Filling a Sudden Need
It was believed the Pirates had a glut of middle infielders when the season began. Let’s look at what’s happened since. Opening Day second baseman Jared Triolo is hitting .198/.277/.272. He was replaced by Nick Gonzales, who hit a respectable .258/.293/.387 before going on the injured list, prompting Kiner-Falefa’s acquisition. Versatile Ji Hwan Bae is hitting just .204/.267/.241 with a 30 percent strikeout rate, unacceptable for any player, let alone one with no power. At shortstop, Oneil Cruz’s 23 errors have begun to frustrate even the usually unflappable manager Derek Shelton. Cruz wants to play shortstop, but there are rumblings as to whether that’s the best spot for him. At third base, defensive wizard Ke’Bryan Hayes is having another disappointing year with the bat. The question must be asked whether his plus defense justifies his weak offense.
Alika Williams and Liover Peguero continue to languish at Triple-A Indianapolis. The Pirates’ brain trust has apparently decided they’re nothing more than organizational depth options. Cherington picked up second baseman Nick Yorke from the Boston Red Sox at the deadline, indicating his own dissatisfaction with the middle-infield depth.
Somehow, Kiner-Falefa needs to be an important part of the Pirates in 2025 and probably beyond. If that means Cruz goes to the outfield or Hayes spends time on the bench, then that’s what it means. The season began with lofty expectations. Now it appears the 56-64 Pirates will be hard-pressed to exceed last year’s 76 wins. If getting better in 2025 means some hurt feelings, then so be it.
Photo Credit: © Denis Poroy-USA TODAY Sports
